Cane Bay Beats Highly Regarded Region 7-AAAAA Champion Berkeley 4-3 In Third Game Of Final Series
Cane Bay Coach Shane Todd Pises Eith Senior Starters After 4-3 win Over Berkeley To Conclude The Regular Season.
Cane Bay Beats Highly Regarded Region 7-AAAAA Champion Berkeley 4-3 In Third Game Of Final Series Before Baseball Playoffs Begin, A Brief Look At Top Contenders As Baseball Playoffs Begin For Both SCHSL & SCISA Teams
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Moncks Corner—The 5th ranked Berkeley High (15-8-2) baseball team won the 2026 Region 7-AAAAA title, and the defending Div. II AAAAA champions have earned a bye in the playoffs and will begin post season play on May 9 at home.
The Stags have been one of the more complex baseball teams in South Carolina during the 2026 season. They won the first two games of a three-game series against all of their region opponents (Lucy Beckham, Goose Creek, Wando, Stratford, and Cane Bay) by the combined scores of 112-20. Then, with the exception of a three-game sweep against Goose Creek, the Stags lost four third game region contests by the combined scores of 23-7 to their other four region opponents.
When the pattern repeated itself on Thursday April 30, in a 4-3 home loss to Cane Bay, head coach Landy Cox was beside itself in a post-game interview. On the other hand, Cane Bay (7-17) head coach Shane Todd was up-beat, and he said he hoped his team would keep playing well, as they start the playoffs against Summerville High on May 4.
Earlier in the week, the Stags had dominated the Cobras (6-1 and 12-0) so the one-run loss to Cane Bay had Coach Cox searching for answers. “We are among the best teams in South Carolina in our first two games of a region series, but we are the worse team in South Carolina in game three’s and that is where we are,” said Coach Cox. “Pitching, hitting, bunting, defense, and everything else you can name just falls apart when we play three when we are actually terrible.
“In games one and two we play like state champion contenders and then in game three everybody seems to be off their games in all phases of the game,” said Coach Cox.
When asked who he felt the Stags might compete against on the 9th, Coach Cox responded, “It does not matter who it is because if we play like we did tonight we are going to be 0-2 and barbecue.”
One for sure, the Stags will be working hard in practices getting ready for post-season play. “We are gong to work on competing every day and not just once in a while,” said Coach Cox. “We will be working on the things that matter like being able to put down a sac bunt when we need to, and our pitchers need to pound the strike zone, and we need to hit better and cut out errors.”
In the 6-1 win over Cane Bay, freshman outfielder Callen Rebuck had three hits and four RBI’s while junior center fielder Henry Rivers contributed a double and senior second baseman Hudson Clark had two hits. The winning pitcher was senior LHP Kobe Thomas who allowed three hits while striking out seven.
Then in the 12-0 win, Rivers went 3-for-3 with a double to pace the Stags at the plate. On the mound, junior LHP Lucas Porcelli had 11 strikeouts while allowing four hits in the win.
Thomas, a senior who has signed with North Carolina A & T, is 6-1 on the season while Porcelli is 6-0. The duo gives the Stags two very strong one-two lefties in the starting rotation. Senior RHP Keller Wofford is also a veteran providing depth on the mound. Senior RHP Gavin Barb is a sometimes starter who can also provide depth in the outfield. Hudson, who bats lead-off, is a four-year starter at second, and he has signed with Florence-Darlington Tech.
Against Cane Bay in the third game, Porcelli was the DH for the Stags while junior Levi Stanley batted 8th and started at SS. Senior Bryson Heath started at first while freshman Braylon Donelson started at catcher. Junior Henry Montgomery started in right and batted second while Rebook hit in the third hole. Heath started at first and batted 5th in the line-up while Rivers, a gold glove center fielder who starts at QB in football, bats in the 6th spot.
Junior Easton Little started at third for the Stags while junior Eli Matthews has seen action both at first and third.
Berkeley will enter the playoffs with Clark, the leading hitter at .369 with Porcelli (.333), Montgomery (.329) and Rebuck (.327) all over .300.
