Summerville drops appeal of forfeit of AAAAA baseball lower state tournament championship

Staff reports • May 21, 2024

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Ashley Ridge, Lexington to begin best-of-3 state title series on Thursday

Columbia – Summerville High School dropped its appeal over its forfeiture of the AAAAA baseball lower state tournament championship on Tuesday, setting the stage for Ashley Ridge to face upper state champion Lexington for the AAAAA state title in a best-of-3 series beginning on Thursday.

The South Carolina High School League’s executive committee voted unanimously on Tuesday in a Zoom call meeting that Summerville must forfeit the championship it won over Ashley Ridge because of a pitch count rule violation by the Green Wave in the deciding game of the tournament.

Summerville had the opportunity to file an appeal with SCHSL’s appellate committee but chose not to do so.

Because of that, Ashley Ridge is the lower state champion. The state championship series will begin on Thursday at Lexington beginning at 6:30 p.m.. The second game will be played on Friday at Ashley Ridge beginning at 6:30 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Monday at Airport High School in West Columbia.

The executive committee upheld the forfeiture, which was determined by the umpiring crew shortly after the Green Wave defeated Ashley Ridge 6-4 in eight innings on Thursday.

Summerville pitcher Thayer Tavorima threw 83 pitches in Thursday’s game after throwing just two pitches on Wednesday in an Ashley Ridge win to force a deciding game.

A new rule put into place over the summer stated that if a player cannot throw more than 75 pitches over a 2-day span. Violating the rule leads to the forfeit of the game. The Ashley Ridge coaching staff pointed out the violation to the umpiring crew following the game and it was determined the Green Wave must forfeit.

Summerville principal Dr. Michelle Leviner and athletic director Matt Legare spoke to the executive committee on behalf of the school.

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