James Island tops Lexington 6-5 in 8 innings to win AAAAA Division I baseball state title

           Sumter – For Collin Anderson and Jake Amman, it’s hard to imagine a better scenario in which to end their high school baseball careers.

           Amman hit a sharp single into left field to score fellow James Island High School senior Anderson from second base in the bottom of the eighth inning and give the Trojans a walk-off, 6-5 victory over Lexington  for the first AAAAA Division I state championship on Saturday at Riley Park on Bobby Richardson Field.

           “That was two seniors in the bottom of the eighth inning that got that done,” said JIHS head coach Matt Spivey. “When that ball left his bat I knew the game was over.”

           “You couldn’t have written it any better,” said Amman, whose team trailed 5-4 going to the bottom of the eighth. “They go up, but we’re not going anywhere. Obviously we got the last laugh and the last runs across the plate.”

           JIHS won the best-of-3 series 2-1. James Island won the opening game 5-4 in eight before the Wildcats won the second contest 9-4.

           JIHIS, the defending AAAA state champion, became the first AAAAA DI champion. AAAAA was split into two divisions after realignment, and James Island joined AAAAA with realignment. The Trojans finished with a 30-4 record.

           “That feels pretty doggone good,” Spivey said of being the initial AAAAA DI champion. “A lot of people had us pegged for that, but baseball is a hard game. Everybody is gunning for you all year long, and you’ve got the target on your back, But these guys rose to the occasion and played their tails off and refused to take an L back to The Island.”

           The Wildcats, who were the defending AAAAA state champions, finished with a 22-11-1 record.

           “We ask a lot of these guys,” said LHS head coach Brian Hucks. “The love they have for the blue and gold, I just hate they didn’t get the feeling of winning that last one. This one will sting, but it’s a situation where they’ll look back on this season and understand what we overcame. We got to the end and we went to extra innings. We just didn’t have enough bullets to finish it.”

           Lexington, which scored two runs in the top of the seventh to force extra innings, took a 5-4 lead in the eighth. However, the Trojans wouldn’t be denied in the bottom of the inning.

           Designated hitter Braden Deprill drew a leadoff walk from Wildcats pitcher Jake Epps, who had come on in the sixth inning. Hucks decided to bring in left-hander Brayden Studebaker at this point. Deprill was sacrificed to second base by Brady Dantzler, with only a great play by second baseman Graham Coleman keeping it from being a base hit.

           That brought the left-handed swinging Anderson, hitting in the ninth spot in the batting order, to the plate. He responded with a drive to the gap in right-centerfield for a double that easily scored Deprill to tie the game.

           “I was just looking for a fast ball that I could hit as hard as I could and I got it,” Anderson said.

 Pinch hitter Ethan Stein drew a walk to bring Amman to the plate. He stroked a single over the head of the third baseman, and Anderson never slowed down, scoring the winning run and setting off a wild celebration.

“I wasn’t trying to do too much, that’s for sure,” Amman said. “Coach Spivey told me there’s nobody better for the situation, but not to try and do too much. The game will come to you, and I got a pitch over the plate, and I knew I could do damage with it.”

Spivey could offer nothing but praise for Anderson and Amman.

 “I have faith in that kid,” Spivey said of Anderson, who has been hitting in the bottom third of the batting order all season. “For him to step up in the bottom of the eighth and get that game-tying double there is absolutely incredible. He hasn’t been a great hitter, but I wouldn’t bet against any of my seniors.

“I knew when we got to the top of the lineup, when Collin turned it over, the chances of us soring the game-winning run were really high.”

           Anderson stepping on home plate made him a winner on the mound as well. The lefty did it in unusual fashion, pithing twice in the game. He started and worked the first 5 2/3 innings. When the book was closed on him at that point, he’d allowed just three hits and two runs while walking three and striking out three. He was also the pitcher of decision.

           The game, of course, went to extra innings, and Anderson toed the rubber again in the eighth = after five other pitchers had thrown following his first appearance. He came in with runners on first and second with no outs, and Jonathan Waldrop bunted for a single to load the bases.

           With a drawn-in infield, Anderson got Bryce Mobley to hit a ground ball to shortstop Taj Marchand, who threw home to force Grant Kissner at the plate. Leadoff hitter Toby Sobieralski hit a fly ball to right fielder Connor Dantzler. His throw was up the line as a tagging Coleman scored to make it a sacrifice fly and a 5-4 lead for LHS. Anderson got Christian Spivey to pop up on the infield to get out of the inning without further damage.

           “I honestly didn’t even know I was allowed to come back in,” said Anderson, whose combined numbers wound up at 6 2/3 innings, four hits, two runs, three walks and three strikeouts. “I did and I just knew I had to do it for my team.”

           “How poetic, right,” Spivey said of Anderson getting the win after taking the hill again. “He cruised through the first five innings. He went through some adversity earlier in the week and to get the ball today and come out and showed the kind of character, the kind of makeup that kid has, that he wasn’t going to be beat when we brought him back in.”

