Category: Sports

  • Richard Winn Eagles snag close region win

    WINNSBORO- Richard Winn squeaked out a 7-6 region opening win Friday night against King Academy. It took everything the Eagles had to cling onto the win, including surviving a bases-load jam with zero outs, in the final inning.

    Chris Christianson makes his way to third base after a King wild pitch loaded the bags. Christianson went onto score on an error.

    “It was tough,” Eagles’ head coach Paul Brigman said. “They had their best pitcher on the mound, and we felt fortunate to get that one run to put us back ahead, and I thought we were re about to give it back up but our guys showed a lot of heart and didn’t give in.”

    King jumped out to an early advantage on Richard Winn, but the lead flopped back and forth all night. A walk and an early error set-up King’s Hunter Dubose for a two-RBI double, and Dubose nearly scored, but instead he and Eagles’ catcher Peyton Gilbert had a scary collision at the plate, that resulted in Dubose’s out.

    The jarring hit sent Gilbert airborne, but he popped back-up without much hesitation. “It was a little bit nerve racking considering out depth at catcher but he’s a tough kid, and I knew it would take a lot to get him out of there,” Brigman said.

    Richard Winn did not face that two-run deficit for very long. After an error at first cost King two runs and the lead, a Jimmy McKeown infield single loaded the bases up for Will Carvalho, and Carvalho drove in two on a hard base-knock.

    Zack Taylor, the Eagles’ starter, struck-out the side in the second inning, but King put up another run in the third, when Will Parrish hit a double, and then scored via a wild pitch. King’s, Reagan Pugh started the fourth inning with a single that ricocheted off of Zack Taylor’s shin.

    The Knights followed the Pugh single with a couple of ground-outs in a row, but they did manage to bring Pugh home on the grounders. An error allowed Jackson Parrish to reach for the second time in the game, and Chris Fincher followed him to the base-path, after being hit by a pitch.

    Will Parrish, knocked in a second run for King in the inning, and an error at first-base notched another score for the Knights, and they took a 6-4 lead. King could not hold onto the lead for long, because in the bottom of the fourth, they allowed the Eagles to fill the bases up again, and yet again they gave-up two runs on another error.

    Four innings into the ballgame the teams were deadlocked at six, and things stayed that way until the bottom half of the sixth inning. The sixth kicked off with Peyton Gilbert taking a base, after being struck by a pitch.

    Brandon Miller followed him-up, and laid a sac-bunt that brought Gilbert over to second. Zack Taylor came to the plate with two outs, and Gilbert still on second, and picked up his third hit of the night, and the go ahead RBI.

    “It was huge,” Brigman said. “We’ve been waiting on that for several ball games. We’ve put ourselves in those positions where we could execute, and the last few games we haven’t really been able to pull that off, and tonight it finally felt good to execute the right way, and get the job done.”

    The Taylor RBI meant King had only three outs remaining to tie the game-up or take the lead back. An error, and back-to-back walks set the Knights up with the bases loaded, zero outs and down just one.

    Reagan Pugh came-up to the plate, hit a grounder and the Eagles forced out the runner at home. Ben Buzhardt came up next, needing only a base-hit or sac-fly to tie the game up, but he hit into a grounder too, and the Eagles were able to squeeze the runner out at home.

    That meant Joe Sauls was the last hope for the Knights, and as the third-base runner began to creep down the line, Sauls laid down a bunt, but Richard Winn scooped it and got Sauls at first base, securing the 7-6 win.

    ‘This has definitely been one of our best games,” Brigman said. “It’s a region game, it makes us 1-0 in the region, so it was a little more important than some of the other games we played, so I thought they responded well and I’m proud of them
    RWA:  4-0-0-2-0-1-7

    KA: 2-0-1-3-0-0-0-6

    Hitting: 1B- Chris Christianson, Zack Taylor (2), Peyton Gilbert, Jimmy McKeown, Will Carvalho (RWA); Reagan Pugh (2), Ben Buzhardt(KA). 2B- Peyton Gilbert, Zack Taylor (RWA); Will Parrish (2), Hunter Dubose (KA).

