Freshmen pitchers help Blythewood baseball beat JL Mann, earn spot in Class 5A championship

The moment wasn’t too big for Davis Wright and Kevin Steelman.

The two Blythewood freshmen pitchers showed the poise of upperclassmen in combining for a four-hit shutout Wednesday to help the Bengals to a 3-0 win over J.L. Mann to win the Class 5A Upper State championship.

Blythewood will host Dutch Fork in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series beginning Saturday. It is the Bengals’ second championship appearance, with the other coming in 2013.

“They’ve got unbelievable poise and composure, very mature beyond their years,” Blythewood coach Banks Faulkner said of the two freshmen. “We’ve got all the confidence in the world in them. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Wright, the team’s No. 3 starter, pitched the first four innings, allowing two hits, walking one and striking out one. In most situations, Faulkner might have brought in Josh Cowan after Wright. But Cowan, the team’s catcher, wouldn’t have been able to go back behind the plate if there was a deciding game because of high school rules not allowing him to catch after pitching the previous game in a doubleheader.

So, Faulkner turned to Steelman, who spent most of the year on JV and pitched only three innings on varsity this season going into Wednesday’s game. The right-hander pitched three perfect innings, and struck out four for his first career save. He also caught the final out on a line drive by North Carolina commit Tomas Frick as teammates mobbed him in celebration on the mound.

“Coach Trey Dyson (assistant coach) told me Monday to be ready because I will be playing on Wednesday,” Steelman said. “So, I was ready and my teammates, coaches believed in me. I was a little scared but went out there, believed in my stuff and did my job.”

Michael Gregory had two of Blythewood’s four hits, including an RBI triple in the second, to score pinch runner Colton Harman and make it 2-0. College of Charleston commit Landon Lucas gave Blythewood some insurance with a long homer to left-center in the sixth inning to make it 3-0.

“It is good to have the program back on this stage,” Gregory said. “We are here now and have helped revive this program.”

Making it to the title game is what Faulkner, a former Blythewood assistant, had envisioned when he took over the program three years after leading Summerville to the state title.

Faulkner admits there was some bumps along the way but said the players are reaping the rewards of buying into the system.

“It has been three long years,” Faulkner said. “This was a young program that looked nothing like what I left at Summerville. To see them get to this point has been a process. We have had some guys really committed to being great and it is gratifying seeing them accomplish this after all the hard work and dedication.”

WP: Davis Wright LP: Freeman S: Kevin Steelman Hitters: B: Michael Gregory 2-2 RBI; Landon Lucas 1-3 HR, RBI; Nate Hinson 1-2

This story was originally published May 8, 2019 at 8:43 PM.