Strom Thurmond baseball walks off against Ninety Six to win district title

JOHNSTON — There’s no denying the talent the Strom Thurmond baseball program possesses. 

That was the case long before these current Rebels took the field, and it will remain so long after they’ve played their final game.

But ability only gets a team so far, and coming into the postseason head coach Nathan Horton challenged his players to come together as a unit – to lift one another up and compete alongside one another in pursuit of a common goal.

The rest of the Class AA District 1 bracket has found out what it looks like when they do that.

Strom Thurmond finished off a clean sweep of district play Monday with a 2-1 win over Ninety Six in eight innings, with Kaleb Simpkins’ walk-off hit punching the Rebels’ ticket for a return to the Class AA Upper State tournament. 

“It’s fun, no doubt about it. We gutted that one out. Boys played really well,” Horton said. “Brayden McCallister did a great job. That’s the longest he’s been all year on the mound for us, and played good defense behind him. Had some tough luck at the plate, hitting some balls hard early. Finally got a big, timely hit there from Kaleb Simpkins, who does it again. He did it last Thursday, he does it again tonight. It’s a good win.” 

Simpkins delivered a walk-off three-run home run in the Rebels’ 12-0 win over Ninety Six on Thursday, then had the chance to be an even bigger hero Monday after Evan Bates led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, advanced to second on a Grady Stone fielder’s choice and then moved to third on a wild pitch.

Simpkins blasted a pitch deep into right-center, a ball that could’ve easily been a triple had he not been mobbed by his teammates before reaching second base after Bates trotted across home plate as the winning run.

“I don’t know, man. I love Kaleb,” Horton said. “He’s always one you’ve got to try to – I don’t know the right words. He’s up and down emotionally. Sometimes you’ve got to rein him in, sometimes you’ve got to pick him up. But for him to come up in both of those moments with a big hit like that, it’s just awesome. I’m really happy for that kid. He deserves it.”