The Unlikeliest Hero: Seventh-grader Aiken steps up in biggest moment, earns Byrnes walk-off win

Garrison Aiken, Byrnes softball seventh-grade shortstop, was the hero in Wednesday night’s state championship series game two win over Summerville.

When Byrnes softball head coach Brandi Aiken saw who was up to bat, she nearly got sick.

“I thought I was going to throw up,” said Aiken. “I was so nervous.”

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, Byrnes was tied with Summerville 8-8 in game two of the 5-A D1 state championship series. 

The Lady Rebels had clawed back from five runs down, and now, they had two outs and a chance to pull off a comeback win.

Who stepped up to the plate? 

Of course, it was Garrison Aiken, Byrnes’ shortstop. 

Brandi’s daughter.

“We made the decision to put her in our lineup tonight,” said Brandi. “She’s probably only had 10 or 12 at-bats in total this season… we felt like we could give it a go.”

Garrison’s task was simple. Get on base, win the game. A hit, walk, anything would do.

Just one problem. She was facing arguably the best pitcher in all of SC high school softball: Summerville’s Ansley Bennett.

Bennett is committed to South Carolina.

Garrison is in the seventh grade.

“I was pretty nervous,” said Garrison. “But I felt prepared. We had worked on these situations in practice. I felt like I was ready.”

Garrison got down to her last strike and sat at a 1-2 count. Bennett was hitting her with every pitch in her extensive arsenal. But Garrison hung in. She fouled off a few pitches. Then, Garrison worked a couple of balls to bring the count to 3-2. 

The next pitch, Garrison kept her eye on the ball, almost took a swing, but pulled back when she saw the pitch heading left and low. It hit the catcher’s mitt. Garrison looked back at the umpire.

Ball four. Game over. A walk-off walk for a seventh grader against one of the best softball players in the state.

“I knew it was ball four. I could tell,” said Garrison. “All I knew was that I needed to get down the line and touch first base, and that was it.”

Garrison’s teammates raced from the dugout to pick her up and shower her with hugs. Over near third base, Brandi pumped her fists in the air. Twice.

First, as her coach. Then, as her mom.

“You get in that nervous mindset of feeling like you’re a parent in the stands,” said Brandi. “But I realized in the moment that she was in there for a reason. We’d made that decision to go with her.

“I’m just super proud of her for not letting the moment get too big.”

Garrison’s walk was the icing on the cake for what will certainly go down as one of the biggest and craziest wins in Byrnes softball history. 

Summerville had won 84 straight games coming into Wednesday’s contest. The Green Wave hadn’t given up more than five runs all year. Nine runs is the most Summerville has conceded in over three seasons.

Byrnes went down 5-0 in the first inning, but an Addy Waters two-run home run in the bottom half sparked some life in the Lady Rebels. Then, after Kaylee Hannon kept the Green Wave at bay on the mound for a few innings, Byrnes turned up the heat in the fifth.

Hannon crushed a three-run homer to left to make it 6-5. Maddie Wiant followed up three batters later with a three-run shot of her own to pull Byrnes out in front, 8-6.

After Summerville evened it up in the top of the sixth, the stage was set for Garrison’s heroics. 

Now, Byrnes forces a deciding game three. That matchup will take place on Friday evening at a neutral location — White Knoll High School in Columbia.

“We worked hard yesterday in the cages after losing game one,” said Brandi. “We tried hard not to focus as much on them, but to focus on ourselves. We set goals. The first goal was to win the region. And then when you get to the playoffs, it’s all about winning the game that gets you more games.

“We knew we could not win the state championship tonight. But we were adamant we weren’t going to lose at home. We were going to stay alive to play another day together.”

BOX SCORE

Summerville 5 0 0 1 0 2 0 8

Byrnes 2 0 0 0 6 0 1 9

BYRNES STAT LEADERS

Kaylee Hannon - 2-3, HR, 3 RBI

Maddie Wiant - 1-3, HR, 3 RBI

Addy Waters - 2-4, HR, 2 RBI

Kara Davis - 3-4, 2 R

Memorie Melton - 3-3, R

Garrison Aiken - 0-3, BB, RBI

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