ST MATTHEWS – Richard Winn Academy had secured game 1 of the SCISA 1A state championship series on the strength of Charlie Bonds’ pitching performance May 13.
Over the next two games of the best-of-three series against Holly Hill Academy, it was evident that a third-straight state championship was not in the works.
In game two at Billy Ladd Field May 14, the Raiders had their ace, Ashton Soles, on the mound. Soles gave up two runs on two hits in the first inning, and no-hit the Eagles the rest of the way in a 7-2 victory to force a game 3 at a neutral site.
Thursday at the Calhoun Academy baseball field, Richard Winn faced Tyler Green and put two runs on the scoreboard by the third inning, but Green wound up pitching a complete-game 3-hitter as the Raiders won 6-2 and clinched their first state championship since 2016.
The silent bats of Richard Winn (16-5) frustrated the team and head coach Paul Brigman.
“We didn’t hit the ball at all this series and that was frustrating to us because we’ve been pretty good at it all year long,” Richard Winn head coach Paul Brigman said. “You’ve got to give credit to their pitching, they really came through in game 2 and game 3 with strong pitching and we just couldn’t do a whole lot with them.”
Holly Hill Academy stayed true to what brought them to the SCISA 1A state championship series—good at-bats, timely hitting, and speed on the basepaths.
“It’s been our mojo all season, putting pressure on teams,” Holly Hill Academy head coach Andy Green said after the final game. “We’ve got a lot of team speed up and down the lineup, and our motive is always to put pressure on the defense. Tonight we executed when it mattered. It’s a big reason for our success tonight for sure.”
It also helped the Raiders (14-9) to have a mound presence, especially in the last two games of the series. Richard Winn won the first game 5-3 Tuesday, but over the next two games Soles and Green combined to 5-hit the Eagles and give up 3 earned runs and one unearned run.
On Thursday the Eagles managed a run on no hits in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. With one out, a shaky Green hit Dylan Albert, walked Charlie Bonds, then hit Johnathan Bonds to load the bases. Turner Burchell’s sacrifice fly scored Albert for a 1-0 lead.
That spurt against Green was the last for Richard Winn. Green quickly settled in and struck out Owen Martin to end the inning.
The Raiders evened the score in the top of the second with two outs. Jake Kirven and Mason McGriff drew walks, Parker Kizer’s single to leftfield drove in Kirven, and Mason Connor’s single to left scored McGriff to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead. Johnathan Boyd popped out to retire the side.
Richard Winn loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third, and Bennett Nicholson scored on Burchell’s ground out to even the score at 2-2. With two out, Charlie Bonds at third and Johnathan Bonds at second, Martin grounded out to end the inning before the Eagles could take full advantage.
From the fourth inning on, the Raiders were in full control.
Holly Hill broke the tie with two outs in the top of the fourth.
Mason McGriff reached base on an infield error and moved to second and third base as Kizer batted. Martin, Richard Winn’s starting pitcher in his last inning on the mound, walked Kizer. As Martin pitched to Connor, McGriff scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball to make it 3-2 Holly Hill.
Martin walked Connor and Boyd flied out to end the inning, but the Raiders scored one run in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings in similar fashion.
On the mound in the final innings, Connor gave up two hits while he and the Raiders defense sat down the Eagles quickly to ensure the victory.
“They worked so hard this year,” Coach Green said. “We loaded our schedule with a bunch of triple-A schools this year and tried to be ready for this moment and with the pitching we’ve seen this year it paid off. We took our lumps playing some bigger schools with the faith that at the end of the year it would come back and matter and they just put in so much work, I’m so happy for them.”
In game 2, Soles made the game 3 win possible. He threw 110 pitches over 7 1/3 innings and struck out 10.
“He pitched really well,” Brigman said May 14. “We didn’t get hardly anything after that first inning.”
When his pitch count reached that critical point, reliever Brayden Mizell came on and got the last two outs of the game.
“For a senior to walk off the mound like that condition knowing he can hold his head high and that he gave everything he had, I’m super proud of him for that.” Coach Green said after game 2.
The score was tied 2-2 after the first inning, but Holly Hill academy broke the tie in the top of the third on Jody Gilliam’s 2-out, 2-run single to centerfield that scored Ethan Siav and Broden Murray.
Two more runs came in the top of the sixth in a similar fashion. With two on and two out, Johnathan Boyd singled again and drove in Mason Connor and Mizzell.
The Raiders got their seventh run of the game in the top of the seventh when a baserunner scored on a passed ball.
“Yesterday we got down big but came back and fought, carried some momentum in the last inning that kind of propelled us into today,” Green said. “Our approach today was 180 degrees different than what it was yesterday. Yesterday we had some bad approaches, gave away some at bats swinging at bad pitches. Today we worked deep in the counts and got better pitches, and we played better defense.”
Tuesday
Richard Winn – 1-0-0-0-4-0-0 – 5, 7, 1
Holly Hill – 0-0-0-0-0-0-3 – 3, 2, 3
WP: Charlie Bonds, 6 2/3 IP, 2H, 3R, 0ER, 5BB, 11K.
R – Walker Blackwelder 2-3, 2 RBI. Charlie Bonds HR.
Wednesday
Holly Hill – 2-0-2-0-0-2-1 – 7, 8, 1
Richard Winn – 2-0-0-0-0-0-0 – 2, 2, 2
WP: Ashton Soles, 6 1/3 IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 10K
H – Johnathan Boyd 3-4, 2 RBI. Jody Gilliam 2 RBI. R – Dylan Albert 2B, Johnathan Bonds 2 RBI.
Thursday
Holly Hill – 0-2-0-1-1-1-1 – 6, 10, 2
Richard Winn – 1-0-1-0-0-0-0 – 2, 3, 2
WP: Tyler Green, 7IP, 3H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 6K.
H – Mason Connor 304, 2 RBI. Tyler Green 2-4. R – Charlie Bonds 2-2.
