Sunday afternoon on March 5, the Opterra Solutions Invitational baseball tournament featured another matchup between archrivals Lexington and River Bluff.

The two tournament co-founders have won the last three Invitationals. However, the Wildcats are 2-0 in the finals against the Gators. 

After Friday games were postponed due to weather, the teams played twice on Saturday to make it to Sunday’s title game. For the third time in the last four years, the Wildcats came out on top 5-4 to repeat as champion. 

“Every year we try to invite the best teams in the state to come and be a part of this event,” Wildcats head coach Brian Hucks said after the game. “It seems like every year it’s either us or River Bluff, or both, in the finals–we feel like we play some of the best baseball in the state right here in the Midlands.”

The matchup was an even one in which River Bluff was the home team despite playing at Wildcat Stadium. Both teams struggled to score early, leaving runners on base despite several opportunities to make plays. 

Tournament MVP Tyler Floyd finally kicked off the scoring at the top of the third inning with a leadoff solo home run to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. River Bluff answered in the bottom of the third after a Matthew Garris base hit and a walk from Walker Mitchell loaded the bases. 

University of South Carolina signee and All-Tournament selection Thomas Powell drove in a run on a fly out, but the Gators failed to capitalize and left two on to go into the fourth inning tied at 1-1. 

The Wildcats added another run in the fourth off of a sacrifice fly. It would be the fifth inning where the Gators would do the most damage, with Powell notching a two-run homer against Wildcat pitcher Patrick Evans to give River Bluff a 3-2 lead. 

The championship came down to the seventh inning. The Wildcats got two baserunners aboard as Landon Knight was hit by pitch and a walk drawn by All-Tournament selection Will Burgess. 

Gamecock commit Brandon Cromer Jr. hit a line drive up the middle into center field, scoring Knight to even the game at 3-3. With two runners still on base, the Gators mishandled a fly ball by Ian Miller in right field and pinch runner Connor Holmes scored on the play.  Then, Jackson Cionek added insurance with his third hit of the game, an RBI single, to make it 5-3.  

River Bluff also brought the top of their rotation to bat in their final at-bats. With two outs, Home Run Derby runner-up Beau Hollins blasted a solo home run off reliever Cam Sutton over the right field fence to narrow the lead.

Sutton was able to get Weston Grant to ground out to end the game. 

“To be able to find a way to win this tournament after playing three games in two days, that says a lot about the grit of our team,” Hucks said. “They competed–we came from behind in three of the games we won this week. I’m proud of their toughness.”

Lexington returns to action March 9 at home against Charlotte Christian, while River Bluff plays host to Aiken a day earlier. 

Third-Place Game 

Dorman 5, Summerville 4 

Fifth place game 

Brookland-Cayce 10, Southside Christian 0

Hayden Thomas went 4-4 with 4 RBI, including two home runs, and Ty Marshall went 3-3 with two RBI to lead the Bearcats. 

Dylan McInchok struck out seven and allowed two hits in five scoreless innings. B.J. Etheridge, Robert McMillan, Jordan Gibbs and Ethan Smith all drove in a run. 

Seventh-place Game

Catawba Ridge 20, Wren 7