It just means more: Why AC Flora’s 2026 baseball state championship is extra special
Andy Hallett and the AC Flora baseball team got the storybook ending they wanted.
The Falcons gave Hallett another state title in his final season as coach of the program by defeating Airport 4-0 on Friday to sweep the Class 4A baseball best-of-three championship series.
It was Hallett’s eighth state championship in 29 seasons at Flora and came in his last with the program. The New York native is headed to be the athletic director and baseball coach at Midlands STEM, a public charter school in Winnsboro.
Hallett admitted he was a little more nostalgic going into Game 2, knowing it could be his final one in a Falcon uniform. He took a picture of the lineup card before the game and was more reflective sitting in the dugout as the outs started to wind down.
Hallett was very emotional in his post-game interviews with the media on the field.
“It is a sad day. Twenty-nine years is a long time,” Hallett said. “But every road comes to an end, and I am really proud and happy for the way my road has ended at AC Flora. … I am going to miss wearing Columbia blue and red. In the end, I couldn’t be happier how this is how it is.
“AC Flora baseball will continue to be strong. I know they will hire someone who will be a professional and keep it moving. I am really proud of what we have done and honored to be the baseball coach at AC Flora for 29 years. It is something that I will never forget.”
Hallett informed his team of the news just before spring break and the Falcons were almost perfect the rest of the way. AC Flora finished the season by winning its final 17 games, the longest winning streak in Hallett’s tenure at the school.
“This team right here is going down in history as one of the greatest ones to wear an AC Flora uniform,” Hallett said.
The clinching victory came 20 hours after AC Flora won the series opener 2-1 in 10 innings. The game didn’t finish until 12:55 a.m. on Friday morning when Logan Price had the walk-off single.
Going on adrenaline and lack of sleep, the Falcons made sure there was no drama in Game 2, thanks to a big performance from starting pitcher Sam McCutcheon. The senior pitched a two-hit, complete-game and struck out 10 for the Falcons.
“I couldn’t have drew it up better myself,” McCutcheon said. “I went into today trying to get as many outs as I could and keep us in the game as long as I could. My stuff, I was filling the zone up tonight and my defense was amazing. I am just so happy.”
AC Flora got going quickly as Roper Wentzky’s RBI single scored Charlie Scott in the top of the first to put the Falcons up 1-0. Monty Laffitte added an RBI single and Joe Ray had a fielder’s choice in the third to make it 3-0.
Scott completed the scoring with a solo homer in the seventh. It was the Citadel signee’s seventh home run of the season.
Wentzky and Joe Chetwood each added two hits for the Falcons.
The loss ended Airport’s bid for the second straight state championship. Eagles coach Casey Bradwell talked to his team for a long time in right field after the game, reflecting on their run over the past two seasons. Airport won 54 games over the past two years but just couldn’t muster up the offense against AC Flora.
The Eagles didn’t score in the final 16 innings of the series.
“We won 54 games in the last two years. That is a lot of winning,” Bradwell said. “And we built a program, starting when Coach (Tim) Perry got back here. .. We are here every year. It used to be that when you see Airport, you didn’t care about playing. But if you see us on the schedule, you better show up to play because we are going to get you. I’m proud of that.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 11:56 PM.
