No luck for Lexington: Wildcats fall short against James Island in baseball state final
Brian Hucks stood by himself near the third-base bag trying to compose himself after a grueling deciding game of the Class 5A Division I baseball championship.
The Lexington baseball coach had hoped to be holding up the trophy for the second straight season. But instead, Jake Amman’s RBI double lifted James Island to a 6-5 win over the Wildcats in eight innings to win the deciding game of the best-of-three-championship series at Riley Park.
“I was trying to think how you pick your boys up after that,” Hucks said. “I told them I want to win championships and want to win games but I told them I love them. They are going to be my boys for the rest of their lives. I just hate it cause it ends.”
It was the Trojans’ fourth state championship and first on the Class 5A level after moving up from 4A this season.
The Wildcats were trying to become the first team since Summerville in the 1970s to win back-to-back titles in the state’s top classification.
After dropping the opener in extra innings on Tuesday, Lexington forced a deciding game with a 9-4 victory on Wednesday.
But the Wildcats were sloppy early as the Trojans scored three runs in the first two innings to lead 3-0. Lexington committed three errors in the first two frames and struggled hitting Trojan starter Collin Anderson.
Starting pitcher Reidar Carlson kept the Trojans at bay and the Wildcats’ defense improved with a pair of big double plays to keep it at 3-0.
Lexington trailed 4-2 going into the top of the seventh with the bottom of the order up. But Graham Coleman led off the inning with a double, Jonathan Waldrop walked and Bryce Mobley was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.
Christian Spivey walked with one out to score Coleman and cut the lead to 4-3. With two outs, Lincoln Hill drew a walk to score Waldrop and tie it 4-4.
“They are so freaking tough,” Hucks said of his team. “Anderson was pitching well early and had us off-balanced. … Things were looking bleak, and I didn’t know if we were going to square up enough balls to get us back in the game. Then all of a sudden, we started making the adjustments like we have all year. It is just about the toughness and heart that we have.”
James Island had a chance to win it in the seventh, but Jake Epps got Hayden Little to fly out with the winning run on third.
The Wildcats took the lead in the top of the eighth. Lexington loaded the bases with no outs on Waldrop’s bunt down the third-base line. With one out, Toby Sobieralski’s sacrifice fly made it 5-4 Wildcats.
But the Trojans, like they did in the opening game of the series, rallied off left-hander Brayden Studebaker. Anderson had an RBI double with one out to tie it 5-5. Then Amman ripped a double to left field to win it.
“We weren’t going down without a fight, and we knew we had the last swing at it,” Amman said. “... I was just looking for something over the plate and pulled it down the line in the green. And we are state champions.”
James Island coach Matt Spivey said he knew the game was over as soon as Amman hit the ball.
“We saw their pitcher on Tuesday and have seen him three times now,” Spivey said. “And with the top of the order up, I wasn’t going to bet against these guys.”
Anderson, who started the game on the mound, reentered in the eighth and picked up the win. The Trojans used seven pitchers in the game.
Anderson, Amman, Trip Ostergard and Connor Dantzler each had two hits in the game for the Trojans.
South Carolina signee Brandon Cromer was 2 for 4 with an RBI for Lexington in his final high school game. Cromer is set to have Tommy John surgery on Thursday.
This story was originally published May 31, 2025 at 4:48 PM.
