Heartbreaker: Belton-Honea Path spoils Aynor’s bid for back-to-back SC softball titles

The Aynor softball players lined the third-base line on Friday and stood stoically as they watched Belton-Honea Path hoist the Class 3A state championship trophy. Some even wiped tears from their faces.

It’s not the finish the Blue Jackets were expecting, after having won it all last season.

But the Bears rallied from an early six-run deficit and claimed their first state title in program history with a 9-8 victory in the third and deciding game of the championship series.

It was the second runner-up finish in three seasons for Aynor.

Coach Tony Mills knew his squad was hurt by the loss, but he thinks his program is heading in the right direction. The Blue Jackets have two seniors and will bring the bulk of their experience back next season.

“Our goal at Aynor is to not just win a region title or a district … but a state championship,” Mills said. “This is the third time we’ve been here. It’s gone to three games each time. We know what the expectations are, and our kids in the junior-varsity program know what the expectations are.

“You play softball at Aynor, you want an opportunity to play for a state championship. It’s not always going to go your way.”

Despite that expectation, Mills was complementary to the Bears.

“Congratulate Belton-Honea Path,” Mills said. “Great program, and they did a very good job. Their kids got down early, their kids competed. We had a big lead, and they fought back and got some timely hits. It hurts to lose, but I told our kids I’m so proud of them.”

It was seldom-used BHP freshman Addie Vaughn who proved to be the difference on Friday. She came in and silenced the Blue Jackets’ bats over the final four innings and hit a two-run home run to cap a five-run rally in the fourth inning.

“She’s a really good pitcher,” BHP coach Jarad Jennings said. “We knew that, but that’s not what we were really expecting out of her. She ran into it and got a really good pitch.”

Early on, it looked like it would be a repeat for the Blue Jackets (23-6). Hannah Lewis delivered a two-run single in the first inning to stake Aynor to a 2-0 lead. The Bears scratched one back in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Meg Griffin.

Aynor exploded for five runs in the third inning, all with two outs. Mackenzie Brown, Alaina Brown, Carolina Gaskins and Alivia Hess all drove in runs to lift the Blue Jackets to a 7-1 lead.

But Belton-Honea Path (34-5) got three of those runs back in the bottom half of the third. Maddie Johnson then pushed the lead back to 8-4 when she hit a home run to deep center field in leading off the fourth inning.

That’s when the Bears made the pitching change. Two other relief pitchers were battling injuries when BHP elected to go with Vaughn, who mainly pitched at the junior-varsity level this season.

She limited the Blue Jackets to two hits over the final four innings with one strikeout and no walks.

“We saw the first pitcher nine innings on Monday night and seven innings on Wednesday night and several innings tonight,” Mills said. “We hit the ball really well and had her timed up really well, but all it takes is 2, 3, 4, 5 mph difference and it throws you off. When you have a pitching change, it’s all about timing and your hitters getting in a rhythm. They made the change at the right time.”

Hannah Lewis and Alaina Brown drove in two runs each for Aynor.