A week ago, the conversation around Boiling Springs High School baseball was that they were simply not playing to their potential and that because of the schedule they have played to start the season, it was difficult to get a read on just what to expect from them for the rest of the 2025 season. They were swept in each of their first 2 series at the hands of Riverside and Dorman in games where they did not play clean defense, did not get solid pitching from both starters and bullpen, and continued a season-long trend of struggling to hit against good pitching.
As if that was not tough enough, the Bulldogs have battled even more adversity with two significant season-ending injuries dating back to the week of the Steve Sanders Preseason tournament – one to junior shortstop Titus Hutchins (knee) and the other to senior outfielder Kyle Patterson (wrist), both of which were all-region players a year ago.
The Byrnes Rebels, who a year ago at this point were about to take control of the region 2-5A standings en route to their first region title in 12 years, have also had a rough start to the season. Their pitching ran into some tough luck and their offense struggled to keep pace when the Rebs dropped 2 out of three to Spartanburg on opening week. But, they bounced back with a series win over Gaffney, setting them up for what seemed like a huge opportunity to get back on track this week against a “like opponent” this week when they faced off against Boiling Springs – especially with 2 of the three games coming from the friendly confines of “The Backyard.”
So, to review – there was not much of a read on Boiling Springs besides the lack of offense against good pitching, lack of experienced pitching despite a wealth of arm depth, and some defensive struggles which are a part of what seems more like an epidemic among all our local teams thus far in 2025. Byrnes has one solid pitcher, capable bats, and has also had defensive issues, particularly at the shortstop position that has been a bit of a revolving door for them with several guys having received playing time there – including Connor Crenshaw, Jake Moss, Landon Hulehan, and Jaxson Camp.
The series got underway Monday night with a duel between Cathen Cole, who was roughed up against Dorman in his previous start, and Rebels ace Connor Crenshaw. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, one of the biggest positives in this game is that Cathen did return more to the form we saw out of him when he worked his way into the rotation at the end of last season, going 5 and a third innings with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks, 3 hits, and just 1 earned run.
Even more fortunate for Boiling Springs was that this game (and spoiler alert– game 2) was won by some clutch work out of the bullpen. When Cathen Cole exited in the bottom of the 6th, the Rebels had finally broken the goose egg on the scoreboard with a Bubba Gowan RBI single that put the tying run on third with 1 out. Emory Horton came into the game in relief and immediately got a huge 2nd out by picking off the courtesy runner. Later, with Landon Hulehan at the plate in an 0-2 hole, Horton elevated a fastball that Hulehan chased to get the Bulldogs out of the jam with no further damage. Horton would go the rest of the way and earn the win, finishing things off with 2 more huge strikeouts, getting swings and misses at his fastball up from Harrison Keels and Jaxson Camp.
While the bullpen came in hot for Boiling Springs and deserves some highlight, the story of this game has absolutely nothing to do with them. In fact, it is not about anyone from BSHS at all. This game was.. Unique… Why? Boiling Springs won it 2-1. But they did it without a single hit.
Crenshaw is no stranger to tough luck this season so far. He was working a no-hitter into the 6th inning in the opener against Spartanburg only to have the game suddenly be tied because a bobble on a grounder to 2nd from the leadoff hitter and a walk led to a 2-run double. He would go on to take a loss that one can only describe as brutal – if it were not for the even more brutal way this game ended up for him.
Both of the 2 runs the Bulldogs scored were gifts. JD Moore drew a walk to lead off the 2nd. On what appeared to be a routine chopper to 2nd, the ball took a last-second hop and was ruled an E4 to allow Grayson Easler to reach base and put men at the corners for Kohen Bridges. While he was at the plate, Easler went to steal 2nd and Gowan’s throw went into center for an error, scoring courtesy runner Austin Staiger with ease and allowing Easler to go to third. Bridges later picked up BSHS’ lone RBI on a grounder to 2nd to make it 2-0.
Crenshaw would end up going 5.2 innings with 4 strikeouts, and 5 walks. Harrison Keels came on in relief and went the rest of the way, striking out one and walking one. Yes, the duo pitched a combined no-hitter. And lost.
In the second game of the series, Gavin Henderson took to the hill for the Bulldogs and got off to about as good of a start as possible, striking out the side in the top of the first. The 2nd inning did not go nearly as effortless. He walked the first 2 hitters and gave up an RBI double off the fence in right to Blake Collins. Henderson rebounded with consecutive strikeouts before walking another, with ball 4 plating a run when it sailed to the backstop. The up-and-down nature of things ended up being the story of the night as he departed after 2 and two-thirds with a “balanced” line – 9 walks, 9 K’s, and 3 earned runs on 2 hits.
