Lake View’s Wild Gators ended their season with a 4-3 loss to Bamberg-Ehrhardt in the Class A District V championship game on Wednesday, May 6.

Lake View led off the top of the first with Weston Rogers reaching on an error and Nick Collins and Josh Price getting base hits to score him for a 1-0 lead. Justin Elliot hit into a double play for two outs, but Price advanced to second on the play and then to third on a wild pitch. But Carson Rogers hit a grounder to end the inning. Price held off the Raiders on the mound through the bottom of the first, getting two grounders and a fly to end the inning quickly.

In the top of the second, Brent Herlong singled and Luc Newell reached on an error, with Hunter Stevens making a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. De’Ante Bridgett singled to load the bases, and Weston Rogers reached on an error to score Herlong before Collins went out on a grounder to leave Lake View up 2-0.

Bamberg got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a single from Bunch, who advanced on an error and scored on a grounder from Chandler. Another grounder and a fly ended the inning with the Raiders trailing 2-1.

Lake View secured another run in the top of the third with Price reaching on a single. Elliott followed with another single, but Carson Rogers lined one to the right and both he and Elliott were picked off. Herlong singled to score Price, and Newell reached on an error, but Herlong was put out on the way to third to end the inning with the Gators up 3-1. Bamberg went three up, three down in the bottom of the inning.

The Wild Gators opened the top of the fourth with an out, but Bridgett doubled and advanced to third. Weston Rogers hit a fly ball, and Collins reached on an error, but was caught stealing to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Bamberg led off with a double from Etheridge and a triple from Bunch. A grounder from Hanks scored Bunch, but Chandler hit a grounder and Crider hit a fly to end the inning with the score knotted at 3-3.

In the top of the fifth, Price singled and Carson Rogers drew a walk, but the Gators couldn’t reach third. Bamberg led off the bottom of the inning with a single from Beard, and Kirkland made a sacrifice bunt to advance him to second. But Zeigler hit into a fielder’s choice to take out Beard on the way to third, and Smoak hit a grounder to end the inning.

In the sixth, Lake View lead off with a single from Newell and a walk from Stevens, but a fielder’s choice from Bridgett put out Newell on the way to third. Weston Rogers hit a fly, and Collins struck out to send the Raiders to bat. With one out, Bamberg’s Bunch drew a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a grounder from Hanks, but Chandler grounded out to end the threat.

Lake View went three up, three out in the top of the seventh with two grounders and a fly, but Bamberg led off the bottom of the inning with Crider reaching on an error. A sacrifice bunt from Beard advanced Crider to second, and he advanced to third on a passed ball and scored after tagging up to give the Raiders the win.

Bamberg’s Chandler got the win, pitching three and one-third innings for eight hits, three runs, one earned run, and one out. Crider pitched one and two-thirds innings for two hits and two walks, and Zeigler pitched two innings for one out.

Josh Price took the loss, pitching six innings for four hits, four runs, two earned runs, and one walk. Carson Rogers pitched two-thirds of an inning with no hits.

At bat for the Raiders, Bunch went 2-for-2 with a triple, one RBI, one stolen base, and two runs, also reaching on a walk; Beard went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt; Etheridge went 1-for-3 with a double and one run; Hanks picked up one RBI after reaching on an error; Chandler picked up one RBI; Kirkland picked up one RBI on a sacrifice bunt; Zeigler got a fielder’s choice with one stolen base; and Crider scored one run after reaching on an error.

For the Gators, Josh Price went 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored; De’Ante Bridgett went 2-for-3 with a double and a fielder’s choice; Brent Herlong went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run; Nick Collins went 1-for-4 and also reached on an error; Justin Elliott went 1-for-4; Luc Newell went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt and reached on two errors; Weston Rogers reached on two errors for one RBI and one run scored; Carson Rogers drew a walk; and Hunter Stevens drew a walk and made a sacrifice bunt.

The Wild Gators ended their season with a 20-7 record overall. Bamberg-Ehrhardt advanced to the lower state playoffs but fell 2-1 to Hannah-Pamplico in the first round. The Raiders defeated East Clarendon 7-0 to advance, but were eliminated 11-1 by the Latta Vikings.