River Bluff baseball sweeps to the 5A SCHSL state title

Gators score two in the top of the seventh to finish off Blythewood to clinch championship series

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.

The River Bluff Gators secured their first ever SCHSL baseball championship by sweeping Blythewood in the 5A state championship series.
The River Bluff Gators secured their first ever SCHSL baseball championship by sweeping Blythewood in the 5A state championship series

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.


Published
Mike Duprez
MIKE DUPREZ

Mike Duprez became a freelance sports journalist for Scorebooklive.com several months after retiring from the newspaper business. A native of Oakland, California, Duprez moved around as a child due to his father’s service in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. Duprez, who lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had 30 years of experience in newspapers as well as other endeavors before retiring at the end of 2021. He covers stories in both North Carolina and South Carolina for Scorebooklive.com.