Airport powers way to district title

Airport’s offense struggled to get going early during its district championship game against Hartsville.

That changed with one swing from Josh Tucker’s bat. The senior center fielder belted a three-run homer in top of the third, and the Eagles went on to defeat Hartsville 7-3 on Friday to win the Class 3A District VI championship.

It is the first time Airport has won the district championship since 2013 when it advanced to the state title series. The Eagles will travel to St. James on Monday in the first round of the lower state tournament.

“That’s a senior play right there,” Airport coach Tim Perry said of Tucker’s homer. “That kind of switched the momentum right there.”

Airport was forced in the deciding game after Hartsville pitcher and Clemson signee Andrew Coker shut down the Eagles in the 3-0 victory. The Eagles managed just two hits off Coker and didn’t have a hit through two innings of the second game against Red Foxes’ starter Cal Brunson.

In the third inning, Josh Talton led off with a walk and Tanner Glenn followed with a single. Then, Tucker, one of 10 seniors on the team, drilled a pitch over the left-field wall for his first career homer to make it 3-1.

“I was going to bunt the ball actually because there were no outs but I was like I’m going to swing away,” Tucker said.

Tucker, who leads the Midlands in stolen bases, was proud of the way the team bounced back in the second game after struggling at the plate in the opener.

“The second game, we knew we had to get back in it and have good at-bats and just finding holes and we did,” Tucker said.

After Tucker’s homer, Airport (19-9) scored one more in the third and then two more in the fourth to lead 6-1 and were ahead 7-1 heading into the seventh.

The Red Foxes made things interesting in their final at-bat by scoring twice and then loading the bases with two outs. But Tucker, who came in relief in the seventh, picked off a runner at third to end the game.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my club going down the line between games and clearing their heads and recollecting themselves,” Perry said. “That showed a lot of maturity from senior-laden group.”

Justin Allen picked up the win in relief of Tanner Glenn, who pitched the first 3 2/3 innings.

Tucker, Glenn Kyle Watts and Joey Allen each had two hits for Airport. Catcher Zach Feaster drove in two runs including a RBI double in the sixth.

Brunson took the loss for Hartsville and finished with two hits. The loss ends a strong run for the Red Foxes, who played for the Class 3A title the past two seasons.

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Airport powers way to district title."