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B-C hangs on against Beaufort




Brookland-Cayce’s Hayden Thomas smashes a two run home run in the bottom of the third against Beaufort. Photos by Mike Maddock

Brookland-Cayce’s Hayden Thomas smashes a two run home run in the bottom of the third against Beaufort. Photos by Mike Maddock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Brookland-Cayce Bearcats survived and advanced with a 5-4 win over the Beaufort Eagles in a 3A Lower State Bracket elimination game Monday, May 15.

Brookland-Cayce got the offense rolling in the bottom of the first. Parker Mergo drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a wild pitch to put the Bearcats in front 1-0.

Brookland-Cayce added to its lead in the bottom of the third beginning with a leadoff double from Tanner Staton. Two batters later, Hayden Thomas blasted a two-run home run over the right field fence, extending the Bearcats’ lead to 3-0.

Brookland-Cayce’s scoring continued in the bottom of the fourth. BJ Etheridge drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a wild throw to increase the lead to 4-0. Later in the inning, Staton hit a two-out single. He also scored on a wild throw as the Bearcats led 5-0.

“I was extremely happy with that because we had not been scoring runs early,” Brookland-Cayce head coach Rusty Charpia said. “It was good to get a couple across. Hayden barreled one up and hit a home run. That gave us a big spark. I don’t think we are hitting near our potential. I’ve seen us at practice, and we have as good a hitters in high school that I’ve ever been around. For one reason or another getting it to go together all the time, I don’t know. We have to find a way to do it better. It still feels like we are barely winning all the time.”

Brookland-Cayce’s Rylan Bullis pitched five complete innings, giving up one run on five hits while striking out three and walking none in his first career start.

Brookland-Cayce’s Rylan Bullis pitched five complete innings, giving up one run on five hits while striking out three and walking none in his first career start.

That was plenty of offense for eighth grader Rylan Bullis, who was making his first start on the mound. While he gave up one run, he also got out of some jams.

“I was surprised to get the start,” Bullis said. “Some of them didn’t believe me, but I had to prove them wrong. My slider was working. It helped keep the batters off balance. My fast ball hit 82 mph.”

In the top of the second, Beaufort got a leadoff single from Hudson Mullin and a two-out single from Davis Woods. Chase McKelvey was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Bullis halted the rally with a strikeout to get out of the inning.

Bullis allowed a run in the top of the fifth. However, he also prevented things from being worse. The Eagles’ Malcom Webb hit a leadoff double. Later in the inning, Logan Brutcher reached on an error, scoring Webb to shrink the deficit to 5-1. Bullis stopped the bleeding by forcing Jaydn Andrews to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

It was the top of the sixth where the drama crept in. Etheridge, one of B-C’s aces, took the mound to replace Bullis. Beaufort was able to take the opportunity to get its bats going. Carter Bowersox led off with a single, Woods drew a walk, and McKelvey singled to load the bases. Two batters later, Zach Talbert smashed a single, scoring Bowersox and Woods to close the gap to 5-3. Mason Connelly followed by hitting into a fielder’s choice, scoring courtesy runner Thomas Purdy to set the score 5-4.

That was as close as Beaufort would get. Etheridge settled down in the seventh and only allowed one hit to preserve the win.

Bullis picked up the win going five complete innings. He gave up one run on five hits and struck out three.

Hayden Thomas led the way at the plate for the Bearcats going 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Brookland- Cayce will travel to Hanahan Wednesday, May 17. The Bearcats will need to win two games to advance to the 3A State Championship series.

“We’ve been there a lot,” Charpia said. “ We know the route there. That was actually my father’s very first coaching job in 1965. My mother is from North Charleston. I know that area. I know all their coaches. I feel like I know their team because we see them all the time. We’re familiar with the players. It should be a good contest. We just got to believe we can still do it.”

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