James Island beats Dorman 5-0 to win AAAAA Division I championship series for third straight title
Easterling, Marchand combine to toss shutout for Trojans
James Island Wins Third Straight AAAAA Baseball Title With 5-0 Win Over Dorman
Lexington – There was some hesitation by James Island High School baseball head coach Matt Spivey in selecting River Bluff High School as the location for Saturday’s deciding game against Dorman in the best-of-3 AAAAA Division state championship series.
Just nine days earlier, the Trojans visited The Swamp looking to wrap up the Lower State title in Game 2 of that series. Sparked by four runs batted in from All-State senior Taj Marchand, they had a 9-0 lead over the Gators after three innings, and the Trojans were feeling pretty good at that point.
However, a resilient River Bluff rallied for nine unanswered runs to tie the game. James Island regained the lead in the top of the fifth only for Wes Godwin to belt a 2-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to give the Gators the improbable 11-10 comeback win.
This time around, the Trojans left their personal “House of Horrors” with a pleasant memory and their third straight state championship. Taking an early lead and with Brayden Easterling and Marchand combining for seven shutout innings on the mound, James Island defeated Dorman 5-0 for the victory.
“He doesn’t flinch,” said Spivey of Marchand, the star senior shortstop/pitcher who has signed to play at Mississippi but is expected to be selected in the top three rounds of the Major League Baseball draft in July. “The moment is never too big for that guy and he showed that today.”
James Island concluded the season at 31-4 with their third straight title, the last two in AAAAA Division I.
“We got together as a staff and then as a team, and said, ‘We have to conquer some demons,’ and this was the place that we wanted to do it, and I think we did that today,” said Spivey.
James Island led 2-0 after the first inning. Junior Trip Ostergard led off with a single. Then senior centerfielder Connor Dantzler, a Tulsa football signee, got a 1-out single to advance Ostergard to third. Dantzler advanced to second on the throw. Senior first baseman Finn Pratt singled to right field, scoring Ostergard to make it 1-0 with Dantzler advancing to third. Brady Dantzler got an RBI groundout to score his brother, making it 2-0 .
James Island added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 5-0. Junior outfielder Ethan Stein led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout out by sophomore outfielder Aiden Spivey. Ostergard reached on a hit by pitch before Marchand was intentionally walked. Stein scored on an RBI groundout by Connor Dantzler to make it 3-0. Pratt then singled on a line drive to center, scoring two runs, courtesy runner Dawson Beldner for Marchand, and Ostergard to make the final score 5-0.
It was a pitcher’s duel between Easterling and Cooper Hornick of Dorman most of the way. Both threw four innings and matched each other with two strikeouts and held the opposition scoreless from the second through fourth innings.
Each were also relieved by their respective team’s top players in the fifth inning. Marchand replaced Easterling for James Island, while Hornick, the AAAAA DI Player Year, according to the
South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association, was moved from second base to the mound.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, Marchand gave up a walk and two singles to load the bases. The Cavaliers could not capitalize as States Farr struck out to end the threat.
“We needed someone to come through,” Marchand said. “I needed to come through that moment. I did, and that’s what needed to happen.”
Veteran Dorman head coach Jack Jolly commented, “We started that inning building with two outs,” he said. “So I was really proud with getting the bases loaded. We got to the top of the lineup. That’s what we wanted to try to do in the top of the sixth. So we had everything that we wanted. We just didn’t come through.”
After giving up a leadoff single in the seventh to Luke Thompson, Marchand retired the final three batters to end the series. Following the game-ending strikeout of Connor Wells, Marchand tossed his cap high into the air as teammates piled on the mound in celebration.
“It’s hard to get back here,” said Coach Spivey. “It’s hard to win 31 baseball games. But my guys show up and work every day. They put the work in and here we are.”
Meanwhile, a disappointed Jolly praised his senior class and called this one of the most enjoyable seasons in his career.
“It’s going to hurt for a while, but we’ll learn and grow from this and, hopefully, we’ll be able to overcome this mountain,” said Jolly.
In the championship game, the Trojans got four innings of mound work from Easterling, a sophomore. He gave up five hits, no runs and he had five strikeouts. Marchand pitched the final three innings, giving up four hits and no runs while striking out three.
James Island had eight hits. They were led at the plate by Pratt, who went 3-for4 with three RBI. Ostergard, Connor Dantzler, Brady Dantzler, Stein, and Spivey each had one hit. Marchand was walked three times.
