Baseball Season Round Up 2025-2026

Class A

By Dennis Brunson

Hssr.con Associate Editor

Florence – After being within two outs with no one on base from winning the Class A baseball state championship, Latta watched McBee score eight runs in the top of the seventh inning for a 12-5 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-3 title series on Wednesday. To add insult to injury, the Vikings coughed up the lead on their home field -- Buddy Johnson Memorial Baseball Stadium.

So what words of wisdom did LHS head coach Robbie Brown impart upon his players to help prepare them for a winner-take-all Game 3 after such a devastating loss?

“It’s a series,” Brown said. “We can’t worry about the first win and the first loss. This is why you get to play three games.”

And it took all seven innings of Game 3 to truly determine a winner. Scoreless for 4 ½ innings, Latta broke the tie with one run in the bottom of the fifth only to see the Panthers score twice in the top of the sixth.

However, the Vikings used a 2-out, 2-run bloop double from sophomore Caden Hyatt in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead, and senior BW Berry struck out the side in the seventh for a complete-game, 3-2 victory on Saturday at a packed South Florence High field that likely held close to all of the residents from both Latta and McBee.

The title is the 10^th in program history for LHS, the first since 2018. Latta finishes the season with a 27-10 record, while McBee closes out at 22-13-1.

“We knew we had new life coming in on Saturday,” Hyatt said. “It was a different ball game. We just flipped the script. We knew if we played our ball game we would win this game.”

As stated earlier though, it was not easy.

The Vikings’ Logan Byrd was hit by relief pitcher Peyton Brigman to open their half of the sixth. Courtesy runner Danny McDowell made it to third on a pair of groundout soft rollers to third baseman Zane Boykin. Zach Lane drew a walk to set the stage for Hyatt.

He hit a sinking liner toward right field. Instead of conceding the run, rightfielder Lucas King tried to make an inning-ending catch. He was unable to do so and both McDowell and Lane scored to make it 3-2.

“I knew we were going to tie it at a minimum, if not go ahead,” Brown said in regards to his thoughts as Hyatt stepped in the batter’s box. “They’ve done it all year. They’ve been resilient and I’m honored to coach these guys.”

“I was like the team needs me,” Hyatt said. “I’ve got to come through here, I’ve got to be big. I just wanted to focus on the at-bat and put the ball in play.

“I was real nervous (when I hit it). I thought he might catch the ball. I just kept running and the ball fell.”

Berry fanned Cooper Rollings, King and McBee leadoff hitter Chris Stone to close out the game and set off a big celebration. It was the second complete game of the series for Berry, who scattered four hits in an 11-1, 6-inning Game 1 victory the previous Saturday. He again allowed just four hits while striking out 10, nine coming over the final four innings. He walked two, one intentionally, and hit a batter.

AA Baseball

By Monte Dutton

Special to HSSR

Clinton – Clinton High School’s fourth baseball state championship – and second in the past four seasons – occurred at the right time, in the right place, by the right young man.

With the score tied in the bottom of the eighth inning at Clinton’s home park on Friday in Game 2 of the best-of-3 AA state championship series,, catcher Luke Young hit Logan Newcomb’s first pitch over the fence in left-center field, giving the Red Devils a 5-4 victory over Atlantic Collegiate Academy and a sweep of the series. Young and Newcomb are the AA Co-Players of the Year as chosen by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association.

Newcomb, who started in center field, was the Armada’s third pitcher of the game.

Clinton (31-3) had won Game 1 of the best-of-three series in Myrtle Beach on Tuesday, 5-1. The Red Devils, who won all eight of their playoff games, closed the season with 10 straight triumphs.

Young, who rewrote the Clinton record book with 13 home runs, hit a slider about 380 feet.

 “I took a good swing at it. All of my teammates were up on the (dugout) fence, yelling that I got it,” said Young, a senior. “It was the same with just everybody in the stands. It’s unbelievable how much this community is behind us.”

The Red Devils only collected four hits, but two were for extra bases.

