Pinckney doesn’t flip as Dorchester wins SCISA AA baseball title

           St. George – Nicholas Pinckney oh so wanted to do it.

           “Before the game, (head) Coach (Brent) Jackson said, ‘None of you better bat flip or do anything stupid,” Pinckney said in referencing the Dorchester Academy baseball team’s Game 2 in the SCISA AA state championship series against Calhoun Academy. “He was worried about us doing something like that and getting ejected from the game and not being able to play if we had to play a third game.”

           Then came the temptation, pretty much right off the bat. Pinckney was batting with two runners on in the top of the first inning when he mashed a 3-run home run.

           As soon as I hit it I wanted to bat flip so bad,” Pinckney said. “I knew it was gone.”

           Pinckney caught himself, but he did get to hoist the state championship trophy later in the evening. The Raiders went on to a 5-1 win on May 13 in St. Matthews to sweep the series and finish the year with an 18-6 record.

          The Raiders won all six of their playoff games, but things looked a little shaky after the first-round series against Thomas Heyward. Dorchester won a pair of slugfests, taking the first game 10-7 before clinching the series with a 15-12 triumph.

         “In the first round of the playoffs the bats kept us in there,” Jackson said. “Defense carried us to the state championship.”

        Defense with some pretty good pitching thrown in the mix. The Raiders beat Colleton Prep 11-1 and 1-0 to sweep the semifinal series. They opened the championship series with a 6-2 victory, meaning they allowed four runs in the final four games.

        In the opening game against Calhoun, Aiden McDaniel started on the mound, giving up two runs in 2 1/3 innings. Ben Wimberly pitched 1-hit baseball over the final 4 2/3 innings to get the win.

       In the second game, Mason Fender got the win, allowing five hits, one run and two walks over 4 1/3 innings. Wayland Gruber didn’t allow a hit or a walk over the final 2 2/3 innings to get the save. He struck out three.

      Between those four, Bryson Connor, Trey Freeman, Connor Hartzog and Pinckney, Jackson had a slew of arms he could send to the mound.

           “That's what made us scary,” he said. “Other teams didn't know who we were going to pitch. A lot of times we didn’t know who we were going to pitch.”

           Gruber, Pinckney, McDaniel, Wimberly and Tyler Westbury were selected to the All-Region 1-AA team.

FOUR SOFTBALL PLAYERS ALL-REGION

          Paige Shelton, Krystal Judy, Emery McClure and Kinsey Bates were named to the All-Region 1-AA softball team.

         Shelton was the Raiders’ Most Valuable Player with a .411 batting average, seven home runs, 25 runs batted in and 29 runs scored. Bates won the Best Offense award, batting .493 with three homers and 25 RBI. McClure was the Rookie of the Year, batting .425 with 25 RBI and 35 runs. Judy anchored the defense from her shortstop position and was selected to play in the 2A North-South All-Star Game along with Shelton and McClure.