Richard Winn defends SCISA Class A baseball state championship

Winnsboro – The Richard Winn Academy baseball team couldn’t pull off another undefeated season, so the Eagles’ fans had to settle for another SCISA Class A state championship.

RWA swept the best-of-3 state championship series against Holly Hill Academy, winning the second game 5-3 on a 2-run home run by Ethan Steward in the bottom of the sixth inning in Winnsboro on May 15.

Richard Winn went 25-0 in winning the 2023 title, but it lost six seniors from that squad, so to repeat as state champion is quite an achievement in the eyes of head coach Paul Brigman.

“It was definitely pretty special,” said Brigman, whose team saw both of its losses come against SCHSL AA school York Prep to finish with a 20-2 record. “We’ve been fortunate the last couple of years to have a lot of great players. We’ve developed a winning culture and I’m happy to see it pay off. We’re excited about it and where we are in the future also.

“We felt like this year it would be harder because we lost six really good players from last year’s team. We have to have some young guys to replace them, so it might be more difficult, take a little more work to get it done. It was a different season.”

After winning the opening game 8-2 in Holly Hill, the Eagles had a much more difficult time closing out the series. The Raiders, who finished with an 18-6 record, rallied from an early 3-run deficit to tie the game at 3-3. That’s when Steward stepped to the plate and cracked the 2-run homer

That made a winner out of Tony Armstrong, who pitched the first six innings, allowing just one hit and no earned runs. Charlie Bonds came on to pitch a scoreless seventh and pick up the save.

Miller Stuck hit a 2-run homer in RWA’S 3-run third inning. Holly Hill head coach Andy Green said Stuck may have been an even bigger factor at shortstop.

“He made several unbelievable plays at the shortstop position,” Green said. “We only got one hit but hit many balls hard that he was to track down and make great plays. He was definitely the difference maker.”

Bonds had a hit, scored twice and had a stolen bases, while Bennett Nicholson had a hit, a run and two stolen bases.

HHA’s only hit was a 2-run homer by Mason Rudd. Mason Connor and Tyler Green scored the other runs for the Raiders. Green also stole two bases.

Coach Green was pleased with how his team responded after losing the opener at home.

“I was proud of the effort second night,” he said. “This was the first time in these kids’ careers playing for a state championship. Richard Winn looked like a team that the spotlight was not too big for in the first game, while the spotlight was a little too big for us. We came out in Game 2 and realized we could play with them.”

The HHA head coach also liked the way his team responded to playing more of a small ball style this year.

“We changed our persona,” Coach Green said. “It started out rough, rocky. Once they bought in, the switch flipped on and we were a much better team. They were believing in the process, in what we were doing. We weren’t going to go out and beat you with doubles and home runs. We’d had big bats in the past, but we changed our style of play more to small ball.”

`          In the opening game, Stuck threw a 1-hitter in the 8-2 win. Armstrong hit a 3-run home run and Steward had a 3-run double.

           “It was a great team win,” said Brigman. “The pitching and defense kept them from getting anything going, and our offense led the way.”

           The Eagles are losing six more seniors this year. They are Stuck, who was the Region 4 Player of the Year, Steward, Armstrong, outfielder Grant Brown and Stone Gill and Landon Smith, who split time at catcher.

           “We’ve still got the opportunity to be a really good team,” Brigman said. "Next year we’re going to be really young. When you have two straight years where you’re graduating six guys it’s going to be a little bare at some point.”