(Photos by George Matsui)
By Thomas Grant Jr.
The road to spring sports championships will truly go through West Columbia and Gray Collegiate Academy.
The baseball, softball and soccer teams all have homefield advantage for the duration of the Class 4A playoffs after winning region titles.
BASEBALL
Top seed Gray Collegiate faced Region 5-5A rival Brookland-Cayce Monday for the third time this season. This time, it was the opener for the Lower State District A bracket.
The Bearcats took a 2-1 in the Top 5th on an RBI sacrifice fly by Bennett Plane and solo home run by Maddox Medeiros. M.J. Hornsby answered for the Eagles with a leadoff solo home run to tie the game.
Chase Starkey had a leadoff single to open the Bottom 7th. After moving to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Kaleb Holmes, he scored the game-winning run on another bunt by Caleb Burgess for the 3-2 victory.
Gray Collegiate Academy played host to North Augusta Tuesday in the winner’s bracket. Brookland-Cayce visited Aiken for the elimination game.
Airport opened defense of its Class 4A title Monday with a 11-1 victory over Wilson in the Lower State District B bracket. It was the Eagles’ ninth consecutive post-season victory and was led by Rylan Bullis and Justin Sightler each driving in three runs.
Airport played host to Bishop England Tuesday in a winner’s bracket game.
After finishing in a 3-way tie for first place in Region 4-5A with Lexington and Chapin, River Bluff opened a Best-of-3 District 4 play-in series with Wando Monday.
The Gators rolled 13-3 in five innings as Mac Raines drove in three runs and Mason Iser, Ashley Powell, Walker Godwin, Andrew Rye and Sam Turner all had two RBI.
Game Two took place Tuesday in Wando with Game Three, if necessary, taking place Thursday in The Swamp. The winner would then face Carolina Forest in Conway Saturday.
S.C. BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION TOP TEN CLASS 4A POLL
1. Fountain Inn, 2. Gray Collegiate, 3. AC Flora, 4. Airport, 5. Hartsville, 6. Daniel, 7. Wren, 8. Seneca, 9. Gilbert, 10. North Augusta
SOFTBALL
Two-time defending Class 4A champion Gray Collegiate look to complete an undefeated season before moving up to Class 5A. The Lady War Eagles opened Tuesday against Brookland-Cayce in Lower State District A.
Airport opened on the road in Lower State District C against Colleton County.
In Class 5A Division I Lower State, River Bluff got a walk off 2-run triple by Annslee Crumpton to claim a 9-8 comeback win over Stratford.
This set up a third meeting at archrival Lexington on Tuesday. The Lady Wildcats have won 10 straight meetings over the Lady Gators, including two this season.
SOCCER
The girls’ soccer team is the top overall seed in the Lower State. It opened play at home Tuesday against Colleton County.
In the same bracket, Brookland-Cayce traveled to Region 5-5A rival South Aiken. Airport is the 16th seed in the Upper State and faced top-seed Daniel.
The River Bluff girls played host to Stratford Tuesday with the winner visiting West Ashley on Thursday.
The boys’ soccer team is ranked second overall in the Class 4A Lower State. It opened play Wednesday at home against Darlington.
Brookland-Cayce opened on the road against Hilton Head Island. In Class 5A Division I, River Bluff traveled to Summerville Wednesday with the winner meeting West Ashley on Friday.
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