    Pitching: (RWA) Zack Taylor (W), 5IP, 6H, 6R, 3ER, 4K, 4BB. Ethan McManus (S), 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0K, 2BB. (KA) Hunter Dubose, 3.1 IP, 6H, 6R, 3ER, 5K, 1BB, 3HB. Will Parrish (L) 3.2 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 3K, 2BB.

    LOB: KA- 9, RWA- 6

  • Griffins offense soars against Columbia

     

    Montavious Thompson squares around to make contact, and he made contact all night. Thompson ended the game with three hits.

    COLUMBIA- The Griffins responded to a winless couple of weeks in a big way. They laid a 17-1 smack down on the Columbia Capitals Tuesday night, in a game that was called after just four innings.

    “It’s always good to get a win,” Griffins’ head coach Scotty Dean said. “God I don’t think we won a game since two Tuesdays ago when we beat Richard Winn, and then we lost to Cardinal-Newman on Thursday, so I think we’re starting to play good baseball.”

    Fairfield wasted no time getting going in this one. Montavious Thompson led-off the first inning with a double, and he ended the game 3-3 with the double, two singles and he also accounted for two of the Griffins’ runs.

    After Thompson’s double, the Capitals gave up an error and three consecutive walks, and Thompson, along with Rodric Woodard, came into score. Tracy Williamson, grounded into what should have been a routine ground-ball, but instead a Capitals error led to three more Griffin first-inning runs, and they led 5-0 headed into the second inning.

    Rodric Woodard picked up an RBI-single in the top of the second when he knocked in Thompson, and Antonio Jackson followed him with an RBI-single of his own. Jackson later came into score on a wild-pitch.

    It did not help Columbia’s case that Antonio Jackson, the Griffins’ starting pitcher, was dealing. In his three innings of work he only allowed one hit, walked one and rung-up five Capital hitters.

    Chris Simmons knocked in Fairfield’s only run in third inning, on a double that brought Tydarius Young around for the score. What little hope Columbia had heading into the fourth inning was dashed immediately.

    “CJ Simmons hit the crap out of the ball,”Dean said. “Tre had a big hit with the bases loaded; Montavious had three hits, so I mean we’re hitting the baseball. We running the bases, I mean we just put it together a little bit better today than last Friday.”

    Columbia walked the first two batters of the fourth, and Travious Williams, scored both of those batters on a deep single. That was followed by a walk, a Tydarius Young single and finally another walk which loaded the bases up for the third time in the game.

    Chris Simmons, capitalized again, and picked up two more RBI’s for his collection. Eight batters into the inning Columbia recorded the first out, but before they could the Griffins had scored seven runs and they scored eight in total, during the top half of the fourth.

    The Capitals put up a last inning desperation run via a Griffins’ wild pitch, but that was all of the fight that they had left. The win qualifies the Griffins for playoff baseball.

     

    “That puts us in the playoffs,” Dean said. “We look to improve our seeding with the next couple games. That at least makes us the fourth seed I think. With a couple more wins we can split with somebody, Indian Land, we can still split with Camden; we can still split with Chester. Like I say man, just keep improving every time we go out, and I think we got a chance to be pretty good.”

    FCHS: 5-3-1-8-17

    CHS:   0-0-0-1-1

    WP: Antonio Jackson LP: Jordan Puch

    Hitters: FCHS- Montavious Thompson 3-3,2B. Rodric Woodard 1-2. Chris Simmons 2-3, 2 2B. Antonio Jackson 1-2. Travious Williams, 1-2. Jeff Russell, 1-1. CHS- Jordan Williams 1-1. Darren Weavers, 1-1. Skylar King, 1-2.

     

  • Blazers throttle Redhawk Ladies 15-0

     

     

    Deltrice Holmes lays down an attempted bunt in the team’s double-digit loss.

