Baseball: Gators Win District 4 with 8-1 Win Over Sumter

May 17, 2026|Baseball

Sunday, May 17, 2026 | River Bluff High School

River Bluff won the District 4 bracket in dominating fashion, going 6-1 and beating Sumter twice, to advance to the SCHSL AAAAA-Division I Lower State Championship.

Saturday's final was 8-1 in favor of River Bluff. The Gators started the final District 4 playoff game in a big way, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning. After River Bluff starter Peyton Hewitt struck out the side in the top half of the first, Walker Godwin smashed a double into center field to score Banks Alexander to give the Gators a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Mason Iser singled in Dominick Norton and Godwin, making the score 3-0. Then, after an Ashley Powell single, Mac Raines hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field, bringing in pinch runner Carson Lloyd. A double steal brought Iser home safely and Powell safely to second putting the Gators up 5-0.

Things would remain fairly quiet until the top of the fourth when Sumter finally got on the board, making the score 5-1.

Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Iser collected a leadoff single and Powell advanced him to second on a sacrifice bunt. Raines then drove in Iser on a single. Jeremiah North hit a two-out double to left field to score Raines. North scored when Alexander singled to center, giving the Gators an 8-1 lead, which is where the score stood for the remainder of the game.

Hewitt pitched three scoreless innings, surrendering only one hit and striking out four to pick up the win. Dalton Corley pitched three innings in relief, giving up one run on just two hits and striking out six. Cooper Calhoun gave up a couple of hits in relief and Godwin pitched the final inning, striking out all three batters in a row.

Gators at the plate:

B. Alexander - 3-for-4, 1 run, 1 RBI
D. Norton - 1-for-2, 1 run, double
W. Godwin - 1-for-4, 1 run, 1 RBI
S. Turner - 1-for-2
C. Lloyd - 1 run
M. Iser - 2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI
A. Powell - 1-for-3
M. Raines - 1-for-3, 1 run, 2 RBI
A. Rye - 1-for-2
J. North - 1-for-1, 1 run, 1 RBI, double

In the two final games of the District 4 bracket, River Bluff outscored Sumter 18-1 and outhit them 23-7.

Now, the Gators meet the Lower State's overall number one seed James Island in a best-of-three series in the Lower State Championship. Game one will be at James Island on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and game two will be at River Bluff on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. If a game three is needed, that will be back at James Island on Saturday at 1 p.m.

(Photo by GoFlashWin)