The Wade Hampton baseball season started off with so much promise for a young ball team. They were the champions of the Red and Yellow Tournament and they managed to seal a playoff bid.
"Winning is everything with the playoff game," said Randall Long in an earlier interview. "It's our senior year and we want to go out on top."
Sadly, after sealing a playoff bid, the team was eliminated when they lost to Bishop-England 10-0 and Waccamaw 4-2.
"When you lose you let your coaches, your team and your community down," said Dalton Shramek in an earlier interview before the playoffs.
According to coach Steve Kemmerlin, the Red Devils' biggest game overall this season was their home game against Silver Bluff when they pulled out a 5-0 victory.
"We shut Silver Bluff," said Kemmerlin. "Nealie Edwards had a great pitching performance."
Kemmerlin said the team's problem the whole year was offense.
"We had a lot of games pitched well and didn't play well offensively," said Kemmerlin. "After the pre-season tournament we didn't play well offensively.
Still Kemmerlin isn't disappointed. He and his team accomplished several of his goals: they had a winning record, made the playoffs and won the preseason tournament.
As far as the playoffs, Kemmerlin said he wasn't disappointed in the effort against Waccamaw but he said the team didn't play well against Bishop England. Kemmerlin is quick to point out that Bishop England was a No. 1 seed and No. 1 team to beat in the state.
"The youth of our team made some improvement," said Kemmerlin. "Our senior leadership was good. They had a lot off good leadership qualities and kept is in good unity. We had a close knit group but they couldn't play a full game. They had one bad inning every game. We lost all five of the last five ball games."
After the recent losses, Kemmerlin is looking to a bright future. He has five seniors, but everyone else is returning. Kemmerlin is quick to point out that this is a young ball team that will only get better.
"It was a learning experience," said Kemmerlin of the team. "They had to learn how to hit high school baseball. The speed of the baseball is at a faster pace. I think they learned what they will have to do to get better."
He also says the team learned a work ethic and that it takes hard work to get better.
"I feel good about this team," said Kemmerlin. "They have a chance to be a playoff team again."
Wade Hampton ended 12-10 overall and 4-6 in region play.