The inaugural season of the Dominion Sports Collective, based out of Ironbridge and featuring several Hanover County standouts, came to an end at the ABA Prospect Conference Championship in Emerson, Georgia.
DSC finished 3-2 in tournament play, advancing to the loser’s bracket final before suffering its second loss to Central Pointe Gold. Dominion closed the season with a 32-11-1 record.
Dominion opened the tournament with a 3-0 shutout victory over P27 Academy of Lexington, South Carolina. Junior Caden Stancil dominated on the mound, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out two over six innings. Brayden Jacoby struck out two batters in a scoreless seventh inning to seal the win.
Virginia Tech commit Brady Elrod went 2 for 3 with a solo home run, while Jackson Millan added an RBI double. Jude Burr drove in Dominion’s first run on a groundout.
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The next day, Dominion fell 6-3 to Central Pointe Gold after surrendering an early lead. Back-to-back solo home runs from Tyson Penepacker and Burr gave DSC a 2-0 advantage through two innings.
Central Pointe tied the game in the fifth inning on a groundout and RBI single. Nic Gaines briefly put Dominion back ahead 3-2 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning, but Central Pointe answered with four straight scoring at-bats to secure the win.
Five DSC pitchers appeared in the game, with Liberty-bound Will Hodges making the start and pitching four innings.
Facing elimination the following day, Dominion edged ECA Baseball Academy 10-9 in its closest game of the tournament. DSC carried a 10-4 lead into the seventh inning after Christian Newsome delivered a two-run single as part of a five-RBI performance.
ECA mounted a late rally, scoring five runs in the final inning to cut the deficit to one. With runners on first and second base, Dominion ended the game on a lineout to pitcher Steele Smith. DSC finished with 12 hits in the win.
Dominion followed with a 12-7 victory over Georgia Premier Academy. Owen Klimek recorded three hits, while Burr, Millan and Elrod each added two-hit performances.
DSC built a 7-0 lead through four innings behind four RBI singles and an RBI double from Millan. Georgia Premier responded with five runs in the fourth inning, but Dominion pulled away again with a strong sixth inning highlighted by RBIs from Smith, Klimek and Millan.
Central Pointe Gold ended Dominion’s season with an 8-1 victory in the loser’s bracket final. DSC managed four hits and scored its lone run on a Newsome groundout in the fifth inning.
Jacoby pitched two innings in the finale, the most among four Dominion pitchers used in the game.
Next season, DSC plans to field two teams and to move into the ABA’s Premier Division.