Class AAA

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

Simpsonville - Carson Boleman was not on the mound, but his two-run homer in the third inning, helped Southside Christian earn a hard-fought 8-7 win over Oceanside Collegiate on May 28 as the Sabres won their 5th straight state championship under head coach Scott Freeman.

Only two other teams in Palmetto state history have won five or more consecutive baseball state titles. Lake View won five straight under Kip Herlong between 1997 and 2001 while David Horton’s Bamberg Ehrhardt teams won 8 straight between 1974 and 1981.

Boleman, considered a top 10 first round major league draft pick this July, is without a doubt the best pitcher ever in the prep ranks in South Carolina. He is 35-0 since his 8th grade season on the Sabres varsity, and he was injured his freshman season and did not pitch.

In his career, Boleman faced 688 batters and he had an incredible 445 strikeouts as a varsity pitcher with a .033 ERA. Boleman’s (6-4, 210), fastball hit 94 mph during his final outing for the Sabres, in a 7-1 win over the Landsharks, in game one. Boleman has superb command of four pitches of the series with a dozen scouts watching from the stands.

After the big win, Coach Freeman talked about many things. “Once we got into the playoffs we were really locked into finishing out this way,” said Coach Freeman. “They knew the goal that we had, and that we wanted to finish out this way, and this game today was the toughest game we have had in the playoffs.

Coach Freeman talked about just how special it has been to coach a player like Boleman. “He is a once in a lifetime talent,” said Coach Freeman. “He is an incredible kid to coach. He is the hardest working player I have coached, and he is such a leader as an example person on and off the field. I have no doubt that he will be voted as one of four captains for the season when the votes in a couple days.

Coach Freeman cited all the senior starters on the team. “Our right fielder CJ Aubuchon got the game winning hit today in the bottom of the 6th and he came through for us time-after-time throughout the season,” said Coach Freeman. “Will Fulcher had a great game on the mound tonight throwing three solid innings. Both guys might not have had a great start to the season, but they came on very strong with key moments in the playoffs.

Oceanside Collegiate is coached by Britt Reames and the Landsharks were playing for their third state title in a row, after winning a title in Reame’s first year as coach in 2024. It was the second straight year losing to the Sabres.

In the title game the Sabres were led at the plate by LF Kaden Graham’s two hits and one RBI, along with Boleman’s two run homer. Also, third baseman Jacob Wiggs, DH Beckett DeSario (7th grader), contributed one hit each. Aubuchon’s hit and three RBI’s were major factors in the win. Junior SS Reeves Israel had a hit also.

OCA was led at the plate by Crone who had two hits and two RBI’s. Johnson contributed a hit along with DH Barrett Svagerka. Third baseman Tanner Fleming had a hit and two RBI’s also. LF Christopher O’Leary contributed a hit and one RBI.   

SC used four pitchers in the championship game. Senior LHP Bennett Candler started and went 3.2 innings allowing four hits and striking out three. Fulcher went three innings allowing two hits and striking out four and Wiggs closed out the game with one strike-out.

OCA started with the talented LHP Reames who went five innings, allowed five hits, and had four strikeouts. Hank Griffith worked 1.2 innings allowing a hit with one strike out and Johnson closed the game allowing one hit with one strikeout.

AAAA BASEBALL

By Thomas Grant Jr.

Special to HSSR

West Columbia - More than any other season, Andy Hallett wanted to close his 29th as A.C. Flora High School baseball head coach with a championship.

 Just two months earlier, Hallett announced his decision to leave the program he built from humble beginnings into a state power. Hallett accepted the positions of athletics director and baseball head coach at Midlands STEM Charter School in Winnsboro.

 Motivated to send Hallett out with an eighth state championship, the Falcons fulfilled his wishes. On Friday, they completed a best-of-3 AAAA state championship series sweep of defending champion Airport with a 4-0 victory at Eagle Stadium.

