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By Craig Brown
It was one of the best baseball games I have seen in a long time with two identically talented teams taking the field.
The Lewisville Lions and the Lake View Wild Gators met for game two of the Class A state championship playoffs in Lake View Tuesday.
The Lions took the Gators 4-2 on Saturday in Richburg putting pressure on the Wild Gators for a win in this matchup.
The game would be decided in the seventh inning with the Lions breaking the 4-4 ties with a two run inning backed up with some good fielding to keep the Gators off the board in their last at bat for the 6-4 win.
These teams were so evenly matched that if they had played ten games on a neutral frield the results would likely be each team getting five wins.
In every game there is always a little matter of luck and The Lions seemed to get more of the lucky breaks than the Wild Gators in this game.
Nick Collins took the mound for the Wild Gators with Trey Keels pitching for the lions. Again these were not just the best teams in single A, but two of the best baseball teams in South Carolina high school baseball period.
Chase Yoder opened at bat for the Lions with a base hit to center. Collins struck out Keels for the first out. Andrew Culp popped up to second for out number two.
Alex Reed was given a free ride to base.
Drew Colvin was hit by a pitch loading the bases. With the sun in his eyes, Hunter Stevens got the Gators out of the inning fielding a fly ball hit by Braxton Elms. Leading off for the Gators, De’Ante Bridgett lined a solid basehit to right field.
Nick Collins laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Bridgett to second. Brent Herlong advanced Bridgett to third on a fielder’s choice.
The plate umpire was calling the close on the corners that resulted in Justin Elliot cutting under an outside pitch and popping up to first base for out three ending the first innning at 0-0. Russel Nolan led off in the top of the second for the Lions sending a pop fly to shallow left field.
Brent Herlong at short stop retreated to the outfield to make the catch.
Jack Jordan made it to first on a hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a double to right by Q Sanders. Nolan came in for the score on a wild pitch that got away from the catcher to put the Lions up 1-0.
Collins prevented futher damage by striking out Yoder followed by Keels flying out to left centerfield. Hunter Stevens, Duane Nichols and Stone Spivey went three up and out for the Gators second at bat to close the inning trailing the Lions 1-0.
Culp led off for the Lions to start the third inning with a pop fly to left fielded by Herlong. Reed made it to base on a walk but was picked off trying to steal second by a great throw out by Gator catcher Stone Spivey. Colvin got to base on a hit to center.
Elms grouded to short stop with Herlong making the throwout at first to get the Gators back to bat. Jordan King led off with a fly out to left. Darius Ford got to base after getting struck in the back on a wild pitch.
Bridgett sent a solid hit down the right field line that was bobbled resulting in a bad throw to base putting Ford on third and Bridgett to second. Ford tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly out to center by Collins.
Herlong powered a hit to left field to score bridgett to put the Wild Gators up 2-1.
Elliott was called out at first on a hurried throw from third base two put the Lions back to the plate down 2-1.
Leading off for the Lions in the fourth Nolan missed a slidder thrown by Collins by a foot but the ball got away from Spivey resulting in Nolan getting to base. Collins fielded a short grounder down the third base line and had to take the out at first.
Sanders got a base hit to right moving Nolan to third followed by Sanders taking second for a steal. Yoder got a close scrape by a pitch but the umpire sent him to first to load the bases.
Nolan scored on a sacrifice fly to deep left by Keels to even the game at 2-2. Culp sent a high fly ball to Stevens in right to put the Gators back to the plate. Stevens led off for the Gators with a walk.
Nichols laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Stevens to second. Spivey sent a low hard hit line drive to third that was expertly handled for the out.
This would have bee a hit for extra bases against other teams. King advanced Stevens to third with a big hit to left field.
Ford backed up the right fielder on a high fly ball to end the fourth with the 2-2 score. Reed led off in the fifth for the lions with a high fly ball fielded by Ford in left field. Colvin made it to base on a hard to handle hit to short stop.
Stevens fielded back to back fly balls in right field to stop the Lions in the fifth.
Bridgett, Collins and Herlong went three up and out to close the fifth inning at 2-2. Jordan started things off for the Lions in the sixth with a hit to left field and then getting to second on a pitch that got away from the catcher.
Sanders sent a base hit to right sending Jordan around third and home to put the Lions up 3-2.
Yoder advanced Sanders to third on a sacrifice bunt. Keels hit to right field to score Sanders to put the Lions up 4-2. Culp sent a fly ball to right fielded by Stevens for the out. Reed got to base on a walk. Colvin hit a grounder to King at second who made the throwout at first to get the Gators back to bat.
