How Eastside baseball embraced big expectations on way to second SCHSL state championship in 4 seasons

TAYLORS — It had been Eastside baseball's goal since before their season started.

The Eagles' baseball team had to go on the road to A.C. Flora and win twice in the Upper State Championship series. Then after winning Game 1 of the Class AAAA baseball state championship series by run-rule, Game 2 would take most of what Eastside had left.

The final gasp of air was this: Eagles senior infielder David Mershon flipped the ball to his freshman brother Peter to tag out a runner at second to clinch the Class AAAA state championship on Saturday.

Then David Mershon fell to his knees and put two fists in the air with joy. After holding off Hartsville with a 10-9 win in Game 2 of the series, Eastside can again claim to be state champions in baseball.

"It's pretty remarkable," said David Mershon, who struck out two of the four batters he faced in the final inning. "Freshman year, I did it when my older brother was a senior. I caught the ball and flipped it to him. Today, my freshman brother caught the ball.

"I'll never forget it."

Senior Brody Fowler started the game on the mound for Eastside. He had six strikeouts in five innings and was pulled in the fifth with Hartsville rallying before Garrett Dehlinger relieved him.

From there, Mershon came in and finished the game's final seven outs – striking out three in the process.

"I watched a video the other day for our second game before it got rained out," Mershon said. "It talked about how pressure's in your mind. Every pitch is the same, you just gotta take it as it is. So, tried to think about that when I was out there: give my team a chance ... throw strikes."

Eastside trailed 9-8 in the bottom of the fifth and tied it at 9-9 before a Jack Davis home run in the bottom of the sixth gave the Eagles a lead for good.

HS BASEBALL: Southside Christian defeats Johnsonville for first-ever SCHSL baseball state championship

EASTSIDE ​​​​​TITLE RUN: Eastside baseball in driver's seat after winning Game 1 of SCHSL championship series

BASEBALL NEWS: These are the Upstate SC South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association All-State selections

"He hit it, I was like, 'that's gone,' " Fowler said. "As soon as it was in the trees, I was like, 'Oh. My. God. We just won the game.' That's kind of the icing on the cake ... we give up seven in the fifth, come back from down 9-8. It just shows what kind of group of guys this is."

This state championship is the second for the Eagles' senior class. The first was in 2019 and was the school's first in the sport. Both state championships have come under coach Scott Erwin. And this season's team was considered, for much of the year, as one of the top teams in the state.

"There's a lot of times that you can downplay expectations," said Erwin, whose son Caden is a senior and starting catcher. "This year, we couldn't ... They wanted to be here today and for them to embrace those expectations and play the way they did. That's amazing. That's amazing on their part."

Eagles hold off Hartsville rally

Eastside jumped to a 6-1 lead after one inning behind six hits from the middle of the order. Then the Eagles led 8-2 through four innings at home following a Fowler two-run shot over the left-field fence.

"I had been getting fastballs all night," Fowler said. "I saw my pitch, I didn't miss it."

It seemed as though Eastside would handily, as they did by run-rule in Game 1 at Hartsville. Hartsville hung seven runs on the Eastside pitchers in the fifth on the back of seven hits. But Eastside hung on, tieing it in the bottom fifth and then taking the lead for good on Davis's home run.

HS SPORTS: Carolina High School announces Chris Glover as new head football coach

Joe Dandron covers high school sports for The Greenville News. You can contact him at jdandron@greenvillenews.com and follow him on Twitter: @JoeMDandron.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Eastside baseball defeats Hartsville to win SCHSL 4A state championship