River Bluff baseball wins wild one over rival; CN drops SCISA championship opener
Defending champion Hilton Head Christian got the upper hand in the SCISA Class 4A baseball championship on Monday.
Dylan Gehm and Slade Burd each homered, and Tucker Nelson pitched six solid innings in HHCA’s 11-5 win over Cardinal Newman at Joe Tronco Field in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. Game 2 is set for HHCA at 7 p.m. Tuesday. If necessary, Game 3 is Thursday at a neutral site.
Hilton Head Christian is going for its second straight championship.
“Any time you can steal one on the road,” Hilton Head Christian coach Jay Scarbro said. “And I felt we did that tonight because this Cardinal Newman team is good. To come in and do it in their park is huge and that gives us momentum. … Then to go back home, and generally we are at our best when we are at home, that is huge and exciting.”
The Eagles (28-1) scored in all but one inning and got started on Burd’s leadoff home run. The Stetson commit had scouts from four Major League Baseball teams there watching him.
Leading 4-1, HHCA tacked on three more runs i the fifth, two coming on Gehm’s two-run home run to make 7-1.
Jackson Richardson was 2-for-4 with three RBI and Roman Colella added two hits and two RBI for HHCA.
Nelson got the win, allowing four earned runs and six hits while striking out eight in six innings.
Will Spotts and Dylan Williams each homered in the loss for the Cardinals, who were making their second championship appearance in three years and looking for their first title since 2018.
Spotts’ homer led off the Cards’ bottom of the first to tie it up at 1-1.
But the Cards’ next runs didn’t come until Williams’ blast in the sixth to cut it to 9-4.
“It is a series for a reason. We got another chance tomorrow,” Cardinal Newman coach Robert Hendrix said. “It is going to be tough to go on a bus and go down there, but we still got life, and we will give it all we have tomorrow.”
Cardinal Newman will turn to Henry Bodman with its season on the line Tuesday night.
River Bluff wins wild one over rival
River Bluff baseball stayed alive in the SCHSL Class 5A Division I playoffs with a 12-11 win over Lexington in an elimination game.
The Gators, who lost two of three to Lexington during the regular season, will travel to Carolina Forest in another elimination game on Wednesday.
River Bluff led 12-5 going into the bottom of the seventh before the Wildcats scored five runs and had the tying run on third base, but Walker Godwin was able to get the final out to seal the win.
Goodwin was 3-for-5 with four RBIs while Dominick Norton was 2-3 for 3 RBIs. Ashley Powell and Mac Raines each added two hits for the Gators.
Graham Coleman homered, had three hits and drove in three runs for Lexington. Jones Bell also homered and had two RBIs.
Tuesday’s Roundup
Baseball
Chapin 9, North Myrtle Beach 1: Luke Cromer hit two homers as the Eagles advanced to the 5A Division II District 4 championship game on Friday. Kaedyn Harris added three RBIs for Chapin.
North Augusta 6, Gray Collegiate 1 (9): NA scored five runs in the top of the ninth to win the Class 4A District A championship. The Yellow Jackets face Airport in the best-of-three Lower State semifinal series beginning Wednesday.
Batesburg-Leesville 3, Mid-Carolina 1: The Panthers won the Class 2A District 3 championship over the Rebels. Braydon Hallman and Mason Lowe each had an RBI.
Spartanburg 7, Blythewood 5: The Bengals dropped in the loser’s bracket in the Class 5A Division I playoffs. Sergio Melendez homered twice and drove in four runs for Blythewood.
Dutch Fork 5, Byrnes 2: The Silver Foxes stayed alive in the Class 5A Division I District I playoffs and will play JL Mann in another elimination game Wednesday.
WW King 9, Marlboro Academy 3: Elijah Hutto struck out eight over six innings as WW King won the opening game of the best-of-three SCISA Class A championship series. Game 2 is on Tuesday.
Softball
Gray Collegiate 16, Darlington (3): Claire Kelly homered and drove in five runs and Mackenzie Sease also homered and drove in three as the War Eagles (29-0) won the Class 4A District A championship.
AC Flora 6, Lancaster 5 (8): Pressli Reynolds had a walk-off single in the eighth inning as the Falcons won the Class 4A District C Championship.
Airport 10, May River 0: Addie Maynor had three hits, including a homer as the Eagles forced the deciding game Tuesday in the Class 4A District C championship. Layla Elliott, Abigail Gartman and Carter Sturkie all drove in two runs for Airport.
North Central 1, Batesburg-Leesville 0: Mackenzie Melton struck out 16 and hit a solo homer as the Knights stayed alive in the 2A playoffs.
Wando 7, Lexington 3: The Wildcats dropped in the loser’s bracket in the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
Blythewood 10, Wade Hampton 0: Makalah Ford homered two twice and drove in five runs as the Bengals stayed alive in the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
Holly Hill 11, Richard Winn 8: The Eagles dropped the opener in the SCISA Class A Softball championship series. Game 2 is Tuesday.
This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 11:34 PM.
