Preps: Senior star leads Bearcats

Westmoreland strikes out 15 batters and hits solo home run as Brookland-Cayce caps off spectacular season

By AKILAH IMANI NELSON - ainelson@thestate.com

A.C. Flora needed the win.

Brookland-Cayce wanted it.

And while the Falcons posted a valiant effort to stay alive in the Class 3A championship series, Brookland-Cayce’s desire fueled it to a 3-1 victory and the program’s ninth state title.

“We really wanted it bad. We wanted to win it here, not to go to some neutral site,” said B-C’s Adam Westmoreland, who struck out 15.

The Falcons hoped for a big hit from the middle of its lineup in the bottom of the seventh inning, but only got a walk to first base against Westmoreland.

“We just needed a few more baserunners, that’s all, and we didn’t get them,” Falcons coach Andy Hallett said. “All you can do is tip your hat to Adam Westmoreland. He dominated us in the end.”

Bearcats coach Brian Hucks was not surprised by that.

“That’s what Adam does,” he said.

The USC-bound Westmoreland finished the season 9-1 with 132 strikeouts. He also hit 10 home runs.

A.C. Flora (22-10), the 2007 champion, came in facing elimination after dropping the first game 7-6 at Brookland-Cayce, and started off hot.

In the first inning, Duy Phan came to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third after a Robert Gibbes single and Will Freeman double. Phan hit an RBI single to give the Falcons an early 1-0 lead.

But the lead was short-lived. Westmoreland smashed a home run to right field on the first pitch of the second inning and then struck out the side in the bottom of the inning.

Brookland-Cayce’s game-winning rally came in the sixth inning. James Hall’s single and OB Johnson’s double to deep center set up To’Nel Legette, who drove in both runners with a double to center.

The Falcons’ defense tightened at that point, but the damage was already done.

“To be honest, you get to a point in the game where you start just counting down the outs. To win it right here is just really special,” said Hucks, whose team last won the title in 2000.

The Bearcats (29-2) only lost once in the regular season and spent the year atop the Class 3A rankings. The Bearcats dropped one game to Midland Valley in the Lower State championship series, before dropping the Mustangs 8-1 to advance to the championship series.

The Falcons had a tough road, facing Riverside and Blythewood in the Upper State, and Hallett said his team handled it well.

“We lost our starting pitcher, starting first baseman, No. 4 and No. 5 hitters, at the start of the season. We faced elimination twice and still made it to the state championship,” he said. “We expect to be back next year.”

Reach Nelson at (803) 771-8419.

W: Adam Westmoreland (9-1). L: Alex Mitchell. Leading hitters: Adam Westmoreland (BC) HR; To’Nel Legette (B) 1-3, 2 RBIs; James Hall (B) 2-3; Jay Wilson (A) 2-2.