By Thomas Grant Jr.
The River Bluff baseball team entered Spring Valley with a 1-game lead over Chapin and White Knoll for first place in Region 4-5A.
On Monday, the Gators opened play at the Forest Acres Classic at A.C. Flora High School. They looked to claim a sixth Classic title and ninth for head coach Mark Bonnette.
The quest got off to a tough start following a 9-8 loss in extra innings to Airport. This was the fourth straight year the two Lexington County teams met in the Classic, with River Bluff winning the previous three meetings.
A 2-run homer by Landon Jeffcoat put the Eagles up 2-0 in the Bottom 1st. River Bluff responded in the second inning with an RBI single by Banks Alexander and 2-run single by Dominick Norton to go up 3-2.
After a sacrifice fly by Justin Sightler tied the game at 3-3 in the Bottom 3rd and moved Jeffcoat to third base, Rylan Bullis cleared the bases with a 2-run homer.
A home run by Norton brought River Bluff within 5-4. The Eagles answered with back-to-back RBI singles by Gabe Ingram and Alex Nicholas to take a 7-4 lead into the Top 7th.
Austin Rhodus looked to close out the win in relief. After recording the first out, Rhodus gave up three straight hits to load the bases.
This set up Ab Wilkerson to connect on the first pitch and send it over the leftfield wall for a grand slam.
It was Powell’s turn in the Bottom 7th to get the win for River Bluff. Airport’s Braden Gross hit a leadoff double and he scored on Jeffcoat’s 1-out game-tying single to force extra innings.
After Matthew Perry retired the Gators in order, Nicholas was hit to lead off the Bottom 8th. A sacrifice bunt moved Nicholas to second base. He was then replaced by pinch runner Cooper Chavis who moved to third base on a passed ball.
With two outs and two strikes on Clemons, Powell threw a wild pitch past Alexander at homeplate. Chavis slid safety across homeplate for the win.
“At the end of the day, this game came down to free bases,” Bonnette said. “We gave up too many free bases and that gets you beat.”
River Bluff and Airport faced Dorman and T.C. Roberson Tuesday and Wednesday to close out Bracket B play. The top two teams in Brackets A&B face each other 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday for 1st and 2nd place trophies.
Lexington opened play in Bracket A against the host team Falcons. The Wildcats had a 4-0 lead through 4 ½ innings before A.C. Flora tied the game in the Bottom 5th.
The Falcons got a walkoff RBI single from Roper Wentzky for the 5-4 victory.
Lexington faced Indian Land on Tuesday and 2-time defending tournament champion Miller on Wednesday.
SOFTBALL
Lexington routs River Bluff
Sole possession of first place in Region 4-5A between archrivals was on the line March 31 in Lexington.
The Lady Wildcats were seeking their 19th consecutive region victory, while the Lady Gators looked to continue their best start since the inaugural 2015 season.
Lexington took control in its first at-bat. It sent 14 batters to the plate, resulting in 10 runs.
The Lady Wildcats were up 11-0 through two innings before a 2-run double by Blair Gilcrease put the Lady Gators on the board.
They would not score again against Lexington pitcher Haley Manz. The Lady Wildcats added four more runs for the 15-2 win in five innings.
Peyton Gonce and Maya Drennon each drove in three runs, Livi Warren had two hits and Naomi Little had two RBI for Lexington.
Two nights later, the Lady Wildcats posted the same score in four innings over Irmo. Warren went 4-4 and was one of five players with two RBI.
Haley Jones struck out four in 3 2/3 innings for the win. Lexington improved to 13-3 overall, 6-0 in the region.
The same night saw River Bluff (11-6, 4-1) rebound with a 7-4 win over White Knoll. Blythe Sanders went 2-3 with 3 RBI, including a 2-run homer, and Alexis Jodie struck out five in a complete game victory.
