Bryson jumpstarts Easley to victory

EASLEY — You’ve heard that saying: “It’s not where you start. It’s where you finish.”

That could be said for the pitching staff of the Easley baseball team. Coach Gill Payne knew he had a solid No. 1 pitcher in Kaleb “KO” Owens when the season began.

Beyond that, he wasn’t too sure.

Last week, the Green Wave hosted the opening game of the playoffs. Payne had to try and save the arm of Owens for a tougher opponent in game two. That’s when senior righthander Brayden Bryson answered the call in a thrilling 4-3 win over a stubborn Aiken Hornets team. Bryson pitched 5 1/3 innings, struck out 6 batters, scattered 5 hits and didn’t allow any walks.

“I knew I had to throw strikes,” Bryson said, shortly after the win. “I knew I had a great defense behind me and they make all the plays. My teammates came through.”

Added Owens, “Brayden stepped up big time. We hung in there and never wavered. We’re a strong team. Winning the game is huge for us in how we won it and I’m so proud of Brayden. He pitched his butt off.”

Aiken held a 1-0 lead through three innings of play. In fact, Hornet junior Jackson Flowers had a perfect game going (9 up and 9 down) through the first three innings.

That’s until Bryson stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning and smacked a single to center field to break up the perfect game of Flowers.

Green Wave coach Gill Payne gathered his team up for a talk after four innings of play - behind the bag of first base.

“I told them we have to get the lead-off guys on,” Payne said, “and put pressure on these guys.”

EHS sophomore Ayden Beeco did just that with a lead-off single to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Number 9 hitter Jonathan Sonderfan hit a key sacrifice fly to help give Easley a 3-1 lead.

The score was tied at 3 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Owens blasted a stand-up double to deep center field to help lead the rally. EHS got a total of four hits in the game with cleanup hitter Braxton Patton getting the other hit.

Senior Cole Davis came in to close out the victory, giving up two runs in the sixth and then striking out all three batters he faced in the top of the seventh inning.

“We started off slow, put pressure on them, and that’s what we do best,” Davis said.

So, how did Coach Payne feel about the victory?

“I can’t say enough about Brayden,” Payne said. “He went out there and had a great game for us. He has a lot of character and a lot of heart, and he just did his thing.”

Continued Payne, “I was just happy with the way they stuck with it. You didn’t know what to expect from the team coming in (into the season).”