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 McAllister 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."
That capped a tense game that Ninety Six could've taken control of in each of its previous two innings. The Wildcats had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh and eighth innings, but McAllister's pitching and the defense behind him made sure Ninety Six had nothing to show for it.
In the eighth, the Wildcats had the bases loaded with one out and attempted a squeeze play, sending the runner from third as McAllister came home with the pitch - only the batter pulled back his bat rather than attempting the bunt, and the Rebels were able to get the runner out when he retreated back to third base. McAllister then struck out the next batter to end the inning.
The Wildcats had done the same the inning before, packing the sacks with only one out in a 1-1 game. But McAllister induced back-to-back groundouts, one to Justus Hammett at third that he threw home for a force-out and the other to Jay Willis at shortstop that he threw in time to first to end the threat.
McAllister went the distance for the Rebels, allowing just one run on five singles with four strikeouts and four walks. He recovered from allowing that lone run in the third inning to retire the next seven batters he faced, then worked his way out of jams late to give the offense a chance to win it.
"I mean, we just preach 'compete' and that's what he did tonight," Horton said. "He didn't let a long of things faze him. Thought he had a great attitude all night on the mound. Even when things were tight and tough, he did a really good job of working through that and battling through. I can't say enough about it, man. It was a gutsy performance, for sure."
The Rebels had opportunities for a couple of big innings, but hard-hit balls kept finding Wildcats' gloves to leave runners stranded - 10 for the game, including leaving the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth innings.
The sixth is when they tied it, with Stone delivering an RBI single after Hammett drew a leadoff walk and Bates singled. Stone lined the ball right over second base, bringing Hammett in to make it a new ballgame.
Bates finished the game with two hits, Stone had his hit and was hit twice, Hammett singled and walked twice, Bryston Bryant walked twice and Simpkins walked and hit the game-winner.
That game-winner meant the teams wouldn't have to return to the Rebel Zone on Tuesday for a winner-take-all finale. Instead, the Rebels will wait to see who they play in Thursday's Upper State opener - Mid-Carolina hosts Landrum on Tuesday needing to win only once for the District 2 title.
"It's awesome. I definitely didn't want to have to come back and go tomorrow," Horton said. "I'm glad we were able to tie it up there in the sixth. Sophomore Grady Stone comes up and gets a big knock for us. Played JV most of the year, and we called him up for the playoffs. He's had some big hits for us in some big spots, and he comes through again right there, ties the thing up, and we were able to take advantage of our opportunities there late. I'm glad we ain't got to show back up here tomorrow and play them again, for sure."
