High school baseball playoffs: Easley, Dorman out; Blue Ridge, Southside Christian win

EASLEY — Just when it seemed there would be a third game, Laurens canceled it.

Down by four runs in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday night, the Raiders scored five and stunned Easley 7-6 to clinch the Class AAAA high school Upper State championship.

Laurens (23-6) will begin a best-of-three for the state title Monday at either Myrtle Beach or James Island. That series is tied, with a third game to be played Friday.

The Green Wave (25-5) finished the season tied for the program high in victories, matching the totals of 2021 and 2016.

“This year, they just put it all together,” Easley coach Gill Payne said. “I can’t say enough about the seniors and their leadership.”

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Laurens had its leadoff batter on base in four of the first five innings yet trailed 6-2 as Easley ace Kaleb Owens kept batters frustrated. Owens had eight strikeouts, four of them to finish innings. He left the game after allowing two infield hits to start the seventh.

The Raiders cashed in this time. Bennett Edwards, a Georgia Southern commit, smashed a bases-clearing double to make it 6-5. A high chop on the infield skipped under the shortstop’s glove on a tricky second bounce, scoring the tying and eventual winning runs.

"You’re up 6-2 and you’re up all game and you lose it like that. It’s over,” Owens said. “It just went their way. That’s sometimes how baseball is. I’m proud of everybody. We fought to the very end.”

Easley’s Braxton Garrett made the very end a little bit longer. He tripled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh but was stranded, as was Brayden Bryson in the fourth after his two-out double. Those were the only hits after a six-run second.

“We just couldn’t get anything going after that one inning,” Payne said. “We’ve done that continuously in the playoffs. We’d have a big five- or six-run inning and then turn around and not be able to do anything else, and then you have to hold on.”

In Class AAA, Blue Ridge advanced to the Upper State championship with a 2-1 win at Daniel.

Gabriel King and Alex Kiniry combined on a five-hitter with six strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. They kept Daniel (20-11) off the scoreboard for the last five innings.

Blue Ridge (19-6) will play at 5 p.m. Friday at Powdersville (22-9), which is undefeated in the double-elimination bracket and will have two chances to clinch a berth in the state championship series, scheduled to begin Saturday. The Upper State champion will be home for Game 2 on May 21.

In Class AAAAA, Dorman’s run came to an end with a 5-2 loss at Lexington. 

The Cavaliers (18-5) had just four hits but tied the game 2-2 in the sixth inning. Lexington wrapped it up with three in the bottom half. Colton Earnhardt had two of Dorman’s hits, scored a run and drove in one. 

The best-of-three Class AAAAA state championship begins Saturday at Lexington.

In Class A, Southside Christian beat Christ Church, 10-0, to win the Upper State championship.

Nelson Vaughan pitched a shutout with 10 strikeouts in six innings. He also went 3-for-3 at the plate. Cole Tarango was 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBIs. George Massingill had two hits, scored twice and drove in two.

Southside Christian (27-6) will open the state finals Saturday at Latta with a home game Tuesday in the best-of-three. A third game would be May 25 at a neutral site.