Dorchester Beats Lee 9-5 to Win SCISA AA Baseball Crown
By Dennis Brunson
Hssr.com Associate Editor
Manning – The Dorchester Academy baseball team came into the SCISA AA state playoffs with a 7-13 overall record.
The Raiders’ run in the playoffs came to an end on Thursday with them sporting a 13-15 record – oh, yeah – and the state championship trophy.
DA beat defending state champion Lee Academy 9-5 in the third and deciding game of the best-of-3 championship series at Laurence Manning Academy’s Tucker Belangia Diamond.
“These guys here we struggled all season long, but we never lost our composure,” said Dorchester head coach Brent Jackson. “We just came out here in the playoffs and started playing baseball like we should have.”
The Raiders won their second title in three years, claiming the 2024 crown. Jackson pointed out an important distinction.
“We just had one guy back from that (’24) team,” he said. “This was a new bunch of guys who did it.”
The Cavaliers, who finished the season with an 18-6 record, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. However, DA broke through for four runs in the third.
LA got within 4-2 in the fourth only to see Dorchester match the run in the top of the fifth. Lee put up two in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 5-4. That set the stage for Raiders senior third baseman Wyatt Byrd.
DA’s Reed Almers reached on an infield single to start the top of the sixth. He was forced out on a fielder’s choice, and it appeared Cavaliers relief pitcher Myles Frye had the second out when he got Landon Holly to pop up in foul territory down the first base line. The ball wasn’t caught though, thus extending the at-bat. That would be fatal for LA.
Holly came through with a single before Warren Judy struck out for what would have been the third out. Instead, it was just the second and that brought the right-handed swinging Byrd, the No. 5 hitter, to the plate. He lofted a fly ball right down the right field line. The outfield on Tucker Belangia Diamond is pretty spacious with the exception of down the two lines, with right reaching 295 feet. Byrd’s poke ended up clearing the fence for a 3-run home run that made it 8-4.
“When I hit it I thought I had a double,” said Byrd, who not only hit his first homer of the season but also hit a homer in his final high school at-bat. “I just got very excited when I saw it was a homer.”
Lee head coach Danny Price couldn’t undersell the significance of that scenario.
“If we make that play we’re getting out of the inning without them scoring,” Price said. “If we do that, then we really have the momentum going for us. But baseball can be a funny game.”
Dorchester would add another run as John Quattlebaum drew a walk, went to third on an Abe Shuler single and stole home to make it 9-4.
Lee got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but Judy retired the side in order in the seventh to get the complete game.
“I was just out there competing,” said Judy, who finished the game with 90 pitches. “I wasn’t getting a lot of strikeouts. I was just relying on my defense, and they did a great job.”
Judy allowed seven hits, but didn’t walk a batter while striking out four.
“Warren pitched a heck of a game,” Jackson said. “He just went out there and battled.”
The Raiders finished with 12 hits, all of them coming over the last five innings. Shuler led the way in terms of hits, going 3-for-4 with one run batted in.
Byrd was 2-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored. Holly was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Judy was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Austin Varn had a hit, two runs and an RBI, Carter Beeks had a hit and two runs, and Almers had a hit, a run and an RBI.
“We got the clutch hits when we needed them,” said Jackson, whose team didn’t hit a home run in the regular season but hit four over the course of the eight playoff games.
Olson had two of LA’s seven hits to go with a run and an RBI. Chance Entzminger had a hit, two runs and an RBI, Andrew Bowers had a hit and an RBI, and Cash Hollowayhad a hit and a run.
Tucker Rogers and Aiden Fitzgerald each had a hit, while Frye scored a run and picked up an RBI.
“We had a great season,” Price said. “We hit and pitched well most of the season, but we just didn’t seem to play our best in this series. You have to tip your cap to them (Dorchester). They played well.”
Lee got out to the 1-0 lead in the first when Entzminger reached on a 1-out error, stole second and scored on an Olson single.
Tyler Gilbert started on the mound for the Cavaliers. He walked Almers to open the game before retiring six batters in a row. However, he walked Beeks to begin the third and wasn’t as lucky this time around.
Gilbert struck out Bryce Marchant before getting Almers to hit a ground ball. All hands were safe on an error, and Varn and Holly followed with RBI singles to make it 2-1. Judy had a ground-rule double to drive in a run, and Byrd followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
LA cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth. Olson singled with one out, reached third on an Aiden Fitzgerald single and scord on a sacrivifce fly by Frye.
Dorchester got the run back in the fifth when Judy and Byrd started the inning with singles. Shuler followed with a 1-out single to score courtesy runner Graham Varnadoe.
Holloway led off the Lee fifth with a single and was sacrificed to second by Cary Privette. Entzminger delivered Holloway with a 2-out single, and Bowers followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-4.
