Hilton Head High takes district championship in 7-6 win over Chapin

Relief was the word of the night Tuesday at Hilton Head Island High School.

The Seahawks got out of a major jam late, and went on to claim the 4A District VII baseball championship with a tense 7-6 victory over Chapin at Ron Costello Field.

The Seahawks’ relief pitcher — Logan Toomer — gave up four runs in the sixth but battled out of a bases-loaded jam to hold the lead, and then closed out the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. That left head coach Ken Soucy and the rest of the Hilton Head crowd feeling immense relief as they advanced to the Lower State tournament.

“We tried to give it away, and we got through it,” Soucy said. “The seventh inning, we made some plays and finished the game.”

Toomer came on to relieve ace pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski to start the bottom of the sixth inning with the Seahawks holding a 7-2 lead. Visiting Chapin — the home team on the scoreboard — had a couple of singles at the start of the inning, but a groundout from Colin Kitchens left the Eagles with two on and two out. And that’s when things got interesting.

Long shadows in the infield made picking up the baseball difficult — for hitters and fielders, alike — while a blazing sunset had right fielder Eric Ashdown nearly blind. That’s when Chapin’s Will Kroske lofted a soft fly ball to right, and Ashdown never had a chance. He tried to shield his eyes with his glove, but to no avail. The ball landed 10 feet in front of him, scoring Chapin’s first run of the inning and cutting Hilton Head’s lead to 7-3.

“It was tough in right field,” Soucy said. “It always is tough in right field this time of night.”

Robert King and Tanner Steffy followed with RBI-singles, cutting the Seahawks’ lead to 7-5. Toomer played it safe against cleanup hitter Kale Rhame — who blasted a three-run shot off him Monday — walking him to load the bases. Nick Price hit a routine grounder to third base, but the ball scooted under Eric Foggo’s glove, plating an unearned run and trimming Hilton Head’s lead to one.

However, Toomer dug deep and preserved the lead, striking out Cooper Bemis looking to end the inning.

After the Seahawks were held scoreless in the top of the seventh, Toomer rebounded nicely from the previous inning to retire Chapin in order. He even helped himself out with a nice defensive play, covering first base and making a putout on in-between grounder to the right side.

“They put a zero up in the seventh, and that’s all we needed to win the game,” Soucy said. “So we move on.”

In the postseason, pitch counts are crucial. Toomer’s high pitch total over the past two nights will keep him from the mound for a while, but the Seahawks won’t worry about that after getting the victory.

“Toomer’s done now because of last night and tonight,” Soucy noted, “but he got us a ‘W’ and he’s a battler.”

Mlodzinski, meanwhile, threw fewer than 90 pitches, meaning he will be available for action on Saturday. The senior right-hander got through five innings Tuesday, striking out six and allowing a pair of runs.

“He wasn’t in sync. Carmen wasn’t himself,” Soucy said.

The Seahawks’ ace stranded runners on third base in each of the first three innings, and then got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning by inducing a double play.

Hilton Head had hits from seven different batters, the biggest coming off the bat of Foggo. He lofted a curveball over the center-field fence for a three-run homer in the third inning. He reached base in all four of his plate appearances, walking three times. Leadoff man Koty Brigham was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, and No. 2 hitter Dalton Shaw went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

“The hitting was good. Our defense hurts us,” Soucy said. “We got some huge hits that produced a couple of runs early with some bunts, sacrifices. And that’s what we were trying to do, put some ones up there on the board for Carmen and then pick away. And that’s what we did, and that’s eventually how we won the game.

“We played a little small ball,” he added.

Kroske and Kareem Bowers each had two hits in the loss for Chapin, which had forced Tuesday’s decisive championship game by notching a 12-8 win Monday night.

Hilton Head High advances to the Lower State tournament. The Seahawks play at Colleton County on Thursday to open the double-elimination format. Beaufort High School will be part of the four-team bracket.

If the Seahawks win Thursday, they will play at home Saturday. If they lose Thursday, they’ll be on the road again. Colleton County and Hilton Head played twice in the regular season, splitting the pair.

This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Hilton Head High takes district championship in 7-6 win over Chapin."