By Thomas Grant Jr.
A second straight title in golf and a return to the state baseball semifinals highlight the past week in River Bluff sports.
On Tuesday at Shaftesbury Glen in Conway, the Gators managed to turn their small first-round lead in the Class 5A Division I tournament into a double-digit victory.
The Gators followed up their tournament-leading even par round of 288 as a team Monday with a four-over score of 292. They won Day One by four strokes over James Island and Day Two by ten over Dorman.
Howie Vroon shot back-to-back under par 69s to finish second overall with a three-under 138, just a shot behind overall medalist Will Ruth of Dorman.
Maddox McCamy followed his opening round 69 with an even par 72 to finish in third place overall.Sam Booth finished in 14th, Jesse Carlisle followed right behind in 16th, and Cooper Raley came in 18th.
“I am extremely proud of how the guys handled the pressure, especially after a tight first round.” Head coach Roger Smith said. “A team can lose a four-stroke lead on just one hole,” he added. “I told the team on Tuesday morning that we had a plan. Just stick to the plan and play for each other.”
BASEBALL
The week started with River Bluff needing to win four straight “win or go home” games to win the Lower State District 4 title.
Adding to the pressure of staying alive was having to accomplish this feat was starting at the home of archrival Lexington. Just a week earlier, the Wildcats won three straight games over River Bluff to take the top seed out of Region 4-5A.
Things appeared to start in a similar direction in the elimination game. After River Bluff took a 3-0 lead in the Top 3rd, Lexington answered with two 2-run home runs by Garrett Coleman and Jones Bell to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning.
The Gators responded with seven hits and six runs in the Top 4th. Dominick Norton had a 2-run double which kicked off five straight RBI hits to give River Bluff a 9-4 advantage.
After stretching the lead to 12-5 in the Bottom 7th, River Bluff withstood a 6-run rally by the Wildcats. The tying run was at second base with two outs when Mac Raines flied out to righfield to give the Gators the 12-11 win.
Wes Godwin went 3-5 with 4 RBI and Norton was 1-3 with 3 RBI for River Bluff.
Up next was a trip to Conway to face Carolina Forest. The Panthers led 2-0 after five innings before River Bluff got back-to-back RBI singles from Ab Wilkerson and Raines to tie the game.
In the Top 7th, Leo Zambrano singled home Banks Alexander to put the Gators on top. Peyton Hewitt retired the Panthers in order to close out the 3-2 victory.
The wins sent River Bluff to the district final to face Sumter. In Game One, the Gators jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning sparked by a 3-run home run by Norton.
It was more than enough for starter Ray Kastner. He struck out 11 batters and allowed just two hits in the 10-0 victory.
This set up a final game against the Gamecocks Saturday in The Swamp. Once again, the Gators were boosted by an early outburst with five runs in the first inning.
On the mound, River Bluff utilized four pitchers (Dalton Corley, Godwin, Hewitt and Cooper Calhoun) to strike out 13 batters in the 8-1 victory to win the District Four title.
The Gators dropped Game One 10-4 in the Lower State final to defending state champion James Island. They fell behind 4-0 after two innings before rallying for three runs in the Top 3rd.
The Trojans stretched their lead to 6-3 before a solo home run by Banks Anderson brought River Bluff within 6-4 in the Top 5th. James Island broke the game open in the sixth with two, 2-run homers by Connor and Brady Dantzler.
Game Two is scheduled for Thursday at River Bluff with Game Three, if necessary, back at James Island on Saturday.
In Class 2A, defending champion Batesburg-Leesville stayed alive after a 4-1 win over Chesnee Monday in an elimination game. Jack Bouknight had two RBI and Tyler Kneece struck out six in a complete game win.
The Panthers visited Clinton, who defeated them 11-0 on Saturday, for the Upper State final. They needed two victories to earn a return trip to the Best-of-Three championship series.
S.C. BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION ALL-STATE TEAMS
A total of eight Lake Murray players were selected to the S.C. Baseball Coaches Association’s All-State teams.
CLASS 5A (Division I) – Banks Alexander (River Bluff) and Christian Spivey (Lexington)
CLASS 5A (Division II) – Dillon Woods (White Knoll)
CLASS 4A – Grant Royer and Kitt McLauchlin (both of Gilbert) and Tymore Abrams (Newberry)
CLASS 2A – Luke Milling (Mid-Carolina) and Tyler Kneece (Batesburg-Leesville)
JOB OPENINGS
Lexington School District One and River Bluff High School announced coaching vacancies in boys’ soccer and strength and conditioning.
The Gators will be seeking their third head coach in a year. State career wins leader Phil Savitz retired last year and his replacement Thad Miller went 11-9-1 overall, 4-6 (fourth place) in Region 4-5A in reaching the second round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
