As with any sport, as the season gets about 2-3 weeks in, you begin to get a picture of what realistic expectations are for certain teams going forward. You also occasionally get the exact opposite and realize that the only thing you know is that you know absolutely nothing about a squad besides what they should be. In the case of this week’s region 2-5A baseball series between the Boiling Springs Bulldogs and the Dorman Cavaliers, both of those statements showed themselves to be true.
There is no better evidence of knowing potential but not seeing it come to light than Dorman a year ago. At this same point of the 2024 season, the Cavs were off to a 2-4 start to region 2-5A play with series losses to Boiling Springs and Spartanburg – in short, underperforming given the amount of talent they had. But, they completely turned their season around by sweeping Gaffney in their third region set and despite getting swept by eventual region champion Byrnes in their last regular season series, outlasted all of the above in the playoffs by advancing to the upperstate championship game, where they fell to soon-to-be 5A state champion Lexington.
This season, expectations were set a little higher with Coach Jack Jolly’s Cavaliers returning several of their key pieces from 2024 – including Palmer Hornick, Coleman Brown, Jackson Wyatt, Conner Wells, and Colton Earnhardt. Dorman also complemented their wealth of returning talent with a highly-touted hitting phenom in 8th grade right fielder Carter Nash and freshman 2nd baseman Austin Rath. Coming into this week, those expectations had been met thus far in the form of a 5-2 start with a convincing series victory over region 2-5A newcomer and perennial Greenville County baseball power Eastside. In short– the Cavaliers are a team that should at least have the potential to make it back to the state semifinals if not take it a step further and go to the title series this time. Not only that, but there was more than enough confirmation from the preseason and first week of the season that this team is as good as they should be.
So far in the 2025 season, Boiling Springs has shown to be in the same shoes Dorman was when they were at their lowest point last season. A preliminary glance at the roster turnover (or rather lack thereof) says the Bulldogs are a team that should be competitive. First baseman Emory Horton, 2nd baseman Kai Lee, 3rd baseman Landon Stevens, Pitchers Logan Merchant, Cathen Cole, and Josh Kanipe, as well shortstop Titus Hutchins all returned after significant contributions in 2024.
Boiling Springs started the preseason strong by rebounding from an opening night loss to Blue Ridge in the annual Steve Sanders Spartanburg County Tournament by running the table through the rest of their bracket and defeating Gaffney 1-0 in the championship game behind a combined three-hit shutout where 6 different arms threw at least one inning. By the eye test, 2 things stood out: they struggled to hit good pitching, but also showcased a wealth of depth on the mound themselves that are all capable of coming in and throwing strikes in high pressure situations.
But the eye test only tells so much about Jeff Lipscomb’s bunch as far as what they are going to be this season. Thus far, the Bulldogs have opened the season with the same kind of region 2-5A bang the 2024 edition of Dorman did. Boiling Springs opened on the road with a 3 game set against another newcomer to the region that is a traditional baseball power – the Riverside Warriors. They were swept in that series, with offense at a premium (aka, they continued to struggle against decent pitching), dropping the opener 9-3, the middle game 4-0, and the finale 5-4. Of course, things did not get any easier for week 2 of the regular season with the Dogs having to face this stacked Dorman team.
In essence, one could make the point that regardless of the outcome of this week, we still would not have a gauge on just how good BSHS is or what to expect going forward — and that generalization would be 100% correct.
The series kicked off at Bulldog Park on Monday night and featured Dorman’s junior lefty Connor Wells going against BSHS junior right hander Gavin Henderson. Neither arm was particularly sharp, with Wells lasting just two-thirds of an inning longer than Henderson. Gavin notched 4 strikeouts to go with 2 walks, 2 hits, and 3 runs – all earned. Connor struck out 4 batters, walked 4, and surrendered 6 runs (5 earned) on just 3 hits – which is the story of the game.
Boiling Springs scored 8 runs in what would be a 10-8 loss in the end. But, of those eight runs, 2 scored on wild pitches, one was stolen on a throw-in from the outfield, one was on a sac fly where the runner initially reached via getting hit by a pitch, 2 more were the result of a pair of errors in the 5th inning. Basically, one could summarize by saying that the game was not anywhere near as close as the final score read and the Cavs helped the Bulldogs out quite a bit.