    The Westwood softball team isn’t having the best of seasons, as illustrated in Tuesday night’s 15-0, five-inning loss to Region 3-4A rival Ridge View.

     

    Head coach Lila Grooms acknowledges the Redhawks’ struggles, but she says the team can overcome them.

    “I commend the girls for keeping their heads up in spite of the loss,” Grooms said. “We’ve got a lot of flaws that we have to fix. Part of it is confidence, and understanding how to overcome adversity. Even though you are down in runs, anything can happen. You’ve got to keep your confidence up and you’ve got to keep fighting.”

    The Blazers scored two runs in the first when starting pitcher Marlena Perez threw a pitch in the dirt to Anaya Payne with two outs. From that point, Westwood (0-4 region, 3-11 overall) played from behind.

    Ridge View sent nine batters to the plate in a four-run second inning, and 10 batters in the seven-run third. A run in the fourth and a run in the fifth rounded out the scoring.

    Payne, the Ridge View starting pitcher, faced only 10 Westwood batters before the Redhawks finally showed some life in the bottom of the fourth.

    Deltrice Holmes singled up the middle and moved to second on a throwing error. Karena Scott and Brooke Bayne reached base on back-to-back infield singles, but Scott was forced out at second on Bayne’s hit.

    With runners on the corners and one out, Cayla Petty popped out and Raejean Patterson struck out to retire the side.

    In the final inning, Perez led off with a single and eventually moved to second, but Jamisha Taylor popped out, Demetria Boyd struck out, and Ihayanna Cruz lined out to Payne to end the game.

    Ridge View had more base runners and played better defense than the Redhawks, but Grooms said Tuesday night’s game showed that Westwood needed a little more confidence when taking the field.

    “Once we learn that, mentally, then I think the physical game will catch up. They have it, it’s just a matter of showing it and believing in themselves.”

    Westwood played Clinton Wednesday.

    Ridge View    2-4-7-1-1-15 11 2

    Westwood      0-0-0-0-0-0

     4 2

    WP: Anaya Payne LP: Marlena Perez

     

  • Redhawks give Bruins a drubbing

     

    Bryce Henson receives the ball too late to complete the pick-off attempt on the Lancaster base-runner

    BLYTHEWOOD-Westwood hitters, and the 2-hit pitching of Brandon May, made the Redhawks’ game against Lancaster a short affair.

    In a game moved up in the day to accommodate a storm front coming into the Midlands later that evening, Westwood scored in every inning and May struck out six in an 11-1, five-inning victory over the Region 3-4A rival Bruins.

    “When we show up to play, we play. Westwood head coach Jonathan Burroughs said. “We hit the ball. We ran the bases well. We didn’t make any mistakes mentally, and when we play like that, we’re pretty dang good.”

    Ethan Barton went 3-for-4 with a double to lead Westwood (2-1). Bryce Henson went 2-for-4 with a triple. Anthony LaCola went 2-for-4 with a double. Rashawn Green each had two hits.

    Elijah Heatley, who reached on an error and had two walks and scored two runs, was the only Redhawk who went without a hit.

    May’s only real trouble on the mound came in the fourth inning, when Lancaster loaded the bases on a hit and two walks. He struck out two though, and got J.P. Cunningham to ground out to retire the side.

    “It was good to see him struggle through a little adversity,” Burroughs said. “He didn’t have his fastball today, so he had to live on his off-speed stuff, which is the sign of a good pitcher.”

    Westwood’s first two batters of the game made their first scoring combination. LaCola led off the game with an infield hit, moved to second as Matthew Oxendine batted, and Oxendine drove him in with a long single to rightfield. Oxendine later scored on Barton’s 2-out single up the middle to give the Redhawks a 2-0 lead. Jab Bennett struck out to retire the side.

    Lancaster got a run back in the second on no hits.

