Strom Thurmond baseball wins district championship in extra innings thriller

JOHNSTON, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - There was no shortage of exciting play on the diamond to start the week.

Due to the inclement weather, some of the playoff games that were originally scheduled for this past weekend were moved back, and when you find out what happened at Strom Thurmond, you’ll see why that game was worth the wait.

With the District Title on the line, the Rebels needed one win against the Ninety-Six Wildcats, a team they’ve had some success against in the past.

This game was so tightly contested, and it needed extra innings to decide a winner.

In the bottom of the eighth, with one out and a runner on third, Kaleb Simpkins drove a ball to deep center field. The powerful blast landed over the center fielder’s head for a base hit, and the runner scored from third, helping the Rebels secure the victory.

Strom Thurmond walked it off in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the extra innings thriller, 2-1.

“We gutted that one out, the boys played really well. Brayden McAllister did a great job, that’s the longest he’s been all year on the mound for us, and we played good defense behind him. We had some tough luck at the plate, hitting some balls hard early, and we finally got a big timely hit there from Kaleb Simpkins, who does it again. He did it last Thursday and he did it again tonight, so it’s a good win,” said Head Coach Nate Horton.

In a heroic and clutch performance, Brayden McAllister threw all eight innings, pitching his way out of multiple tough spots with runners in scoring position.

The Strom Thurmond Rebels are moving on to the class 2A upper state on Thursday.

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