Byrnes managed to keep the Bulldog bats stymied until the 4th when Bridges got things going with some 2 out magic. He drew a walk that was followed by a ringing base hit from Emory Horton. On a double steal, an E5 scored the Bulldogs’ first run, setting the stage for an impressive RBI squeeze bunt from Austin Staiger. The Rebels would get out of trouble on a ground ball to 2nd to maintain a 1-run lead heading to the 5th, but would be shut out in the frame, allowing Boiling Springs to keep chipping away.
Landon Stevens led off the Bulldog 5th with a double to left center field, later to tie the game on a “Baltimore chopper” over the third baseman’s head from Kai Lee for an RBI knock. Moore later singled off the shortstop with 1 out to score Lee and give the Bulldogs the lead 4-3. That would be all as TJ Collins was caught stealing and Easler chased a pitch off the plate to end the rally.
Byrnes made a little 2 out trouble of their own in the following half inning, eventually re-tying the game on a Jaxson Camp RBI single, and once again threatened to take a late lead with a leadoff triple to left from Crenshaw only to have the Bulldog bullpen step up again in the clutch.
Josh Kanipe came into the game and showed the same level of confidence in his fastball Emory Horton had on Monday, striking out three more Rebel hitters to leave the go-ahead run on third. That effort ended up earning him the win as Luke Morrison lined a walkoff single to right to cash in a leadoff walk to Logan Merchant for the 5-4 series-clinching victory.
“I feel ecstatic”, said Boiling Springs head coach Jeff Lipscomb after Wednesday night’s contest. Baseball is a crazy game. We could have given up. We misplayed a ball for a leadoff triple. Then Kanipe came in and struck out three. We went down three to nothing tonight, but we were able to execute some small ball. If this were two weeks ago, there is no way we would have won this game.”
The finale was one where it was evident Boiling Springs was just looking to give a young arm primarily used in the bullpen some innings with the series already in hand. It would be a battle of the Camps – Jaxson for the Rebels and Manning for the Bulldogs. It did not take long for the Rebels to give Jaxson all the run support he would need. The Rebels struck for a 5 spot in the opening frame, adding another in the third. Those 6 runs, complemented by a 6 inning, 11 strikeout, 2 walk, 4 hit shutout effort from Jaxson was rewarded with a victory to salvage the finale.
“The first 2 games got away from us. We pitched a no-hitter Monday and lost. That can be pretty debilitating and deflating”, said Byrnes Head Coach Taylor Hollifield after the win on Friday. Wednesday we had a lead and blew it and did not execute a few things. “Thursday, I challenged my guys and told them that I am not going to berate them. Let’s look at our record as 0-0 going forward. We didn’t want to stress them out or pressure them or anything like that. Play like the first 2 games didn’t matter and flush it. That was our mindset coming in and they did a good job.”
If anything that can be learned from this series, it is that Byrnes has a 2nd pitcher in Jaxson Camp that can go a long way towards helping them if he can keep providing solid game three performances the rest of the way while their offense is still capable when they are not being locked down by pitching like was seen from Boiling Springs’ bullpen.
Hollifield hopes for the same after Camp’s start to the season.
“Jaxson has answered the call and we like having him as our Friday guy. I thought of moving him to Wednesday in case Monday doesn’t go well. But he is that guy that we can count on to be there at the end of the series to do a job and give us an opportunity to win. He has been consistent in all 4 starts, he’s 4-0, and he’s done all we can ask of him. He wants the ball. I wanted to pull him in the top of the 6th tonight and he said he wanted to face this hitter and the next. That’s the mentality he has. He wants the ball and he wants to compete.”
Byrnes (6-6, 4-5 region 2-5A) will have an even tougher hill to climb from here as they face the red-hot Dorman Cavaliers in their annual rivalry tilt. The series gets underway Monday night in Roebuck with a 6:30 first pitch with game 2 in Duncan and the finale back at Ronnie J Smims Field.
As far as Boiling Springs goes, it is evident that when their bullpen is on and they are able to manufacture some offense, as oversimplified as it sounds, they can beat anybody. They will need players to keep stepping up and all the confidence that winning this series brought going forward, but they have finally shown that they can play to their potential.
“Sometimes kids will say ‘it’s my turn’ when injuries happen.” said Lipscomb. “They’ll say ‘let me step up and get the job done.’ They did that Wednesday to win the series. Winning gives confidence. We could quit. But guys stepped up. There’s no way we would have done this 2 weeks ago. We need to keep that going forward.”
Boiling Springs (5-8, 2-7 region) will have just as tough a task ahead of them this week as they face the Eastside Eagles in a three game set. It is an odd series as it will be split by Spring Break, but it opens at Bulldog Park on Tuesday night at 6:30 PM, continues on Monday, April 7th with another home game, and wraps up with a road game on the 9th.
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