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SUMMERVILLE BASEBALL

GS194

Two Year Starter
Jan 22, 2015
169
17
18
From the Post and Courier

Faulkner predicts future baseball title for Summerville
BY DAVID SHELTON Special to The Post and Courier
May 7 2015 4:50 pm May 7 5:20 pm
Less than 24 hours after seeing his top-ranked Green Wave fall in the District VIII championship game on Wednesday night, Summerville High baseball coach Banks Faulkner looked back on his first season with pride as well as disappointment.
After the Green Wave went 22-2 during the regular season, most felt the Class AAAA state championship would run through Summerville during this playoff season.
“It’s disappointing in the sense that we know how good a team we are and we just came up a little short,” said Faulkner. “To be as consistent as we were all season long, it’s frustrating to see it end way before we thought it would. That’s baseball.”
Summerville visited Sumter on Wednesday night needing to beat the Gamecocks twice to advance to the final four bracket of the Lower State. Trailing early in game one, Summerville rallied to tie the game late. Game one extended into 12 innings before Summerville scored three times to win, 6-3, forcing a second game.
Late in that first game, however, Faulkner was ejected for arguing a close call at first base. He was forced to watch game two from the bus, well beyond the left-field wall.
“Watching that second game and not being able to be a part of it with my guys was the toughest thing I’ve ever been through as a coach,” said Faulkner.
Summerville took an early 1-0 lead in game two before falling behind 3-1. A rally in the seventh fell short after scoring one run, ending the magical run.
“This was the toughest group I’ve ever coached,” says Faulkner. “To watch these guys compete so hard made me proud to be their coach. We had a great group of seniors and I hate it for them. We’re going to win a state championship at Summerville. And when we do, these seniors will have played a special part in it. As a group, they were one of the most coachable groups I’ve ever been around. They busted their tail right to the very end.”
Summerville will be led in 2016 by pitcher Sawyer Bridges, a current junior committed to play at South Carolina.
 
Just about the result I expected. It appears that most Summerville teams can win a large number of games, but when they get into the games that really count for a championship, they lose..........every year.
 
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