Hilton Head Christian's Wilkerson expected special season

Bluffton – Hilton Head Christian Academy won its first state title in baseball since 2010 and did so in impressive fashion. The Eagles finished with a 24-6 record and swept 2-time defending state champion Pee Dee Academy in the best-of-3 series for the SCISA AAA crown.

Head coach JW Wilkerson admits the season, from beginning to end, couldn’t have gone much better.

“It’s still a little surreal,” Wilkerson said a couple of weeks after Hilton Head Christian won the title. “It means the world to bring a state championship back to the Lowcountry for the first time since 2010. It’s a result of all of the hard work that was put in by these players. We had 10 seniors and everything was aligned perfectly for a special year.”

Wilkerson, who has stepped down as head coach to focus his attention fully on being athletic director, said he had full confidence in the ability of each player on the roster to step up and contribute when needed.

“It was everybody. Our team was just really good,” said Wilkerson, who was the head coach for three seasons. “Playing in front of our fans and the support we got from the community was super special. That gave us a special edge.”

The Eagles had four players selected to the AAA All-State team in Slaide Burd, Roman Colella, Cody Bradt and Hayden Brooks.

Burd, a junior shortstop, was also named the Region 1 Player of the Year. Burd finished with a .420 batting average, nine doubles, one home run, 32 runs scored, 15 stolen bases and 28 runs batted in.

Colella, a junior catcher, led the team in hitting with a .447 average, 17 doubles, 42 hits and 35 RBI. He also had a triple and two homers. Bradt, a senior centerfielder who has signed with Radford, batted .412 with a team high 44 runs and 24 stolen bases. He also had six doubles, four homers and 25 RBI. Brooks, a junior right-handed pitcher, had a 2.40 earned run average and a 6-2 win-loss record in 46 2/3 innings late in the season.

The other three were All-Region first team selections along with James Crosby. A senior left-handed pitcher, Crosby owned a 4-0 record and a 1.20 ERA through 52 2/3 innings pitched late in the season

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All-Region second team selections were Steele Burd, Chip Hetzel and Zane Wilson. Burd, a senior first baseman who has signed with Clemson, smacked a team high seven homers while batting .338 with 36 runs and 27 RBI. Hetzel, a junior second baseman, batted .329 with 30 runs and eight stolen bases. Wilson, a senior righty, was 5-2 with a 1.23 ERA in 45 2/3 innings late in the season.

Other key contributors were senior third baseman Keene Reese, senior outfielders Dylan Clark, Tucker Tevepaugh and Alex Epstein and sophomore outfielder Jackson Richardson.

Epstein batted .274 with five doubles, 12 stolen bases and 17 RBI. Reese had a .262 average with four doubles, a team high three triples and 20 RB8i. Clark batted .235 with three doubles, three homers, 16 RBI, 10 stolen bases and 22 runs, Richardson batted .244 with eight RBI and Tevepaugh batted .204 with 13 runs.

The remainder of the roster included senior Jesse Hall, senior Walker Mikkelson, junior William Mahl, sophomore Tucker Nelson, sophomore Anthony Seminara and freshman Ian Steiner.