In the midweek match over in Roebuck, Jackson Wyatt opposed Cathen Cole in what would be one of the toughest nights for Bulldog pitching in a long time. The Cavaliers drew first blood when Jackson Wyatt drew a 1 out walk and advanced to third on a single from Earnhardt. Coleman Brown later drew a walk to load the bases, setting up an RBI sac fly to left for Ian Thomas. Cole was able to limit the damage to just one run, striking out Rath looking with the bases loaded to get out of the inning.
Boiling Springs was able to respond with a run of their own in the top of the 2nd, cashing in a leadoff double from Luke Morrison after he took 3rd on a wild pitch and scored on a JD Moore ground out to 2nd. But Dorman struck back with a fury in the home half of the frame, as Nash led off with a double, Luke Thompson followed with a single, Earnhardt drew a 2 out base on balls to load the bases, and Coleman Brown cleared them with his first hit of the series – an RBI double to left center. That was a moment where Brown caught fire for the rest of the week, dealing the decisive blow in this game in his very next plate appearance with a 3 run homer to center.
In the end, the Bulldogs managed to muster just one big inning, hanging a 4 spot in the 4th that was aided by 2 more Dorman errors as the Cavaliers went on to clinch the series with a 15-5 run-rule victory in 5 innings and a complete game on the hill from Wyatt.
“They are scrappy”, said Jack Jolly of Boiling Springs after taking the series. “They are scrappy, play with a lot of pride, and don’t quit. We have had to work hard to win this series. Tonight, Jackson did a good job of getting first batter outs. That makes it really tough to score runs when you are always getting the first batter of an inning out. He filled up the zone and pitched to contact. We had one inning where we made three errors behind him. He left a couple of balls up and gave up a couple of runs, but he settled in and said he was going to finish it. In general, I am really proud of our guys. We came off the tournament with a lot of confidence. We took two out of three from Eastside in our first region series, a team that is solid and will be at the top of our region. I’m happy with where we are, but we have to play better defense.”
The finale saw the series head back to ‘The Springs’ for a duel between Joshua Kanipe and Logan McGarity, and keeping to form, the Bulldogs’ starter did not make it out of the 4th inning. Kanipe struck out 5 over three and two-thirds, walking 2 and surrendering 7 earned runs on 7 hits, which would peg him with the loss. McGarity went 5.2 innings, notching three strikeouts, 2 walks, 7 hits, and 4 runs (3 earned).
“We pitched well. Logan McGarity got us into the 6th and then Cross Jenkinson came in and got us out of it and then Coleman Brown shut it down. So I am really happy with our pitching. We still made a few mistakes on defense we are trying to clean up, but for the most part I felt the routine play was made, which was big. We got timely hits and executed bunts, moved runners, and put pressure on the defense”, said Jolly of his team’s effort in the finale.
The Dorman offense was once again led by Coleman Brown, who finished the series with 9 runs batted in over the last 2 games. His three RBI in game three were part of a perfect 3 for 3 night at the dish (single and 2 doubles, one of which was a base-clearer) in which he also drew an intentional walk and scored 2 runs. For certain Brown, who batted .500 in the series was the MVP for the Cavs as he also pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the sweep.
“He struggled early on with swings and misses trying to do too much”, said Jolly of Brown’s progression as a hitter. “We talked to him about changing his approach and making some adjustments and he has really bought into it. He has worked hard and made the most of opportunities when he has come up. We just need him to keep producing from that cleanup spot when runners are on base.”
Going back to the points on what was learned from this series, further confirmation was given to Dorman’s status as one of the favorites in both the region and the upperstate. They are as good as advertised and if they stay healthy and avoid an untimely slump, there is no reason this team cannot make a push for a state title this season. Boiling Springs? Well, they remain a mystery. With this tough of a start, it is most sensible to write these first 2 weeks off for them. What will really give an idea of what they really are is how they perform this coming week.
Boiling Springs (3-7, 0-6 region) will play three with Byrnes starting at 6:30 Monday night in Duncan. The Rebels have struggled with pitching this season while showing some firepower at the plate. In short, Byrnes, who took two of three from Gaffney this week after losing 2 in tough fashion to Spartanburg the week prior are a “like team” to the Bulldogs. The Rebs present a chance to build some confidence at the plate and get the season back on track for BSHS. But, it will take playing solid defense and pitching as well. Because if you boot the ball around against Byrnes, they can make you pay just as easily as Dorman.
The Cavaliers (8-2, 5-1 region) will take on Wade Hampton in a 3 game set that will also begin Monday in Greenville at 6:30 PM.
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