Summerville 10-runned Fort Dorchester April 26 to complete a sweep of the Patriots on the baseball diamond.
The Green Wave won all three games of the series, clinching the Region 7-5A baseball championship along the way.
“At the beginning of the season, we struggled to put anything together and couldn’t put runs on the board,” said Summerville first baseman Wiley Waring. “We are seeing some good arms now that are probably a little better than the ones we saw early on, but back then, we just weren’t hitting the ball. When region play opened, we had extra motivation, and we really came together as a team. Everyone is playing for each other and with energy.”
West Ashley placed second in the region, Ashley Ridge placed third and Fort Dorchester placed fourth. All four teams have qualified for the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin April 30.
Summerville pushed five runs across in the second inning. It then added a run in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth to claim a 10-0 victory, improve to 17-9 with an 8-1 mark in the region and earn a No. 1 playoff seed.
Junior Aiden Vorlick pitched just less than five innings and only surrendered three hits and one walk while striking out four to claim the shutout. Senior Cade Brown relieved him in the top of the fifth with two outs and got the final Fort batter to ground out.
Catcher Shep Cadwell led the Wave batters, going 2-for-2 with a run scored. Vorlick, Waring, Alex Wellman, Brock Mathis and Paul Kreise also had a hit. Christian Scarano had two RBIs, and Chase Lewis, Banks Knight, Waring, Cody Landis and Mathis also pushed a run across the plate. P.J. Morlando, Lewis, Knight, Scarano, Tyler Thomas, Waring, Cooper Hughie, Wellman and Kreise also scored a run. Drew Hayes reached base three times for the Wave.
Junior R.J. Hamilton led the Fort batters, going 2-for-2. Sophomore Lee Lovelace had the other Patriots’ hit.
Summerville opened the series with an 8-0 victory April 22 and handed the Patriots an 8-1 loss in Game 2, so the Wave only surrendered one run all week. The team only surrendered eight hits in the series. Jace Stone had the pitching win in the first game, and Thayer Tavormina won in the second.
Fort Dorchester intentionally walked Morlando 10 times during the series, which led to him scoring multiple runs. Despite being pitched around, Morlando is batting over .400 this season with on-base and slugging percentages over .650. He has 24 hits, including four doubles, two home runs, a triple and eight RBIs. He has received 34 walks and scored more than 20 runs while only striking out six times.
Waring had a home run in the first game and multiple doubles during the week.
Summerville opens the playoffs at 6:30 p.m. April 30 when it hosts White Knoll, which earned an at-large seed. The Wave will host either Stratford or Carolina Forest May 2 in its second game of the District 7 playoffs.
“Getting the sweep two weeks in a row feels great,” Waring said. “Everyone is playing great. We’ve subbed in guys who didn’t play much earlier, and they have done their job. We’ve had guys who had less than 10 at-bats all season come in and get three or four hits during region play, and it’s just great playing with all these guys.”
Ashley Ridge will open the playoffs at Boiling Springs. Wando and the fourth-place team in Region 4 are also in the Swamp Foxes district. Fort Dorchester will open the playoffs at Berkeley. St. James and Socastee are also in the Patriots’ district.
The district championship round of the baseball playoffs is scheduled for May 6.
