River Bluff baseball sweeps to the 5A SCHSL state title
River Bluff baseball scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning, on a wild pitch and an error, to beat Blythewood, 9-7, completing a two-game sweep of the SCHSL 5A state championship series.
Andrew Vaughn, who pitched 5-2/3 innings of one-hit relief, retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh.
It was the program's first state championship. The Gators were runners-up in 2017 and 2018.
Most of the scoring came in the first two innings.
Blythewood’s Carson Weathers crushed a grand slam off the scoreboard to give his team a 4-2 lead in the first inning.
Beau Hollins, a South Carolina recruit, smashed a three-run homer to propel the Gators into a 6-4 lead. It was his 18th home run of the season, second all-time in South Carolina history for a single season. Bamberg-Ehrhart’s Preston Wilson, who earned a World Series ring with the Houston Astros in 2006, holds the record with 22.
The Gators were trailing 7-6 in the third inning when Vaughan came in and worked his way out of a jam.
River Bluff (28-7) tied the game in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Walker Mitchell.
Blythewood ended the season with a 24-8 record.
Game 1 was a pitcher’s duel. Matthew Garris, Vaughan and Thomas Powell combined on a five-hitter as River Bluff won 2-0.
The Gators scored both runs in the second inning, one of them crossing the plate on a run-scoring single by Myles Proffitt.
Powell, who has signed with South Carolina, got the final out on one pitch to pick up a save.
Garris was the winning pitcher, striking out 4 in 4 2/3 innings.