GASTON — The road to a championship isn’t always a straight line; for the Blythewood Ozone All-Stars, it was a 51-11 demolition derby through the loser’s bracket.
After dropping a heart-wrenching, 10-inning season opener, Blythewood rattled off four straight dominant victories to capture the Diamond Youth Baseball District 4 Championship, punctuated by a 16-0 shutout of Pineview in the title game.
The championship victory was a two-day affair. Thursday’s deciding game was halted by weather and completed Friday. When the dust finally settled, Blythewood had racked up 16 hits and allowed only one hit in Friday’s four-inning mercy-rule win.
Mayes McDaniel turned in a career performance in the finale, going 3-for-3 at the plate. McDaniel sparked a four-run third inning with a two-run homer to center and added two more singles later in the game. On the mound, Charlie Tolson started the shutout, striking out three over two innings. McDaniel then entered in relief, striking out five and allowing no hits over the final two frames.
Blythewood blew the game open in the second inning with a seven-run explosion. Holden Ferguson got the scoring started with an RBI groundout, followed by an RBI single from Tucker Shaw. Andrew Campbell then roped a two-run double, Sam Kloke added a two-run double of his own, and Andrew Belville capped the rally with an RBI single.
The offensive onslaught continued as Killian Evans drove in a run with a single in the third. In the fourth, Shaw drew an RBI walk to help seal the 16-0 victory. Chase Hughes, Tolson, and Evans each finished the game with multiple hits.
Blythewood’s path to the trophy required them to beat Pineview twice. They forced the winner-take-all finale with a 13-2 win on Wednesday night.
Mason Taylor fueled an early rally after being hit by a pitch to drive in a run and later adding an RBI single. Spencer Palo kept the pressure on Pineview with a hit and an RBI single of his own during a five-run second inning.
Blythewood swiping 15 bases in Wednesday’s game, tallying 40 on the week. Tripp Collins, Hughes, Shaw, and Campbell all recorded multiple steals on Wednesday.
Over the course of the five-game tournament, Blythewood outscored its opponents 51-11. The pitching staff was particularly stifling, allowing only 13 total hits across five games, while the offense hammered out 46 hits of their own.
The road to the top started under a cloud following a 10-inning 5-4 loss to Lexington on June 13, despite eight strikeouts from Belville and double-digit steals from Collins and Palo. But the team’s response was immediate. From June 14 onward, Blythewood’s hard road turned into a victory lap, including an 11-2 win over Dentsville and a combined no-hitter against Lexington by Hughes and Belville to stay alive and put Blythewood into the title game.
The Ozone All-Stars now move on to represent District 4 in the Diamond Youth Baseball State Tournament. That tournament is scheduled to begin July 4 in Greenwood.