(Photo by Airport High School)
By Thomas Grant Jr.
To prepare for the rigors of playoff baseball, defending Class 4A champion Airport participated in the Forest Acres Classic at A.C. Flora High School.
The Eagles went 2-2 at the tournament without facing the host team. Two months later, Airport was back at Falcon Field Tuesday to face them in Game One of the state finals.
This is the second championship series between the two longtime rivals. The Falcons swept the Eagles in a Best-of-Three series in 2013 to win the Class 3A title.
Airport set up a rematch after bouncing back from a Game One loss to Hartsville to win two straight games and reclaim the Lower State title.
In Game Two, the Eagles scored four runs in the Bottom 5th to break a 5-5 tie. A bases-clearing triple by Braden Gross highlighted the rally and Airport withstood a final inning comeback by the Red Foxes for the 9-7 victory.
The deciding game shifted back to Hartsville where the Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning. After the Red Foxes cut the deficit to 6-3, reliever Brayden Dunlap held them scoreless over the next four innings.
Airport went on to win 7-3. It was their 15th post-season win the last 16 games.
While the Eagles (24-6) are seeking a second straight title, A.C. Flora looks to claim an eighth championship, all under departing head coach Andy Hallett. In March, he announced plans to become the new athletics director and baseball coach at Midlands STEM, a public charter school in Winnsboro.
The Falcons (27-5) are riding a 15-game winning streak and are 7-0 in the postseason. They have outscored their playoff opponents 77-17 and only allowed Daniel to score five runs in two meetings.
Game Two is set for Thursday in West Columbia with a deciding game, if necessary, Saturday at a neutral site.
Post-season run ends for Gators
The resilient post-season run that saw River Bluff prevail in four elimination games ended Saturday night at defending Class 5A Division I champion James Island.
The Gators fell 3-1 to the Trojans last Saturday in the deciding game. A Sam Turner sacrifice fly to give River Bluff a first inning lead was its lone run of the game.
James Island’s pitching trio of Dawson Baldner, Taj Marchand and Brayden Easterling combined to allow just four hits and strike out five.
River Bluff had baserunners on first and second with two outs in its last at-bat. However, Turner lined out to rightfield to end the season.
Just two days earlier, the Gators forced a deciding game after rallying from a 9-0 deficit for an 11-10 win.
Banks Alexander ignited the comeback with a 3-run homer as part of a 4-run third inning. River Bluff then tied the game at 9-9 in the fourth inning with a 5-run rally.
After James Island reclaimed the lead in the Bottom 4th with a double by Marchand, Wes Godwin connected with the go-ahead 2-run homer in the fifth inning.
Marchand attempted to score the potential game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. However, he was thrown out at homeplate to end the game.
River Bluff finished the season with a 17-10 record.
