MIDLANDS FEATURE APRIL
Lexington's Brandon Cromer
MIDLANDS FEATURE APRIL
Midlands Top 10 (Games ending April 12)
Baseball
1. River Bluff (14-3, 6-2 Region 4-5A)
2. Dutch Fork (13-6, 6-3 Region 4-5A)
3. Blythewood (14-3, 6-2 Region 5-5A)
4. Lexington (10-6-1, 6-2 Region 4-5A)
5. Gilbert (17-2, 11-1 Region 4-4A)
6. Airport (15-3, 11-1 Region 4-4A)
7. AC Flora (12-4-1, 5-1 Region 3-4A)
8. Ben Lippen (14-3, 8-1 SCISA Region 1-4A)
9. Cardinal Newman (11-7, 6-2 SCISA Region 1-4A)
10. Hammond (11-5, 6-2 SCISA Region 1-4A)
Softball
1. Lexington (16-2, 8-0 Region 4-5A)
2. Gray Collegiate (20-1, 11-0 Region 4-4A)
3. Gilbert (15-1, 11-0 Region 4-4A)
4. AC Flora (13-4, 8-0 Region 3-4A)
5. Blythewood (15-5, 7-3 Region 5-5A)
6. Chapin (11-7, 6-2 Region 4-5A)
7. Hammond (5-4, 4-1 SCISA Region 1-4A)
8. Ben Lippen (6-5, 5-2 SCISA Region 1-4A)
9. Airport (10-8, 5-7 Region 4-4A)
10. Pelion (10-6, 4-5 Region 2-2A)
Diamond fever alive and well in the Midlands
If you were looking for a baseball rivalry in the springtime, there was no better place to be than at River Bluff’s baseball field April 8, when Region 4-5A rivals Dutch Fork (11-5, 6-3) and the home team Gators (14-3, 6-2). The two teams—Dutch Fork ranked fourth in the High School Sports Report’s 5A Division I State Baseball Top 10, and River Bluff ranked fifth in 5A Division II—went after it from the first pitch.
The game featured lead changes, a bases-clearing double, a game-tying home run, and in the seventh inning two bases-loaded situations—one that left three Dutch Fork baserunners stranded, and one that ended the game with Alexander Banks’ walk-off 2-run single that secured the win for River Bluff.
“We’ve had so many battles with them through the years,” said River Bluff head coach Mark Bonnette, whose team won the 5A state championship in 2023. “(Dutch Fork head coach) Darren (Jones) does a great job, he handles their pitchers so well, but for our guys to keep competing, keep fighting, there were so many opportunities to give in mentally, because this game is hardest game in the world anyways, it’ll just screw you up. So the fact that our kids hung in there, I’m hoping that gave them a taste of playoff baseball, because none of these kids have really played in it before. I’m excited for them.”
The action started from the first inning and the tension never let go.
Dutch Fork’s Raleigh Salters scored on Candler Morden’s double to put the Silver Foxes up 1-0 in the first inning, but in the bottom of the second Alexander Banks’ 2-out, 3-run double put River Bluff up 3-1.
Ethan Offing, quarterback for Dutch Fork’s latest football state championship run, tied the game with a 2-run home run over the batter’s eye in centerfield in the top of the third inning with two out.
Back-to-back 2-out doubles in the top of the fifth gave the Silver Foxes a 6-3 lead. Coleman Fryer’s double drove in Offing and Brayden Johnson, and Luciano Cesario’s double drove in Fryer.
The Gators got one run back in the bottom of the fifth on Walker Goodwin’s 1-out RBI single that scored Maddux Free. They got a second run in the bottom of the sixth when Banks scored on Dominic Norton’s ground out.
That’s when the tension grew as tight as a late-round playoff game.
With Ab Wilkerson on the mound to start the seventh inning, Fryer and Cesario got on base with back-to-back singles and Wilkerson hit Alex Townley with a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.
Wilkerson, a sophomore, kept his composure. He got Jarvis Jackson to hit a grounder to second baseman Zach Ortiz, who threw to catcher Tripp Hutto, who tagged out Fryer at the plate. Then he got Chase Ellis to hit a ground ball to first baseman Norton, who relayed the ball to Hutto, who tagged out Cesario at the plate for the second out.
After that out Godwin took the mound and struck out Brayden Johnson to retire the side.
In the bottom of the seventh with the Silver Foxes leading 6-5 and with Cesario on the mound for Dutch Fork, Godwin went to bat and singled. After Hutto struck out, Ortiz was hit by a pitch and Cesario walked Wilkerson to load the bases.
Andrew Rye flied out for the second out and it all came down to Banks. Banks worked the count to three balls and one strike before lashing a line-drive single into rightfield, which easily scored Godwin and Ortiz for the win.
