photo by Rob Gantt

Summerville coach Burt Bazzle congratulates Hoot Gibson during a homerun trot Monday. Gibson hit a solo homer in the first inning against Goose Creek and had a game-winning homer Wednesday against Bishop England.

After a walkoff homerun from Hoot Gibson, the Green Wave baseball team is off to a 2-0 start.

Summerville followed an 8-2 win over Goose Creek Monday with a 4-3 win over Bishop England in its home opener Wednesday. However, the second win didn’t come easily or fast.

The Bishops led for six-and-a-half innings and held a 3-1 advantage entering the final at bat. The first two batters in the bottom of the seventh grounded out so B.E. starter David Dunlay was in good shape. But that changed quickly.

The next two batters, Kenril Johnson and Wave leadoff batter Jesse Mikesell, both reached base on walks to bring Hoot Gibson to the plate. Gibson wasted little time, swinging for the fence on the first two pitches, but not connecting with either.

The Bishops were just a strike away from victory, but Gibson did connect with the next pitch, sending the ball over the left-field fence for a three-run homer that seemed to sail as high as it did long.

Gibson, who hit a solo shot at Goose Creek, also had a single and an RBI earlier in the game. Tyler Fletcher, Stephen Windham, Brian Peagler and Johnson also had singles in the game.

Fletcher pitched the first five innings for Summerville and surrendered only two runs, one scored in the first and the other scored in the second. Wesley Bouronich relieved him in the sixth and surrendered only one run in two innings.

With a win over the defending Class AA state champion under its belt, Summerville now turns its focus toward a rematch with the Gators March 12 and a March 15 game against the defending Class AAAA Lowerstate champ, Wando.

Summerville coach Burt Bazzle is optimistic about the rest of the season.

“We are all excited about what we think we can accomplish with this group,” he said. “We have quite a few players back from last year and some talented new ones who give us good balance. Pitching wise we are deep. Hopefully a win like tonight’s will give us confidence.”

Summerville opened the season with the three-man pitching rotation of Fletcher, Gibson, who picked up the win in the season opener, and Kyle Downs. The team has several other players who also pitch, including a couple who may end up getting some starts as the season progresses.

Gibson, Fletcher, Windham, Downs, Matt Chapman, Bouronich, Gabe Craven and Jacob Williams return after seeing action with the varsity team last season.

“We’ve got some guys who can definitely hit the ball hard and while we didn’t show it tonight I think we will be a good offensive team,” Bazzle said. “As the weather warms up and we get out here and hit, we should improve.”

Players up from the JV include Mikesell, Johnson, Matt White, Brian Peagler, Dalton Saunders, Tripp Knowles, Austin Edwards, Dale Thompson, DeAngelo Henderson and Cyle Crowder. Junior Cody Rodriguez, an outfielder from Michigan, is the team’s sole transfer student.

Henderson is a sprinter for the Wave track team and the 2009 MVP of the Wave football team. Saunders is the quarterback for the football team.

“A kid with DeAngelo’s talent should definitely help us,” Bazzle said. “He has good instincts on the base paths and gets good jumps. You don’t have to tell him every little move to make, he knows what to do.”

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.

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