SC baseball playoffs Midlands team breakdown: favorites, sleepers, toughest draw, more
The South Carolina high school baseball playoffs are underway this week.
The S.C. Independent Schools Association members begin their postseason Monday, with public schools getting started Tuesday.
The playoffs were shortened last year with fewer teams participating because of the COVID pandemic, but things are back to normal this season. A.C. Flora, Gilbert and Hammond all won state championships last year, and there are several Midlands teams expected to be contention for a title this year.
The SCISA championship series will be May 15-16 and 18, while the SCHSL title series are May 21, 24 and 28. Here is a closer look of what to look out for during the postseason.
Midlands favorites
Nine Midlands teams are ranked in the final regular S.C. Baseball Coaches polls that were released Monday, and several have a chance to make it to the title series.
▪ Blythewood is No. 1 in Class 5A and has been the most consistent team in the Midlands, losing only once this season to Summerville.The Bengals have 10 seniors, including eight college signees, and are ready to atone for not making it out of the district rounds last year.
▪ Lexington and River Bluff also are loaded with Division I talent, and either is capable of making it to the state championship series. The Wildcats won a very tough Region 5-5A by a game over the Gators.
▪ A.C. Flora is the defending state champion and top-ranked team in 4A. The Falcons lost their last two regular-season games to Blythewood and Dreher, but it’s tough to go against an Andy Hallett-coached team in May.
▪ Brookland-Cayce won its first region title in more than a decade and is looking for its first championship appearance since 2008. The Bearcats have Bishop England in its district, with the toughest opposition in the next round from Oceanside Collegiate and Aynor.
▪ Gray Collegiate has won 20 or more games in three of Charlie Assey Sr.’s four seasons. The only year they didn’t hit that benchmark is the COVID-shortened year of 2020. The War Eagles are in 2A Upper State and will have Abbeville and Chesterfield to contend with to get to their first state championship appearance.
Toughest road for local teams
The toughest route to the championship games might come in Class 5A Lower State where Lexington, River Bluff, Berkeley and Carolina Forest are ranked Nos. 2 through 5 in the latest SBCA polls.
River Bluff and Berkeley are both in District 7, which might be one of the toughest districts in any classification. The two teams could face each other in winners bracket game Thursday if they win their playoff openers.
Dutch Fork and Chapin, the third and fourth seeds from Region 5-5A, will have a tough road. The Silver Foxes are in the same district as Summerville, while the Eagles, the S.C. Diamond Invitational runners-up, are in District 6 with Carolina Forest.
Under-the-radar Midlands teams
Airport, Dreher and Mid-Carolina haven’t gotten a lot of attention, but they’re all capable of a deep playoff run.
Airport, which moved up to No. 3 in Class 4A rankings, has played deep into the postseason several times under Tim Perry and could do it again in Casey Bradwell’s first season. The Region 5-4A champs have won 13 of their last 14 games going into the postseason.
Dreher is coming off a huge win over A.C. Flora on Friday and finished third in Region 4-4A. The Blue Devils have one of the top pitchers in the area in Winthrop signee Shane Keup, who will get the ball against York in the playoff opener.
Mid-Carolina, the Region 4-3A champion, has a tough district with No. 7 Chapman in it.
SCISA lookahead
Hammond is the defending SCISA 3A champion and has the pieces, including future MLB Draft pick Tucker Toman, to repeat.
The Skyhawks are in the 3A upper bracket with the likes of Laurence Manning, which features South Carolina commit Tyler June.
Cardinal Newman and Ben Lippen are in the lower bracket in 3A and play each other in the first game of the playoffs. The Cardinals lost to Hammond in the state championship last year and lost to Ben Lippen in the final week of the regular season. Wilson Hall is also a team to watch in the 3A lower bracket
In SCISA 2A, Northside Christian is a team to watch, and Richard Winn has a chance in Class A. The Eagles are coming off an unbeaten regular season and haven’t won a state title since 2007.
Predictions
The staff at Diamond Prospects made their picks for SCHSL champions:
Class 5A: Blythewood
Class 4A: A.C. Flora
Class 3A: Oceanside Collegiate
Class 2A: Andrew Jackson
Class A: Southside Christian
This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 3:12 PM.
