Courtesy of MCHS
PROSPERITY – Last week, the red-hot Mid-Carolina Rebels hosted familiar foe, Gray Collegiate Academy, in Prosperity for the SCHSL 2A Upper State Championship.
Undefeated up to that point, one win was needed to send the Rebels to play for the State Championship. By the bottom of the first inning, Mid-Carolina seemed poised to wrap things up with a four-run lead. Scoring became hard to come by for either team after that, but the Rebels found two more runs to push the score to 6-0 entering the final inning of Game One. In the top of the seventh, Gray Collegiate was able to get two runners on base before the first out. After walking the next batter, Mid-Carolina was forced to manage a loaded diamond and the potential for runs. A single and two more walks cut the Rebel lead to 6-3. This was followed by a sorely needed strikeout to bring the Upper State Championship within one out for the Rebels. The home run that Gray Collegiate responded with would not have been too damaging by itself, but the bases were still loaded and it gave the War Eagles a grand slam, four runs and the lead. After getting the third out, Mid-Carolina sent three to the plate and watched all three be put out as Gray Collegiate stole Game One, 7-6, and forced the Rebels into an elimination game for the first time in this year’s playoffs.
In Game Two, the Rebels were down 2-0 after two innings. Mid-Carolina found themselves with loaded bases in the top of the fifth and were able to tie the game after a walk and sacrifice fly. With two and a half innings left to play, it was any team’s game. An RBI single from the War Eagles in their next at-bat gave them a one-run edge. A wild pitch at the top of the sixth led to a Rebel run and a score of 3-3. With Gray unable to score in the bottom of the sixth, it all came down to the seventh and final inning. Mid-Carolina got the first opportunity to take the lead and potentially the championship, but the Rebels could not find a way to bring two baserunners home. Gray Collegiate took their turn a the plate and were able to get runners on first and second with no outs. The Rebels were able to get a strikeout, but then intentionally walked the next batter to prevent another late multi-run hit. Bases loaded, one out, 3-3, Upper State Championship on the line. The next hit was a fly ball that could have been the second out, but an error sent the War Eagle batter to first and a War Eagle running home. When he crossed first, the walk-off win was sealed and the story of the 2023 Mid-Carolina Rebels came to an end.
With eleven out of twenty-one players graduating, the next chapter may not be as clear as it was in the past, but the remaining players and staff know what it takes to build a championship team.