FLORENCE – Going a perfect 6-0 in the Diamond Youth Baseball state tournament, Blythewood Youth Baseball League’s youngest all-stars, the Rookie Ball team (for ages 5 and 6), officially claimed the South Carolina title with a shutout of Lancaster on Tuesday.
Following a District 4 championship win over Dentsville on June 15, the Blythewood team earned its spot in the four-day state tournament at Savanah Grove Park in Florence.
The boys began their battle through the double-elimination bracket on Saturday, first with a 20-0 win over Jefferson. They took down Greer later that afternoon with a 15-5 win.
On Sunday, Blythewood got their first taste of the Lancaster team. Blythewood escaped with an 18-15 win to send Lancaster into the elimination bracket, which they would battle through to make it to Tuesday’s title game.
Blythewood picked up two more W’s on Monday. A 21-2 win over Orangeburg and a 14-2 win against Hartsville Northern, eliminating both teams from tournament play.
Blythewood averaged just under 17 runs per game in their six-game stretch. They shut out two teams and outscored their opponents 100-24.
Championship Game
The game was a familiar one. Blythewood claimed a narrow 18-15 win over the Lancaster all-stars on Sunday. A rematch win was all Blythewood needed to button up the tournament, and they did so with a 12-0 final.
Blythewood got on the board in the top of the first inning. Keegan Green singled on a ground ball to left field. Spencer Jasper followed with a single. With two outs and runners on first and third, Remington Surfield singled to score Blythewood’s first run of the game. Carter Knudson singled to load the bases for Nathan Bryant, who doubled to score two more. Carver Dixon followed with another two-run double.
With a 5-0 lead, Blythewood took the field for the first time in the game. Lancaster led off with a single, but Blythewood quickly got two outs. Another Lancaster single put runners on first and second, but Knudson, Blythewood’s second baseman, ended the inning with a ground ball putout.
Hudson Glass singled in the top of the second, but Blythewood couldn’t capitalize and ended the frame without plating any runs.
Lancaster followed suit and ended the second inning scoreless, with a runner on third.
Cooper Olver led off the top of the third for Blythewood with a single. Zeb Davis singled to advance Olver to second. A double to right field off the bat of Surfield scored Olver. Knudson singled to left that scored Davis and Surfield. Bryant followed with a single to put runners on first and second again. With one out, Gavin Zeloof singled to score both runners. Cooper Laney singled to put runners on first and second again, but two groundouts ended the frame.
In the bottom of the third, back-to-back singles from Lancaster put runners on first and second with one out, but two strikeouts sent Blythewood back to the dugout unscathed and up 10-0.
Jasper led off for Blythewood in the top of the fourth with a single to left field. Davis tripled to score Jasper. With two outs, Knudson singled then advanced to second on an error, which scored Davis and gave Blythewood a 12-0 lead. Facing the 10-run mercy rule, Lancaster needed to score three runs to keep the game from ending. A leadoff single looked to start the rally Lancaster wanted. But put outs by Jasper at first, Olver at shortstop, and Davis at third kept Lancaster at bay and ended the game early.
World Series Bound
The Blythewood All Stars will now represent South Carolina at the DYB District 1 Rookie Ball World Series in Dunn, NC at the end of July. Until then, you can probably catch sight of the newest state champs in the evenings at Blythewood Park… practicing.
BLY – 5-0-5-2-X-X – 12, 22, 1
LAN – 0-0-0-0-X-X – 0, 8, 1
BLY: Keegan Green 2-3. Spencer Jasper 2-3. Cooper Olver 2-3. Zeb Davis 3-3, 3B, RBI. Remington Surfield 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI. Carter Knudson 3-3, 3 RBI. Nathan Bryant 3-3, 2B. Carver Dixon 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI. Gavin Zeloof 1-2, 2 RBI. Cooper Laney 1-2. Hudson Glass 1-2.
