LowcoSports.com
It was a wild ride for the Beaufort High baseball team over the past month, culminating with three consecutive one-run games in a roller-coaster Class 3A Lower State tournament starting Thursday and ending Monday night with a 5-4 season-ending loss to Brookland-Cayce.
After shaking off a sluggish end to the regular-season and plowing through the district bracket undefeated, the Eagles were set up well with their pitching staff lined up and home-field advantage for their opener against Hanahan on Thursday, but a 12-inning marathon resulting in a 10-9 loss took its toll.
Beaufort let a 6-1 lead slip away and appeared doomed when the Hawks scored twice in the top of the 10th, but the Eagles answered with a pair in the bottom half to extend the game. Hanahan regained the lead in the 12th, and Beaufort couldn’t muster another rally.
The Eagles still had some magic left, though, and they conjured some to stay alive Saturday afternoon against Dreher. After a five-run fifth inning gave the Blue Devils a 5-1 lead and left Beaufort with just six outs to play with, the Eagles rallied for three runs in the sixth, and Hudson Mullen launched a two-out, two-run home run for a 6-5 walk-off win to keep the season going.
Beaufort nearly pulled off a similar comeback Monday, rallying from a 5-0 deficit to get within 5-4 before stranding the tying run at first in the seventh inning.
“Thank you to all my players and coaching staff for this baseball season,” Beaufort coach Shane Monahan said on Twitter. “It wasn’t always easy, but when it counted we were at our best.”
SCHSL 3A LOWER STATE
Thursday’s Game
Hanahan 10, Beaufort 9 (12 innings)
HAN 010 042 000 201 — 10 10 3
BFT 200 410 000 200 — 9 16 6
WP: Riley Ballard 2IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
LP: Carter Bowersox 2IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K
BFT: Logan Brutcher 4-5, RBI, BB; Hudson Mullen 2-4, 3RBI, BB; Jayden Andrews 3-3, 2B, RBI, 2BB; Zack Talbert 2-5, 2B (2), 2BB
Saturday’s Game
Beaufort 6, Dreher 5
DREH 000 050 0 — 5 6 0
BFT 001 003 2 — 6 10 1
WP: Chase McKelvey 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 3K
LP: Matthew Moore 1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K
BFT: Zack Talbert 2-3, BB, 2R; Logan Brutcher 1-4, 2B, R, RBI; Hudson Mullen 2-3, HR, BB, R, 2RBI; Davis Woods 2-2, BB, R, RBI
Monday’s Game
Brookland-Cayce 5, Beaufort 4
BFT 000 013 0 — 4 10 4
B-C 102 200 x — 5 4 1
WP: Rylan Bullis 5IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K
LP: Chase McKelvey 6IP, 4H, 5R, 3ER, 2BB, 7K
BFT: Zack Talbert 1-4, 2RBI; Hudson Mullen 2-4; Davis Woods 2-3, BB, R