 The victory took place less than 18 hours after A.C. Flora pulled out a 2-1 victory in 10 innings at Falcon Field. With the win, the Falcons ended the season with a 17-game winning streak, which included a perfect 8-0 record in the postseason.

This team right here is going to go down in history as one of the greatest ones to wear an A.C. Flora uniform and have created one of the longest winning streaks of my career,” Hallett said. “In 29 years, I’ve never won this many games (in a row) before, and not only do we do it, but we do it to end the season.”

The series was highlighted by three consecutive days of postponements due to inclement weather. Before Game 1 was finally played on Thursday, there was another 3-hour delay due to thunderstorms.

 Once play started, the Falcons’ pitching was the deciding factor. After starter Tyler Hernandez gave up an RBI single to Rylan Bullis in the first inning, A.C. Flora held the Eagles scoreless over the remaining 16 innings of the series.

AAAAA DIVISON I BASEBALL

By Thomas Grant Jr.

Special to HSSR

Lexington – There was some hesitation by James Island High School baseball head coach Matt Spivey in selecting River Bluff High School as the location for Saturday’s deciding game against Dorman in the best-of-3 AAAAA Division state championship series.

Just nine days earlier, the Trojans visited The Swamp looking to wrap up the Lower State title in Game 2 of that series. Sparked by four runs batted in from All-State senior Taj Marchand, they had a 9-0 lead over the Gators after three innings, and the Trojans were feeling pretty good at that point.

However, a resilient River Bluff rallied for nine unanswered runs to tie the game. James Island regained the lead in the top of the fifth only for Wes Godwin to belt a 2-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to give the Gators the improbable 11-10 comeback win.

This time around, the Trojans left their personal “House of Horrors” with a pleasant memory and their third straight state championship. Taking an early lead and with Brayden Easterling and Marchand combining for seven shutout innings on the mound, James Island defeated Dorman 5-0 for the victory.

“He doesn’t flinch,” said Spivey of Marchand, the star senior shortstop/pitcher who has signed to play at Mississippi but is expected to be selected in the top three rounds of the Major League Baseball draft in July. “The moment is never too big for that guy and he showed that today.”

James Island concluded the season at 31-4 with their third straight title, the last two in AAAAA Division I.

“We got together as a staff and then as a team, and said, ‘We have to conquer some demons,’ and this was the place that we wanted to do it, and I think we did that today,” said Spivey.

James Island led 2-0 after the first inning. Junior Trip Ostergard led off with a single. Then senior centerfielder Connor Dantzler, a Tulsa football signee, got a 1-out single to advance Ostergard to third. Dantzler advanced to second on the throw. Senior first baseman Finn Pratt singled to right field, scoring Ostergard to make it 1-0 with Dantzler advancing to third. Brady Dantzler got an RBI groundout to score his brother, making it 2-0.

AAAAA Division II Baseball

By Thomas Grant Jr.

Special to HSSR

Chapin -- Early in Dell Lever’s first season as Chapin High School baseball head coach, he jokingly referred to his team as “the master of 1-run games.”

Fittingly, the Eagles’ final game of the season was their 11th decided by one run. Holding a 4-3 lead at home on Thursday against T.L. Hanna in Game 2 of the AAAAA Division II state championship series, reliever Brewer Haggard allowed a leadoff single to Jackson Robinson.

It only took three pitches for Chapin to shut down the Yellow Jackets’ final threat. After starting a double play after fielding a Reece Oakley groundball, shortshop Caden Guy threw out Tatum Manning at first base for the final out.

“It’s kind of how it’s been all year,” said Lever, who became the first Chapin head coach to win a state baseball title. “It always came down to one run near the end whether we won or lost.

“But we really started preaching a month ago about moments. That’s kind of been our mantra up until this point is just moments. We never know what moments are going to make or break a game. So, if we can stay calm and just relax in said moment, more often than not, we’re going to be successful and then once we got into this playoff run, our mantra became “one more” – one more pitch, one more play and so forth. If we can just relax and play ‘one more, one more,’ we’re more likely than not going to have a positive ending on the scoreboard.”