           Hucks believes the Wildcats let the game get away by only getting one run on the board in the eighth.

           “We didn’t do enough and we had the top of our lineup up, and we had a chance to really break it open. That’s the same thing that happened in Game 1. That team’s too dangerous to keep it that close. That’s a situation where if you split a gap and get two or three right there, it‘s a completely different game.”

 JIHS got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Stow Rogers drew a leadoff walk from Lexington right-handed starting pitcher Reidar Carlson. Rogers stole second before moving to third on a sacrifice by Amman. Marchand, a junior who is committed to Mississippi, grounded out to second to score Rogers and make it 1-0.

           Carlson hit Trip Ostergard with a pitch before Connor Dantzler hit a double down the left field line, scoring Ostergard all the way from first to make it 2-0.

           In the second, Anderson singled with one out and scored all the way from first when a grounder by Rogers was thrown away. The Wildcats committed two more errors in the inning, but there was no more damage. The inning ended with Rogers being thrown out at home plate and being ejected from the game for dropping his shoulder into Sobieralski, the catcher.

           Anderson allowed just one hit through the first five innings. James Island played errorless ball throughout the game and turned two double plays on line drive outs, including an unassisted one by Anderson.

           “I was just mixing my pitches, throwing them all for strikes and keeping them on their toes,” Anderson said.

           LHS finally got to Anderson in the sixth. Mobley drew a 1-out walk, and Sobieralski followed with a single. After getting Chrstian Spivey to fly out for the second out, Brandon Cromer singled to drive in Mobley and make it 3-1.

           That’s when Coach Spivey decided to lift Anderson. He brought in Dawson Belder, who hit Lincoln Hill to load the bases and then hit Logan Blight to force in courtesy runner Jones Bell to make it 3-2. Ostergard came to the mound and got Grant Kissner to fly out for the final out.

           “You know Lexington’s got a punch or two or three, and they just kept coming,” Coach Spivey said. “The first five innings you’re feeling really good, but you also know in the back of your mind that Lexington has got a punch. They’re too well coached to go down quietly.”

           The Trojans got an insurance run in the bottom of the inning. Connor Dantzler singled with one out before Deprill and Brady Dantzler drew 2-out walks to load the bases. Carlson hit Anderson with a pitch to force in Connor Dantzler and make it 4-2. That was the end of the night for Carlson as Epps came on to end the inning.

           Carlson worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing four hits while giving up four runs, three of them earned. He walked three and struck out one.

           Lexington tied the game in the seventh. Coleman led off with a double before Ostergard walked Waldrop and hit Mobley to load the bases with no outs. Bishop Nixon came on in relief and got Sobieralski to line out before walking Christian Spivey to score Coleman and make it 4-3.

           Marchand then came to the mound and struck out Cromer for the second out. However, he walked Hill on a 3-2 pitch to score Waldrop and tie the game.

           “That’s the way it’s been all year,” Hucks said. “They’re so freaking tough. Anderson was really pitching well early, and he had us off balance. He did a good job of pitching backwards. Things were looking bleak. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to square up enough balls to get back in the game. Then all of a sudden we started making adjustments like we’ve done all year. To be down and then come back and score, it’s about the toughness, heart and grit of these young men, and I love them.”

           Cromer had two of the Wildcats’ five hits to go with a run batted in. Coleman had the double and scored two runs, while Sobieralski had a hit and an RBI. Waldrop had a hit and a run, Hill and Blight each had an RBI, and Mobley scored a run.

           Considering LHS had to replace its entire infield from last year and lost its top pitcher and starting rightfieler, Hucks is very pleased with the season.

           “For these guys to get back in it again and be in this moment, it’s truly an inspiration to me and a remarkable thing,” he said. “This program every year, they just find a way to get back to the end of the season. I told the seniors they left this program better than they found it, and that’s what matters the most.”

           The Trojans finished with eight hits with Amman, Ostergard, Connor Dantzler and Anderson picking up two apiece. Anderson scored twice and had an RBI, Dantzler had a run and an RBI, Ostergard scored a run and Amman had the game-winning RBI.

           “It’s always been we ain’t going nowhere,” Amman said of the team’s attitude going to the bottom of the eighth. “We’re going down swinging if we’re going down. We knew we had a shot.

“It means everything to win state. It’s something for your school, your community, yourself, your teammates. It means the world.”

 “There’s no better way to win it than in a good game in the last game of the year,” Anderson said. “These are all my boys. I love every single one of them. I just love them.

“I scored the winning run, but Jake got the winning hit. It took every one if us.”

“I can’t say enough about my kids,” Coach Spivey said. “We work our tails off and this is why you work. It makes the story easy to tell. It means the expectations that were put on us and all the hard work we put in paid off.”