By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
Beaufort High’s baseball team has reeled off four straight Region 7-4A wins in the past week to clinch the No. 2 seed and a first-round home game in the Class 4A playoffs.
The Eagles swept a pair of games from Colleton County last week, winning 16-4 at home Tuesday and 7-2 in Walterboro on Wednesday, before edging Hilton Head High 6-4 on Thursday and blasting Bluffton 14-2 on the road Monday.
The hot streak comes on the heels of a couple of roster shakeups from first-year coach Zach Jacobs, who made the moves during spring break and said he has seen immediate improvement in team chemistry and effort. The changes have opened up new opportunities for players like Thomas Purdy, who went 3-for-4 and scored twice from the No. 9 spot against the Bobcats.
Purdy was one of five Eagles with multiple hits in the opener with Bluffton, as Logan Brutcher went 3-for-3 with four RBIs in his new home in the No. 6 hole, and Zach Talbert, Mason Connelly, and Tommy Winburn each added a pair of hits. Davis Woods went six innings for the win, allowing two unearned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Talbert was the star on Thursday at Hilton Head, where the Eagles scored twice in the top of the sixth to take the lead, only to see the host Seahawks tie it in the bottom of the seventh before Talbert helped Beaufort tack on two in the eighth and closed it out on the mound. Talbert singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth, then added an insurance run with some savvy baserunning, finishing 2-for-3 with three RBIs and earning the win with three solid frames of relief. He allowed one unearned run and three hits with three strikeouts and a walk in relief of PJ Daley, who gave up three unearned runs and three hits over five innings with four strikeouts and three walks.
Talbert also knocked in four runs in the finale against Colleton County, while Malcom Webb headlined a strong pitching performance, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits over five innings with six strikeouts and one walk.
The Eagles (10-13, 8-3) were set to close out region play at home Wednesday at Bluffton.
