Newberry Academy’s historic baseball season ends in semi-finals

NEWBERRY — The historic season for the Newberry Academy Eagles varsity baseball team comes to a bitter sweet ending after falling 10-1 in game two of the three game series to Holly Hill.

The Eagles just couldn’t get on the right track against no.one-seeded, Holly Hill. The series got off to a rocky start before the two teams in the first game fo the series. Game one was initially schedule to begin and end on Monday, May 6th, but got caught in a rain delay at the bottom of the fourth inning. The Eagles were winning at the time by the score of 2-1. The game was suspended and would conclude on May 7th.

The Raiders took advantage of the down time and came back to score 12 runs when play resumed the next day on May 7th and they fell 13-2. Newberry Academy returned home on Wednesday, May 8th, but couldn’t take advantage of home field. They would only score one run and lose 10-1. That ended this magical run for the Eagles and head coach Ronny Bannister.

In Bannister’s first year with the Eagles, he help guide this program to their first appearance in the baseball state playoffs in school history. The man with 50 years of experience proved that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but that old dog can probably teach you a thing or two. That is exactly what Bannister did while still being a strong positive and fun loving role model to young males.

They enjoyed every moment of this season, win or lose, with each other and always had smiles on their faces. They went to bat for their ole’ ball coach and gave him a second breathe in the late stages of his coaching career. So, farewell to the Eagles’ baseball squad after a historic 2024 season and the Observer looks forward to capturing those special moments in 2025, like the time the seniors impersonated Bannister, which is posted on our Facebook page.