The Southeastern High School Baseball Classic bracket has dwindled from 15 teams to four on the way to the semifinals of the tournament, which will be played Friday, March 22 with the finals scheduled for play Saturday.
The matchups are Augusta Christian (SC) playing The Baylor School (TN) and Lewisburg (MS) facing Blessed Trinity (GA) on Friday. The first matchup between Augusta Christian and Baylor will begin the semis with the first pitch at 4 p.m. followed by the next game between Lewisburg and Blessed Trinity beginning at 6:30 p.m. Games may be subject to change due to TV restrictions and inclement weather.
Both semifinal matchups will take place at AdventHealth Stadium in Rome, GA as the Rome Emperors will play host for the final four teams of the Southeastern High School Baseball Classic.
After Ringgold High School departed from the tournament due to weather and scheduling conflicts, Blessed Trinity was nominated to step in for the Tigers as they were the runner up in the Chattanooga Lookouts Region.
The Augusta Christian Lions defeated the Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines 7-5 to advance as one of the last four teams remaining in the SEHSBC. The Wolverines struck first and managed to take a 3-0 lead after the second inning before the Lions opened a six-run third inning, taking a 6-3 lead heading into the fourth. The Augusta Christian lead grew as large as four runs in the fifth inning before Prince Avenue Christian was able to rattle off two runs to cut the lead back down to two. After the fifth inning, no runs were scored for the rest of the game as the Lions of Augusta Christian were able to defeat Prince Avenue Christian 7-5 to advance to the semifinals of the SEHSBC. Both teams recorded seven hits in the game while Prince Avenue Christian had two errors to Augusta Christian’s one. Leading the way for the Lions in their victory was center fielder, Khaleel Pratt as he went two-for-three from the plate and recorded two RBIs. The Lions had six different players record a hit on the day while two players recorded two or more RBIs including Pratt and shortstop, Santiago Pacheco. Both pitchers for the Lions in their quarterfinal matchup, Wilson Donnelly and Austin Fox combined for three strikeouts and walked seven batters. Fox was able to contribute on both sides of the ball as he struck out two batters from the mound and recorded a hit and an RBI helping give Augusta Christian the victory. The Lions will face The Baylor School at 4 p.m. on Friday in the first game of the semifinals.
The Baylor School defeated Blessed Trinity in its quarterfinal matchup 4-3 in a game that featured only six hits. The Red Raiders of Baylor managed to get on the board first leading by a run after the first inning, 1-0. The run that Baylor scored in the first inning was the only run scored in the first three innings until the Red Raiders added two more runs to their lead in the fourth inning. Blessed Trinity responded in the fifth inning by scoring three runs, tying the quarterfinals matchup at 3-3. The Red Raiders had recorded a run in the fifth inning to retake the lead 4-3 and would hold onto that advantage for the remainder of the game, advancing by one run. Baylor was led by outstanding pitching from 2023 Tennessee Mr. Baseball and Virginia-commit, Tomas Valincius, as he struck out 12 Blessed Trinity batters and only let up three hits in five innings on the mound. On the offensive side, Valincius recorded a hit and an RBI in his two appearances at the plate and was walked twice. Only three players recorded a hit for the Red Raiders in their quarterfinal victory including Valincius, catcher Blake Lundy who also recorded the Red Raiders only other RBI, and 2023 Tennessee Mr. Football and Alabama commit, Amari Jefferson, as he went one-for-three in the matchup. Pitcher Matt Dill came in for Valincius in the sixth inning and struck out three batters to record the win for The Baylor School. The Red Raiders will face Augusta Christian in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Lewisburg High School was the only team in the quarterfinals to record double-digit runs as the Patriots defeated Oak Grove High School 10-6 to advance to the semifinals. Lewisburg faced a 3-0 deficit early on as the Warriors from Oak Grove rattled off three quick runs in the bottom of the first inning. After remaining scoreless through three innings, facing a three-run deficit early on, Lewisburg scored three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings as they were able to take the lead 6-3 heading into the sixth. Oak Grove responded with another three-run inning of its own as both teams’ offenses began to wake up with a trip to the semifinals on the line. After the Warriors were able to tie the game at 6-6 in the sixth, Lewisburg was facing a tie game for the first time since the top of the first. The Patriots bats came alive in the seventh and final inning as Lewisburg recorded four runs in the inning to take a 10-6 lead and held Oak Grove scoreless in the final frame to advance to the semifinals, winning 10-6. In their victory, Lewisburg recorded 11 hits as opposed to Oak Grove’s nine. The Patriots had three players with two or more RBIs including center fielder Easter Fesmire as he went two-for-four from the plate and was walked once, shortstop Cody Gilmore went two-for-five and Gunner Gilmore hit three-for-four. Lewisburg pitcher Cayden Baker struck out six batters in the Patriots victory as they will move on to play Blessed Trinity on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
As the only representative remaining in the SEHSBC from Georgia, Blessed Trinity will face Lewisburg in the semifinals for a shot at the tournament championship. The tournament included eight teams from the state of Georgia to begin the SEHSBC but has been brought down to just Blessed Trinity as the lone representative. In the team’s last matchup against The Baylor School, the Titans were stifled by impressive pitching from the Red Raiders as they were struck out fifteen times in the 4-3 loss. Though the Baylor pitching disrupted the Titan offense at the plate, Blessed Trinity’s pitching was also a factor as pitchers Zach Jansen and Ryder Register combined for seven strikeouts and only let up three hits in the quarterfinal matchup. Runs were hard to come by for both teams as they combined for 22 strikeouts and only six hits total in the game. Blessed Trinity shortstop Michael Zito, designated hitter Sean Greene and left fielder Wesley Bass each recorded a hit for the Titans while Zito and catcher William Hamacher each recorded the team’s only two RBIs on the day. Though Blessed Trinity was able to tie the game in the fifth inning as they recorded three runs in the top of the frame, the Red Raiders’ one run in the sixth proved to be the difference, giving Baylor the victory, and allowing them to become champions of the Chattanooga Lookouts Region. Though they were in the same region, Baylor and Blessed Trinity could meet for a rematch in the SEHSBC championship game if both teams win their semifinal matchups. Blessed Trinity will face Lewisburg in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Rome.
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