Hawks experienced on diamond in 2024

By Rob Gantt

Special to The HSSR

HANAHAN - The Hanahan High School baseball team made it all the way to the Class AAA state championship series last spring, ultimately settling for the runner-up trophy.

With seven seniors on the roster and some key newcomers ready to make an immediate impact in 2024, the Hawks are back in the conversation for the big trophy again. First-year Hawks coach Skylar Hunter, a former HHS and Citadel standout, recognizes his team’s ability. They were tabbed Class AAA’s No. 1 team by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association in late January.

“Everybody can look around and see the talent level is obvious,” Hunter said, “but it’s doing all the little things right every day and not getting too far ahead of yourself. We’re on the same page. They’re competitive kids but they know it’s not about rankings or outside perception. It’s about how good we play and how we go about our business. We don’t want to be No. 1 on Jan. 22. We want to be No. 1 on May 25.”

The Hawks return plenty of talented players from the 2023 squad and have six players with college destinations already picked out.  On the mound, seniors Gabe Dotterweich (Florence-Darlington), Hunter Gomes (Francis Marion) and Porter Sprovero (USC Lancaster) are a solid set of arms coming back.

In the field, senior Landon Gomes (Francis Marion) is back in the outfield and three of four infield spots have starters returning: senior first baseman Hunter Gomes, senior second baseman Jacob Bunting and senior third baseman Riley Turner. New shortstop Oakley Aguilar, who transferred in from a baseball academy, is a senior headed to Radford. Dotterweich sees time in the outfield and on first base, too.

Another key newcomer is sophomore Sterling Coaxum, who can play on the outfield or infield. The Clemson commitment transferred in from Oceanside Collegiate. Sophomore Bo Brabham is another pitcher and sees time at third base. Sophomore Hudson Sprovero handles the team’s pitchers from the behind the dish. Junior Joe Furse starts in the outfield.

The Hawks open the regular season March 5 at Fort Dorchester. They went 3-1 in the Shipyard Showdown by Prep Baseball Report Feb. 29-March 3.

The Hawks knocked off Legion Collegiate (7-1), Riverside (6-1) and Lucy Beckham (14-2). The lone blemish was a 10-4 loss to James Island, ranked seventh in Class 4A.

In the win over Legion, Hunter Gomes collected three hits and Turner drove in three runs. Against Riverside, Coaxum collected three hits and scored twice from the leadoff spot as the designated hitter. In the win over Lucy Beckham, Turner had three hits and two RBIs.  Bunting added two hits and three RBIs. Landon Gomes knocked in two runs against James Island.

Dotterweich, Brabham and Sprovero earned pitching victories in the preseason tournament.