Hammond exceeds expectations but falls short of another baseball state championship
Hammond baseball coach Chris Braciszewski met with his team in left field after Monday’s 9-3 loss to Augusta Christian in the state championship finale. Then he pulled his 11 seniors aside.
Braciszewski went down the line and hugged each of those seniors, telling them of their importance this season moments the Skyhawks’ loss in the deciding game of the best-of-three SCISA Class 4A championship held at Lexington High School.
“I was telling them how proud I am of them and that we don’t get this far without them,” Braciszewski said. “Only two of them started before, so we weren’t expected to do much. In the preseason, people were talking about, ‘Tucker (Toman) is gone, this guy is gone and this guy is gone.’ But these guys came out and worked out every day and got us to a game three.
“It was a heck of a baseball series and that score doesn’t dictate how this whole series went. It was great baseball and nothing they could hang their heads about.”
Hammond was looking for its third championship since 2019 and won game two on May 16 to force the decisive finale.
Game 3 was scheduled to be played on Thursday but was moved back because of rain and wet field conditions.
The extra rest allowed both teams to bring back their top pitchers. Augusta Christian went with College of Charleston commitment Jeb Bradford, and Hammond went with senior Wyatt Barrett.
Both starters were shaky early on. Augusta Christian scored three times in the top of the first to lead 3-0.
Hammond answered in the bottom of the inning with three runs. Dylan Richardson had an RBI single and Jack Croft had a two-run single to tie it at 3-3. The Skyhawks had bases loaded with no outs but couldn’t manage another run in the frame.
“You give up a three-spot in the top and you either can hang your head or come out and fight,” Braciszewsk said. “We came out and fought. … Wish we could have kept putting it on them but we didn’t.”
Both pitchers settled down after that, especially Bradford, who didn’t give up a hit after the first inning. He allowed just two walks, both in the fifth inning, before leaving with two outs in the sixth after reaching his pitch-count limit.
Bradford allowed three earned runs, three hits and struck out 11 and had 26 strikeouts in two starts in the championship series.
“Shaky first inning, state championship. I get it,” Augusta Christian coach Austin Robinson said. “But a testament to him, he battled. He is just a special pitcher.”
Augusta Christian finally was able to get to Barrett. Wilson Donnelly hit a solo homer in the fifth to put the Lions up 4-3. Donnelly was 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs.
The Lions added three more in the sixth and two in the seventh inning to wrap up their first state championship since 2007.
Ethan Duckworth had three hits while Virginia Tech commit Luca Periello and Brooker each added two hits and an RBI for the Lions.
“We knew coming into the year that Hammond would be our biggest competitor,” Robinson said. “And they beat us in game two and our backs were against the ropes. But we battled through and this is amazing.”
SCHSL Class 5A Baseball
River Bluff 2, Blythewood 0
Three River Bluff pitchers — Matthew Garris, Andrew Vaughan and Thomas Powell — combined on a five-hit shutout as they won the opening game Monday of the best-of-3 Class 5A championship series.
Game two is set to be played at Blythewood on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Both teams are in their third championship series, and both are looking for their first state title.
River Bluff scored the game’s only runs in the second, with one coming on Myles Profitt RBI.
Blythewood had a chance in the top of the fifth with runners on first and second. But Vaughan came in to pitch and got a ground ball to end the inning.
In the top of the seventh, the Bengals had a runner on first with two outs. That’s when Powell, a South Carolina signee, came in and got the final out after throwing just one pitch. The left-hander will likely be the Game 2 starter.
Garris picked up the win, going 4.2 innings, giving up three hits, walking three and striking out four.
Ben Blackwell pitched well in the loss for Blythewood, giving up two runs on six hits, striking out five and not walking a batter in 5.1 innings.
SCHSL Class 2A Softball
Mid-Carolina 5, Chesterfield 3
The Rebels scored four runs in the fourth inning to win the opening game off the best-of-three Class 2A softball series.
Mid-Carolina is looking for its first state championship in softball. Game two is set for Wednesday in Chesterfield.
Mid-Carolina trailed 1-0 going into the fourth before scoring the four runs. The bottom of the Rebels’ order did most of the damage with the 7-8-9 hitters Nora Cutler, Moore and Milstead all driving in a run.
Amber Hughes got the complete-game victory, giving up two earned runs on eight hits while striking out six.
