Photo: Airport teammates surround Cooper Chavis after he scores the game-winning run off a wild pitch against River Bluff.
By Thomas Grant Jr.
Before and during spring break, Airport baseball has experienced the challenges of a defending state champion.
Last Friday. the Eagles faced Gray Collegiate Academy in a battle of undefeated teams in Region 5-4A.
The War Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead through 3 ½ innings. Noah Styron belted a 2-run homer in the second inning and two runners scored in the Top 4th off bases loaded hit by pitches.
An RBI fielder’s choice by Isahia Clemons in the Bottom 4th put Airport on the board. An RBI sacrifice bunt by M.J. Hornsby in the Top 6th provided the necessary cushion for the War Eagles to earn the 5-4 victory.
The Eagles rallied for three runs in the Bottom 6th, but left the potential tying run at first to end the game. The loss snapped a 7-game winning streak for Airport, while Gray Collegiate ended its winning streak to nine games.
The streak reached 10 following a 12-4 win over Dreher the next day. Gray Collegiate then tied Sumter 6-6 on Monday.
The same day saw Airport look to rebound against River Bluff in the opening round of the Forest Acre Classic at A.C. Flora High School. The Gators were seeking its sixth Classic title and ninth for head coach Mark Bonnette.
They had also won the previous three meetings in the Classic in close fashion over Airport. The latest matchup followed a similar storyline with four lead changes, four home runs and two ties in an eight-inning affair.
A 2-run homer by Landon Jeffcoat put the Eagles up 2-0 in the Bottom 1st. River Bluff responded in the second inning with an RBI single by Banks Alexander and 2-run single by Dominick Norton to go up 3-2.
After a sacrifice fly by Justin Sightler tied the game at 3-3 in the Bottom 3rd and moved Jeffcoat to third base, Rylan Bullis cleared the bases with a 2-run homer.
A home run by Norton brought River Bluff within 5-4. The Eagles answered with back-to-back RBI singles by Gabe Ingram and Alex Nicholas to take a 7-4 lead into the Top 7th.
Austin Rhodus looked to close out the win in relief. After recording the first out, Rhodus gave up three straight hits to load the bases.
This set up Ab Wilkerson to connect on the first pitch and send it over the leftfield wall for a grand slam.
It was Powell’s turn in the Bottom 7th to get the win for River Bluff. Airport’s Braden Gross hit a leadoff double and he scored on Jeffcoat’s 1-out game-tying single to force extra innings.
After Matthew Perry retired the Gators in order, Nicholas was hit to lead off the Bottom 8th. A sacrifice bunt moved Nicholas to second base. He was then replaced by pinch runner Cooper Chavis who moved to third base on a passed ball.
With two outs and two strikes on Clemons, Powell threw a wild pitch past Alexander at homeplate. Chavis slid safety across homeplate for the 9-8 victory.
“Every year, for like 3-4 years now I guess now, we’ve played games like this,” Bradwell said. “And that’s what you do it for. Out of region play, you kind of compare yourselves to those guys. You want to be able to win games like they do and some day you’ve got to beat them. And finally, we got one from them.”
“At the end of the day, this game came down to free bases,” Bonnette said. “We gave up too many free bases and that gets you beat.”
River Bluff and Airport faced Dorman and T.C. Roberson Tuesday and Wednesday to close out Bracket B play. The top two teams in Brackets A&B face each other 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday for 1st and 2nd place trophies.
You must be logged in to post a comment.