For the second straight year, the Class 5A baseball title was denied to River Bluff High School.

The Gators fell 14-4 to Dorman in the deciding game of the Best-of-Three series Saturday at Dolny Stadium on the campus of Lander University in Greenwood.

River Bluff fell behind 4-0 in the first inning as All-State selections Jack Hennessy and Tanner McCallister and Russell Parry combined for three hits and three RBI off Game 1 winner Ricky Williams.

Alex Urban answered with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning off Dorman starter Hunter Smith. Dylan Rogers, who finished the series with three home runs and five RBI, answered for the Cavaliers in their next at-bat with a grand slam off Burnett to make it 8-1.

“The first two innings were definitely tough to overcome,” River Bluff head coach Mark Bonnette said. “Ricky has been great for us all year long and he’s been so good and you’ve got to credit (Dorman).”

River Bluff rallied for three runs in the fifth and had the tying run at the plate in Gary Burnett. He ended up grounding out to end the inning.

Dorman picked up six more runs over the next two innings to close out the scoring. After Hunter Garris reached first with one out in the seventh, Hennessey retired the final two batters to end the game.

River Bluff also finished the season 25-9 and placed second in the final SCBCA Class 5A poll behind the Cavaliers.

Bonnette credited his team with exceeding expectations after last season and knows next season will be even more challenging in the ultracompetitive Region 5-5A with the arrival of Class 4A champion Chapin.

“Today, things didn’t go our way early, it kind of got away from us and, to their credit, they did a great job,” Bonnette said.

Coaches, Steffy earn top SCBCA honors

Scott McLeod of Class 4A champion Chapin and River Bluff’s Mark Bonnette were named Coaches of the Year of their respective classifications on Tuesday by the S.C. Baseball Coaches Association.

McLeod’s catcher, Tanner Steffy, was named Class 4A Player of the Year and teammate Cade Austin made the All-State team along with Tyler Corbitt and Justin Allen, both of Class 4A runner-up Airport.

Chapin and Airport finished 1-2, respectively in the final SCBCA poll.

Bonnette was honored as the Class 5A Coach of the Year. Making the All-State team were Noah Huffmaker and Jared Kirven (both of Lexington), Ty Olenchuk (Dutch Fork) and Alex Urban (River Bluff).

Lexington and Dutch Fork were third and seventh, respectively, in Class 5A.

Ryan Ouzts (Gilbert) and Josiah and Joel Sightler (both of Swansea) were named to the Class 3A All-State team. The Indians ranked third in the final poll.