The Gators would also get a big at bat in the sixth with Elliott leading off with a double to center. Webb Cardell was brought in to run for Elliott. Stevens laid down a bunt and cut the afterburners on to beat the throw to first and advance Cardell to third.
Nichols hit a grounder to Keels and was called out at first holding the runners on second and third. Spivey sent a deep sacrifice fly ball to left that allowed Cardell to tag up and score.
Jordan King would tie the game at 4-4 with a solid hit to left field bringing Steven in for the run.
Ford cut under a high pitch that sent a pop fly to shallow right fielded by the Lions second baseman.
What started out to look like a short at bat for the Lions in the seventh ended in contrivercy. Collins caught Elms looking at the third strike for out number one.
Elliott fielded a grounder at first by Nolan and stepping on the base for out number two. Collins likes to pitch to the inside of the plate which seems to draw some batters getting to base on hits by pitch.
Jordan was nicked on the arm by a pitch that resulted in first base coach, Daryl King calling to the umpires attention that the batter stuck his arm out to get the hit.
Head Coach Kip Herlong at third asked for a rulling from the infield umpires.
Four umpires met on the field for fifteen minutes to discuss the play. It was clear that at least one of the umpires thought the batter intentually allowed himself to be hit. This would have resulted in the batter called out and the game remaining tied. The runner was left at first after the umpire meeting bringing Sanders to bat.
Collins had gone a considerable time without pitching and may not have been on with his next pitch as Sanders connected with a triple to the right field fence scoring Jordan. A hurried throw from third to first allowed Sanders to score to put the Lion s up 6-4.
At this point Collins had used his maximum allowed 110 pitches and had to be releived by Deonte Roberts. Roberts only faced one batter, Keels who sent a line drive to left that was fielded by Ford for the out.
Lake View had the top of the order coming to the plate in the seventh.
Bridgett went down with the rare strikeout for him.
Collins sent a deep fly ball to right that looked like it was going to get by the right fielder but he adjusted and made the catch.
Herlong kept hope alive with a base hit to center. A grounder fielded at short stop with the throw out at first put an end to a great game.
On the mound for the Gators, Collins posted 4 strikeouts, walked 3 batters, had 4 batters to base on hit by a pitch, allowed 8 hits with 6 runs scored in the loss.
For the Lions, Keels posted 2 strikeouts, walked one batter sent one batter to base on a hit by pitch, allowed 8 hits with 4 runs for the win. At bat for the Lions, Q. Sanders was 4 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI, Drew Colvin was 2 for 3 getting to base on a hit by pitch.
Chase Yoder was 1 for 3 also getting to base on an error with a RBI, Trey Keels was 1 for 4 with a RBI also adding an RBI on a sacrifice fly, Jack Jordan was 1 for 2 also getting to base twice on hits by a pitch, Alex Reed drew three walks to base and Braxton Elms hit into a fielder’s choice. For the Wild Gators, Jordan King was 2 for 3 with a RBI, Brent Herlong was 2 for 4 with a RBI, De’Ante Bridgett was 2 for 4, Hunter Stevens was 1 for 2 also getting a walk, Justin Elliott was 1 for 4, Stone Spivey got a RBI on a Sacrifice fly, Nick Collins had 2 sacrifices with a RBI, Duane Nichols advanced a runner on a sacrifice bunt and Darius Ford got to base on a hit by pitch.
It was a hard to stomach loss for the Gators and their coaches.
After the awards Coach Herlong took his seniors aside and had a from the heart talk with them.
They had been with the coach since the seventh grade and it had to be hard for the coach and players to say goodby. It makes TV news when a coach wins 200 games and yet Kip is just two games shy of winning 500 games. He has led the Wild Gators to seven State Championships and ten Lower State Championships.
Kip may not get the news attention he deserves from the TV, radio and big newspapers, but the baseball fans of Dillon County recognize him as one of the greatest baseball coaches in the state coaching at one of the best baseball programs in the state. Principal Edison Arnette stated that he was proud of this team and how that they improved as the season progressed to one of the best teams in the state. Coach Herlong added that in the past he has had baseball players that also played football but this year he had some football players that played baseball. The Lions finish the season at 25-5 with Lake View going 22-5. We salute the Lions on the win but the fans of Dillon love the Wild Gators and know they will be back.
