Fueled by teammate’s absence, Hilton Head Christian wins SCISA baseball title
Hilton Head Christian’s baseball team rode a wave of emotion to a state championship Friday night.
Playing without one of their key players, the Eagles used it as motivation as they defeated Ben Lippen, 7-3, in the deciding game of the best-of-three SCISA 4A championship series at Minrow Field.
It was HHCA’s second straight championship and first in Class 4A. The Eagles won the 3A championship last season.
HHCA was without starting INF/OF Stone Burd, who had a medical emergency shortly before the team got on the bus to leave for Orangeburg and was taken to the hospital. Coach Jay Scarboro said there was a thought of postponing the game until Saturday.
But after the urging of Burd’s parents, the Eagles played the game.
“It was a tough emotional day,” Scarboro said. “… One thing his mom asked us to do was go play our hearts out for him and I feel like our guys did.”
Slaide Burd, Stone’s brother, played in the game and carried his brother’s jersey out during pregame introductions. HHCA wore purple ribbons in Stone’s honor and both teams gathered at home plate for a prayer before the game.
Slaide called his brother, who was sent home from the hospital later Friday evening, shortly after the game’s final out.
“Meant a lot to me coming here and winning it for him,” said Slaide, a Georgia Southern commit. “Thinking in spirit, he was here and got our back. We knew we had to go out there and play the game for him. That’s what we did.”
Second baseman Jackson Richardson drove in four runs and the Eagles got a strong performance from Chip Hetzel, who picked up the win after allowing three unearned runs on three hits in six innings. Hetzel also had an RBI triple to put the Eagles up 3-0 in the fourth inning.
Anthony Seminara and Eli Morgan added two hits for HHCA.
The loss ended Ben Lippen’s bid for its first state championship since 2008. The Falcons won the series opener on Wednesday but dropped the next two games.
Ben Lippen struggled some at the plate and on the mound in the final two games. The Falcons walked nine batters on Friday.
After the game, BL coach Brian Larsen was emotional in talking about this year’s team and the impact the players had on him. He gathered his team down the right-field line for several minutes reflecting on the season and the impact of the team’s 11 seniors.
“It sucks. It’s heartbreaking,” Larsen said. “This isn’t your run of the mill team. They are my family and my kids. We have 11 seniors and a lot of them have been here a while. We are family.
“But (Hilton Head Christian) the last two days played better baseball than us. I think we have the best team in the state but it doesn’t matter what I think. Those are state champions over there because they played better baseball the last two days.”
Sean Lee and Breon Earle each had RBIs for the Falcons.
This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 10:50 PM.
