The boys of summer
On consecutive nights last week, middle-aged men became young again and teenagers reverted to boyhood, chasing one another around the outfield, arms in the air with half-filled water bottles or towels flailing in the night.
The boys of summer put the punctuation on spring with dueling dogpiles, as Hilton Head Christian Academy’s baseball team capped off an improbable run to a second consecutive state title, and Hilton Head Prep followed it up three days later with — inconceivably — the first state championship in a proud program’s history.
Each scene was the type young boys dream about in their idle time while tossing a ball in the air or against a wall, imagining they’re the one to make the play that sets off the celebration.
HHCA left fielder Eli Morgan’s heart must have stopped for just an instant when he saw the final out soaring his way, trying not to notice his teammates on the infield with their gloves already skyward in anticipation of the celebration to come. No pressure, kid.
Morgan wasn’t part of last year’s championship team. He’s one of several young players who were on the JV roster, waiting their turn while a senior-laden squad fulfilled its lofty expectations and delivered the Eagles’ first baseball crown in 14 years. Players like Morgan, Brody Mayles, and eighth-graders Stone Burd and Colt Spargur stepped right into key roles and rolled with the punches when first-year head coach Jay Scarbro constructed a challenging schedule aimed at preparing his team for the jump to SCISA Class 4A.
After waiting nearly a decade and a half for a second state championship, no one at HHCA expected the third to come so quickly.
But with only one senior on the roster — albeit Montreat College-bound ace Hayden Brooks, whose improbable walk-off home run sent the Eagles into the championship series — the expectations have been reframed for his program.
If the drought between HHCA’s first two titles wasn’t enough to indicate the difficulty of running the gauntlet, Hilton Head Prep’s long search for a championship drives the point home. The Dolphins have had their share of dominant teams over the years, but a title evaded them time and time again.
The closest call came in 2016, when Dobbie Green’s Dolphins took the opening game of the championship series against Calhoun Academy before losing two straight one-run games. HHP made deep runs each of the last four years under veteran coach Chris Wells, but each fell short of the championship series.
Until this year.
Coincidentally, the Dolphins punched their ticket at the expense of Calhoun Academy on a walk-off hit–by-pitch to end an epic nine-inning battle, perhaps extinguishing any remaining demons, because even when two errors opened the door for Orangeburg Prep’s seventh-inning to force a decisive game 3, the Dolphins were undeterred.
They fell behind 3-1 in the finale but pounced on the Indians’ miscues in the sixth to plate four runs, and sophomore Brandon Espinoza finished off a compete game in a 5-3 victory.
Espinoza wiped out the final hitter with a nasty breaker, and catcher Jackson Stanyard spiked his facemask and sprinted toward the mound to experience the purest form of catharsis.
Hail to the champs.
Justin Jarrett is the sports editor of The Island News and is the founder of Lowco Sports. He has a passion for sports and community journalism and a questionable sense of humor.
