Hilton Head Christian beats Ben Lippen for SCISA AAAA baseball state title

           Orangeburg – After winning the SCISA AAA baseball state title in 2024, Hilton Head Christian Academy graduated several key players from that team. And with a move to AAAA due to reclassification, that added to the difficulty of winning back-to-back titles.

           That was never at the forefront of the team’s thoughts heading into the ’25 season, however.

           “We just talked all season long about the process of getting better, playing our best baseball by the end of April,” said Eagles head coach Jay Scarbro, who was in his first year as head coach after serving as an assistant under JW Wilkerson last year. “As long as we were doing that, we were OK with what it looked like.”

           Well, it ended up looking pretty darn good.

           HHCA ended up winning its second straight title, beating Ben Lippen 7-3 in the deciding game of the best-of-3 state championship series on May 16 at Mirmow Field.

           “I’ve coached over 20 years and this is my first one as a head coach,” said Scarbro, who guided Hilton Head Christian to a 22-9 record. “These opportunities don’t come by very often. We’re very, very blessed and happy to be in this position.”

           Hilton Head Christian rallied after losing the first game of the series 5-1 in Columbia. The Eagles returned home to Bluffton and picked up a 16-6 victory in Game 2.

           The Eagles rode the pitching of Chip Hetzel to the victory. Hetzel tossed 6-plus innings, allowing just three hits and three runs – all of them unearned and all of them coming in the Falcons’ final two at-bats. Hetzel struck out four and walked just two.

           “Truth be told, he probably didn’t get enough credit,” Scarbro said of Hetzel. “He’s been our shortstop all year long, but we needed him on the mound. We told him, ‘You’ve got to go make it happen.’ He made it through six innings and was outstanding on the mound. He scattered just a few hits.”

           Hetzel was also a big contributor on offense as well. He was 1-for-2 with a triple, two walks, scored three runs and drove in a run.

“He did that from the leadoff spot,” Scarbro said. “I just can’t say enough.”

After a scoreless first inning, HHCA put up two runs against BL starting pitcher David McElveen in the top of the second. It pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fourth, knocking McElveen off the mound in the process.

Hilton Head Christian added a single run in the fifth to extend the lead to 5-0. Ben Lippen got a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-1, but the Eagles responded with two runs in the top of the seventh to go up 7-1.

Hetzel came back out for the bottom of the inning before Anthony Seminara came on to close out the game.

HHCA finished with eight hits. Jackson Richardson had one of those, a triple, to go along with a sacrifice fly, a stolen base and four runs batted in.

Eli Morgan and Seminara both had two hits with one of Morgan’s being a double. He also scored two runs, while Seminara drew two walks and had an RBI.

Will Mahl had a double, Josh Koepke had a hit and a run, and Brody Mayles scored a run. Roman Colella drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Ben Lippen, which finished the year at 23-6, finished with four hits. Sean Lee and Breon Earle both had a hit, scored a run and drove in a run. Earle’s hit was a double.

Matthew Bishop and Cash Kubicek had the other hits, and Micah Ott scored the other run.

The Eagles had to play the game without one of its starters. Stone Burd had a medical emergency just prior to the team loading the bus for the trip to Orangeburg. Burd was taken to a Hilton Head Island hospital and was released later that evening.

           Scarbro said it was a balancing act throughout the season fitting in the right pieces in the right places.

           Positionally, we were trying to figure out who the right guys were, what the right lineup was and go out and compete,” he said. “We managed it each day and tried to go out and get a little bit better.

           “We had a lot of people playing dual roles, playing a number of positions for us. They did a great job doing that.”

           With only one senior on the team in All-Region performer Hayden Brooks, the thoughts of a 3-peat have to be dancing through the minds of the Hilton Head Christian faithful.

“The overall perspective is what a great season, what a great opportunity, playing and to win it,” Scarbro said. “With us being young and only one senior, we should have confidence and I’ve encouraged them to think toward next year.

“We’ve established ourselves in AAAA and that we’re going to show up and compete. No one is going to overlook us. Now we have work to do. I’ve encouraged them to work hard as we go into next year.”