Batesburg-Leesville Rallies to Force Game Three
By: Jay Hendrix
Special Writer
Batesburg - The Batesburg-Leesville bats were kept in check until a three-run rally in the sixth inning turned a 1-0 Philip Simmons lead into a 3-2 B-L victory in game two of the Class AA State Championship series at Batesburg-Leesville. The win forces a decisive game three at Founders Park in Columbia on Saturday at 6pm.
The pitching duel between B-L’s Carter Bouknight and Philip Simmons’ Peirce Mullen saw the two players go back and forth with only one run through five innings. Carter Bouknight would give way to Braydon Hallman who allowed a run in the seventh but struck out three as he claimed the win in relief.
In the first inning the leadoff batter for Iron Horses, Alex Romanski, was hit by a pitch, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice and scored on a single from Daniel Scarth. That 1-0 lead would hold up until the sixth inning. Meanwhile, Mullen was perfect through three innings and then managed to strand three runners over the next two innings.
B-L Head Coach Rob Bouknight stated “it was a very frustrating game for our guys. We didn’t strike out one time the whole game. We didn’t hit a lot of balls hard but everything was right at them and they were frustrated. We kept going and stayed the course and we found a hole here and there.”
Carter Bouknight, a senior who has been the Panthers’ ace all season, battled through five innings and allowed just the one unearned run before turning the ball over to Hallman. Coach Bouknight stated “you can’t say enough about what he (Carter Bouknight) has done all year. He has been that guy all year. He told us in the third inning his arm was bothering him a little bit and we were ready to go to Hallman and he said ‘I’m not going to college to play ball, I want to finish it’ and he bought us two more innings.”
In the critical sixth inning the Panthers jumped out quickly as the top of the order produced against Mullen on their third trip through the order. Reese Boehnke lead off with a walk. Tanner Watkins then laid down a bunt back to the pitcher but the throw to first was wide and Boehnke and Watkins ended up at third and second respectively. Hallman was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Jack Bouknight then battled back from an 0-2 count to rip an RBI single to centerfield to tie the game. John Sawyer followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score another run and give B-L a 2-1 lead. With one out Tyler Kneece laid down a bunt to the pitcher who got the out at first but the throw home wasn’t in time as Hallman just beat the tag to make it 3-1 at the end of six innings. Head Coach Rob Bouknight pointed to the bunt as the biggest play of the night, stating “the bunt when we made the pitcher get off the mound and they threw it away would have to be the biggest moment.”
The Iron Horses wouldn’t go away without a fight in the top of the seventh. Tajaun Gibbs singled to centerfield before Hallman retired the next two batters. The top of the order then came up and Romanski and Charlie Helms singled to leftfield, with Helms driving in Gibbs to make it 3-2. The final out came on a sharply hit line drive to centerfield with Watkins gloving it to seal the victory and force game three.
Coach Bouknight, an alumnus of Batesburg-Leesville, is in his 13th season as head baseball coach at B-L. When asked about how special it is to lead his alma mater to the state championship series he stated “it means the world. This program and the guys I played with meant the world to us. The community has always backed us. I hope our guys are realizing these guys they are playing with a truly their brothers and the support they get from the community is outstanding.”