    Even though May struck out the side, a dropped third strike on Cunningham enabled the Bruin to reach base safely. Logan Phillips, who led off the inning with a walk, moved to second and third while May was striking out C.J. Brown and Sergio Vasquez, and scored when Heatley’s throw to Henson at first was not in time.

    Cunningham eventually got thrown out trying to steal second base, ending the Bruins’ only highlight of the early evening.

    The Westwood bats continued to lash out.

    In the second inning, Josh Wise, running for Heatley, scored on Green’s 2-out single up the middle. Connor Buck then reached base on an infield single that scored Oxendine, who reached base when he was hit with a pitch.

    Oxendine’s RBI single made it 4-1 Redhawks and chased Bruins starting pitcher Luis Gomez from the mound. Hunter Thomas came on with two outs and struck out Henson to retire the side.

    Barton led the 3-run Westwood third with a double. Jab Bennett reached on a bunt single, and Brandon Anderson’s sacrifice bunt scored Barton. After Heatley drew a walk, LaCola doubled both Bennett and Wise, running for Heatley again, home to make it 7-1 Redhawks.

    Thomas struck out Oxendine and Green to end the inning, but the Redhawks got a run in the fourth, and three more in the fifth to close out the game.

    In that last inning, Green singled, Buck walked, and Henson drove both runners in when he lined a 1-out triple that shot into the left centerfield gap. Barton’s RBI single scored Henson and stopped play.

    The Redhawks played Airport in a non-region game Wednesday before hitting the road to play at South Pointe Friday.

    Lancaster       010      00        –           1 2 2

    Westwood      223      13        –           11 13 0

    WP: Brandon May LP: Luis Gomez

    Hitters: Westwood – Bryce Henson 2-4, 3B. Ethan Barton 3-4, 2B.Anthony LaCola 2-4, 2B. Rashawn Green 2-4.

  • Bengals dominate visiting Thoroughbreds

    BLYTHEWOOD- Blythewood bounced back from a grueling 12-inning loss to River Bluff by clinching a 9-0 victory over the South Aiken High Thoroughbreds, on the Bengals’ Military Appreciation Day.

    Jordan Flemming takes a cut at the South Aiken pitch. Flemming had himself a good night with two hits and two RBI’s.

    “I thought it was good for us to come out and just try to get that taste out of our mouths” Bengals’ head coach Banks Faulkner said. “Our kids left their hearts on the field over there at River Bluff, and we really poured everything into that game. I was really proud of how they came out and played a complete game against a good team, so it was a good win for us.”

    Daniel Zippel started the game off, but fellow senior pitchers Hunter McCoy and Todd Mattox came on in relief to preserve the shutout. The trio of Bengals’ seniors gave up just three hits and punched out four.

    “Our pitchers just continue to fill the strike-zone up, I thought our pitchers Daniel Zippel, and Hunter McCoy and then Todd Mattox, three seniors,” Faulkner said when asked about standout performers. “I mean anytime you throw a shutout you’re really good. Todd Mattox continues to be really steady for us.”

    Blythewood’s bats showed up early in the first inning. South Aiken got the first two Bengals to fly-out, but an Aidan Massey walk kept the first inning alive.

    An error on the next play brought Massey home, and put Landen Cruz on third for the Bengals. Tyler Miller, South Aiken’s starter, followed the error with another walk, and that opened the door for Jordan Flemming to knock in two-runs on a base hit.

    “Jordan Flemming stepped in the first inning and had a big hit there that sort of broke the ice,” Faulkner said. “That’s just what we couldn’t quite get last night, was that big hit with a man in scoring position, so we’re excited. We have a tough week next week, but we’re in a good frame of mind.”

    Flemming advanced to third on a wild-pitch, and stole home after another Thoroughbred pitch hit the backstop. Miller managed to get himself out of the inning before allowing a fourth run, but the damage was far from done.