In Cane Bay’s big 4-3 confidence building win over the Stags, the Cobras pounded out 10 hits, and they played one of their best games of the season.
The winning pitcher for the Cobras was LHP Dominick Rooney who was making his first start of the season. He worked three innings giving up no hits or runs. Chance Conley took the mound in the 4th inning and over the next three innings he allowed four hits with three strikeouts.
Jesse Hernandez led the Cobras at the plate going 3-for-3 while Cayden Haught contributed two hits while batting third in the line-up. Other players with one hit each included second baseman Colton Price, 3B Chase Missigman, RF Brad Garrison, Rooney, along with SS Davis Owens and LF Jaxson Black.
After the big win, Coach Todd shared his thoughts. “I told our guys that the playoffs start this upcoming week and in 5-A baseball every week and every game is like a war,” said Coach Todd. “You are going to face teams that are well coached with talent and that is what 5-A baseball is all about.
“We have played a lot better over the past three weeks,” said Coach Todd. “Our record might not show it, but we have played a lot better. These guys have really worked hard and they believe in each other. We lost some games, but they do not quit, and they played hard until the last out.
“Hopefully, this win tonight is a springboard for us entering the playoffs,” said Coach Todd. “We are on the road, at their place and they are the defending 5-A Div. II champions, and this is one of the toughest places to play in the entire state and we win a close ball game, so we hope to build on this win.”
Coach Todd said the senior leaders for Cane Bay have been catcher Cayden Haught and he was cited for doing a good job handling the pitchers and controlling the defense. Rooney is usually a relief pitcher, but we decided to start him tonight and he did a good job.
“Chance Conley is usually our Friday night starter, but we wanted to flip it tonight and it worked out well for us,” said Coach Todd. “We had a lot of players step up tonight and play well.”
Coach Todd indicated that Landon Roberts would likely start on Monday against Summerville. “He is junior and he has done a great job for us all season and every time he goes out there, he gives us a chance to win.”
The top hitters for the Cobras starting the playoffs are Hernandez (.381) and Price (.304) with Haught at .281. Lawrence has five homers with 21 stolen bases.
On a side note, the Berkeley junior varsity finished the season at 17-5 and they were the HIT champions this season. The team is head coached by Dillon Salisbury.
The Stag feeder program was led on the mound by soph pitching prospect Braedin Goodwin who finished 9-0 with an ERA of 0.861 with 31 K’s in 40 innings of work. The top hitters for the Stag junior varsity were soph outfielder Pierce May (.444, 8 doubles, 13 RBI’s), and speedy freshman infielder Landyn Cox who batted just under .400 with 7 doubles and a team leading 22 RBI’s. Carson Hainline hit .340 as the team’s DH.
As the baseball playoffs begin Dorman (23-2) and James Island (24-2), the defending Div. I AAAAA champions are the teams to beat in their respective classification. In Div. II AAAAA North Myrtle Beach (21-5) will challenge Berkeley in the lower state while Nation Ford (15-7) and Hillcrest (17-8) bring stiff competition from the upper state.
In AAAA, Fountian Inn (23-2) brings pitching depth to the playoffs in the upper state while Gray Collegiate (24-4-1), Hartsville (21-5), Airport (20-5) and AC Flora (20-5) will also challenge for the AAAA state title. In AAA, the HSSR stands by our prediction that Southside Christian (17-8-1) will win their 5th straight state title under head coach Scott Freeman with teams like Mountain View Prep (20-4), Aynor (16-4), and Swansea (19-5) capable of being spoilers.
In AA, Atlantic Collegiate (23-3) is a strong team from the lower state while Clinton (23-3) will be the team to beat from the upper state AA. In Class A, Lake View (18-4) finished strong and won Region 6-A and they are the team to beat under new head coach William Celmer with upper state teams Great Falls (18-6), Dixie (15-6), and Abbeville strong teams from the upper state.
The SCISA baseball playoffs also start on Monday. Teams like Pinewood Prep (22-2), Hilton Head Christian (26-2), Calhoun Academy (22-1), Hilton Head Prep (22-1), and Spartanburg Christian (14-1) being heavy favorites to compete for state titles in their respective classifications. Play Ball!
