Moncks Corner—The Berkeley High School baseball team, ranked fifth in the first High School Sports Report AAAAA poll,, handed highly regarded Greenbrier Christian Academy of Chesapeake, Virginia, its first loss of the season on Tuesday with a 4-3 victory to advance in the 54th annual HIT Baseball Tournament sponsored by Hanahan High School.
Berkeley, whicn improved to 11-5 on the season, will now travel to Wando on Wednesday at 7:30 pm for a semifinal game. The two teams met last week in region play with Wando winning two-of three games.
Greenbrier Christian Academy came into the HIT event,7-0 and the Gators played for a state
title last year in Virginia The Gators are the defensing HIT champions from a year ago.
After the game, Berkeley head coach Landy Cox told the HSSR, “For the first time in a while we
got a little bit of offense going and offense brings you energy. Not getting big hits with runners on bases has held us back all year, but tonight we were able to get hits throughout the game and that was a key to our win.”
Cox praised the relief pitching of Mcrae Driggers. “He bounced back tonight and pitched well after a rough outing in a region game last week,” said Cox. “I am very proud of his effort tonight.”
Berkeley has been beset by injuries this season. “Cole Greer, a South Carolina commit, did
not play tonight and he is in a boot with an ankle injury,” Cox said of his power pitcher, who has been clocked at 93 miles per hour this season. “Cole goes to a specialist this Friday and we are hoping we can get him back at some point this season, but he might need surgery.
“Our No.2 pitcher, Connor Barham, is dealing with a rotator cuff issue and he has not
been able to throw, and our senior catcher, Mason Salisbury, a Lander commitment, is only
able to run at a slow jog pace due an injury he is playing through. Our p[itching depth is really
thin right now.”
After the game, Greenbrier Christian head coach Pat Nichols told the HSSR, “We want to play good
competition and our goal is to always play the best teams we can play and we want to be prepared
to make a run in our state tournament back in Virginia, and coming down here (to the HIT) and
playing in tough environments like we did tonight get us prepared for that.
“Mikey Urbaniak had an amazing night for us tonight. He led off the first inning with a home run, had a double in the seventh inning, and he had a single up the middle earlier in the game. He has signed to play at Longwood. I also felt like Hunter Langston came out of the bullpen and threw really well over the last innings and he kept us in the game. Games like this, it always comes back to not getting that one key hit you need in a scoring situation and that is what happened tonight.
“We love playing down here and the tournament is well-run and very well organized,” said Nichols. “If I had to say right now who will pitch on Wednesday it will likely be Old Dominion commit Jackson Okonkiuo, who also plays first base.”
Greenbriar Christina took a 1-0 in the top of the first on a home run by Urbanisk who went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in. Berkeley plated two runs in the bottom of the first after their first two batters, Hudson Clark and Gavin Edens, reached on back-to-back singles. Clark scored on an RBI single by Driggers, and Edens scored on a passed ball to put the Stags up 2-1 after one inning.
Berkeley went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the second when senior Brant Ford singled to left and advanced to second on a groundout by Clark before stealing third base. Edens then walked to put runners at first and third with two outs. Salisbury singled in Ford, or the go-ahead run. Edens was tagged out at the plate on a very close play.
There was no additional scoring until Berkeley got a very important insurance run to go ahead 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Gavin Gaskins reached on a pinch hit single to lead off the inning. Bodhi Leeson then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runner. Bryson Heath reached on a throwing error that also allowed Gaskins to score from second.
In the top of the seventh Greenbrier Christian did not go away quietly. Ubaniak led off with a
double. With two outs, Peyton Shipman ripped a single up the middle that scored Ubaniak to
make the score 4-3.. Driggers got a called third strike that ended the game.
WEDNESDAY
Steadman Division
Site: Hanahan High School
2:00 — Providence, NC vs. First Colonial, VA
5:00 — St. Pius X, GA vs. Stratford, SC
7:30 — Hanahan, SC vs. McCracken County, KY (SEMI-FINAL)
Site: Bishop England High School
1:00 — Philip Simmons, SC vs. Oscar Smith, VA
3:30 — Lucy Beckham, SC vs. James River, VA
6:00 — Bishop England, SC vs. Catholic, VA
Site: Wando High School
5:00 — Cox, VA vs. Ardrey Kell, NC
7:30 — Berkeley, SC vs. Wando, SC (SEMIFINAL)
Site: Berkeley High School
5:00 — Timberland, SC vs. Bamberg, SC
7:30 — Woodland, SC vs. Pinewood, SC
Site: Cane Bay High School
12:30 — FD 1 Cane Bay, SC vs. Trinity Christian, GA
Hatfield Division
Site: Summerville High School (Gregg Middle School)
5:00 — Fort Dorchester, SC vs. St. Francis, OH
7:30 — Summerville, SC vs. Marvin Ridge, NC
Site: West Ashley High School
5:00 — Beaufort, SC vs. Ben Lippen, SC
7:30 — West Ashley, SC vs. Great Bridge, VA (SEMI-FINAL)
Site: James Island Charter High School
2:00 – Starr’s Mill, GA vs. Catawba Ridge, SC
5:00 – Hickory Grove, NC vs. Hickory, VA
7:30 – James Island, SC vs. Greenbrier Christian, VA
Site: Ashley Ridge High School
7:30 – Ashley Ridge, SC vs. Western Branch, VA (SEMIFINAL)
JV H.I.T. Schedule
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024
Site: Fort Dorchester High School
5:00 West Ashley, SC vs. Summerville, SC (Semifinal)
7:30 Fort Dorchester, SC vs. McCracken County B, KY
Site: Cane Bay High School
12:30 FD 2 Cane Bay, SC vs. Lucy Beckham, SC
Site: Goose Creek High School (Sedgefield Middle School)
10:00 Hanahan, SC vs. Wando, SC
12:30 Philip Simmons, SC vs. Oscar Smith, VA
Site: Stratford High School
10:00 Berkeley, SC vs. James Island, SC (Semifinal)
12:30 McCracken County, KY vs. Stratford, SC
Site: Ashley Ridge High School
5:00 Ashley Ridge, SC vs. Beaufort, SC
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