“We are such a young team this year as far as experience,” Bonnette said. “Sometimes things go your way, and tonight even though we didn’t play perfect by no means, it was fun to see our kids react and enjoy themselves tonight.”
For Jones and the Silver Foxes who won a state title in 2019 under head coach Casey Waites, who retired last year, it was a disappointing way to end the night, but not an unusual thing in a region as tough as Region 4.
“It’s the way it goes,” Jones said. “We’ve just got to get better at closing out these games. Hat’s off to them, good fight in the last inning right there, I felt like we were one pitch away right there. Anytime you play in this region, it comes down to that 21st out, who can get that big out. Can’t give anybody free bases. That 3-1 pitch took it away, we’ve just got to find a way to close it out.”
Dutch Fork did find a way two days later. Pitchers Boone Miller and Brayden Johnson combined for a 5-hitter in a 7-1 victory over the Gators. Offing tripled and Salters, Cesario and Morden doubled.
“Baseball’s tough. It’s a funny game,” Jones said. “You’ve got to have it all together. Like us, when you play in the region, when you slip up, somebody’s going to step on you.”
Blythewood baseball slips with back-to-back losses to Sumter
Across the Broad River from Region 4-5A, Top-ranked in the HSSR’s 5A Division 1 State Top 10 Blythewood had taken sole possession of first place in Region 5-5A after completing a season sweep of West Florence, ranked sixth in the HSSR’s 5A Division II Top 10, with a 5-inning 13-0 victory April 3.
“Rankings, I don’t even look at them,” Blythewood head coach Travis Poole said at the time. “As long as we play well, take care of what we’re capable of taking care of ourselves, then I’m comfortable with whatever we do.”
In that game Blythewood banged out 11 hits including a home from from Amare Counts, and two doubles apiece from Jackson Bottar and Johnny Collins. Pitcher Bowman Rummel gave up four hits in five innings.
Since that time the Bengals (14-3, 7-2 Region 5-5A) ran into trouble against Sumter. The Gamecocks (9-8, 4-4) snapped Blythewood’s 14-game winning streak with a 4-1 win at Sumter April 8, then held off a late rally in a 6-5 victory over the Bengals April 10.
The losses to Sumter may not do damage to Blythewood’s region bid considering the Bengals’ double wins over second-place West Florence, but Poole said after the last loss to the Gamecocks that Blythewood will have to do some soul searching over the next week if they want to have a strong post-season.
“We need to play better. We’re not playing well in any facets of the game,” he said. “Not taking nothing away from Sumter, they’re a good team. We’re just not very good right now.”
This time of year is when Blythewood hosts the South Carolina Diamond Invitational, a long-running tournament that attracts teams from across the state. Unfortunately for the community the tournament was canceled for this year, so the Bengals head to Charleston to take part in the 57-team Hanahan Invitational Tournament (HIT) that plays out over Spring Break.
GCA-Gilbert Softball showdown set
At the 4A level, Gray Collegiate and Gilbert, ranked No.1 and No.3 in the HSSR’s 4A State Softball Top Ten, respectively, are soon to play games that will determine the 4-4A region championship. When Spring Break concludes the Indians (15-1, 10-0) plays host to the 2024 2A state champion War Eagles (20-1, 11-0) April 21. On April 24 Gray Collegiate will host Gilbert.
“They’re having a great year and we’ll see what happens,” Gray Collegiate head coach Doug Frye said. “They’re a good team, and we’ve played some good teams this year, Byrnes twice, Clover twice, Seneca twice, Flora twice. We’ve seen good pitchers pitching slow stuff as well as fast stuff. We’ve been hitting pretty good but we could be better at the plate.”
Among Gilbert’s pitchers is ace Ainsley Minchew. While just a freshman, she has proven to be a solid pitcher for the Indians. On Saturday she gave up three hits and struck out seven in a complete-game effort in Gilbert’s 5-2 win over region rival Airport. Earlier, she gave up three hits and struck out 11 in a 5-1 victory over the Eagles April 3, then in two games against Brookland-Cayce April 8-9, she gave up no hits in eight innings and struck out 18.
Among the Gray Academy batting leaders, sophomore shortstop Aspen Boulware has a .608 batting average 14 home runs and 33 runs batted in. Senior third baseman and Converse signee Kaley Anderson is also batting .608 with five homers and 26 RBI. Senior catcher and Tallahassee State signee Kaylan Boudreau is batting .441 with five doubles, a home run and 23 RBI. Senior pitcher Maddox Long is hitting .368 four homers and 17 RBI. Senior centerfielder and Columbia International signee Na’Veah Matthews is hitting .400 with a home run and 12 RBI.