    South Aiken opened up the second with two consecutive walks. Those walks set the table for Aidan Massey to drive in two runs on a deep single, and the Bengals’ lead expanded to 6-0.

    Miller was yanked after he got off to a rough start in the third inning. He walked four batters, allowed two-base hits and gave-up three more runs, before he was replaced by the Thoroughbreds’ designated hitter, Tannar Batchelor.

    Batchelor had much more success than his predecessor. He went three and two thirds, he did give up three hits, but did not allow a run or earned run, and still his team could not manage to provide him any type of run support.

    The Thoroughbreds only picked up one single in the last three innings, and the runner did not make it past first base.

    Blythewood will follow the South Aiken matchup with a two-game set against their conference opponents Dutch Fork. Game one will be Tuesday at Dutch Fork and the final game will be Friday night in Blythewood.

    BHS: 4-2-3-0-0-0-9

    SAHS: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

    Hitting: 1B- Todd Mattox, Aidan Massey, Jordan Flemming (2), Josh Cowan, Zach Bailes (BHS); Connor O’Rear, Tucker Rabon (SAHS). 2B- Andrew Kraus (SAHS).

    Pitching: (BHS) Daniel Zippel (W), 4IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K. Hunter McCoy 2IP, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 0K. Todd Mattox 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K. (SAHS) Tyler Miller (L), 2.1 IP, 3H, 9R, 5ER, 7BB, 2K. Tanner Bachelor, 3.2IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 2K.

     

  • Dutch Fork rallies late to stun Bengals

    BLYTHEWOOD- The Blythewood softball team was two outs away from closing out a victory over Region 5-5A rival Dutch Fork Thursday night.

    But after Morgan McMahon grounded out in the bottom of the seventh, the Silver Foxes bats came to life.

    Dutch Fork sent 10 batters to the plate and rallied for six runs to take an 8-4 lead, then closed out an 8-5 victory over the Bengals at Blythewood stadium.

    “The last two times we played them here, we had walk-off wins,” Blythewood head coach Jordan Atkinson said. “You felt like it was coming, but it didn’t.”

    Blythewood (1-2 overall, 1-1 region) held a 4-2 lead going into the final inning, and with one out, the Bengals looked to get both the inning and game over with. That is, until Meghan Stolzenbach singled, Kyla Koch was hit by a pitch, and Madison Stone smacked a long fly ball that bounced off the fence in right field for a 3-run home run.

    With the Silver Foxes up 5-4, they kept swinging. Blythewood pitcher Emily Babbitt issued a two-out walk to Sidney Moss, then gave up back-to-back doubles from Morgan Scott and Carolyn Lusk. Lusk’s hit drove in both Moss and Scott to give the Silver Foxes a 7-4 lead. Lusk came in on Hannah Putlock’s single.

    After McMahon walked and Stolzenbach ended the inning flying out to right field, Blythewood got a run in the bottom of the seventh. Kendall Parker led off with a double, and after two infield pop-ups, Sammy Hall singled her in. Savannah Simpson closed out the game striking out.

    “Two-strike hitting was phenomenal today,” Atkinson said. “A lot of line drives going to the opposite field, we got robbed of a home run in right. We played hard, but unfortunately in the seventh inning, you’ve got to get those last two outs.”

    Backed with solid defensive play, Babbitt worked a complete game on the mound. She scattered five hits and struck out two over the first six innings. Three of those hits came in the second inning, when the Silver Foxes loaded the bases but failed to get a run across.

    Meanwhile, the Bengals kept poking at Stolzenbach, the Dutch Fork pitcher.

    Blythwood took a 1-0 lead when Babbitt reached on an error and then scored on Faith Manley’s single into short centerfield. Manley was tagged out at second on the play, and while Erin Goff doubled and Grace Campbell singled, Kendall Parker and Sammy Hall both struck out to retire the side.

    Dutch Fork tied it up with a run in the top of the fourth, but the Bengals took a 2-1 lead when Courtney Watts delivered Grace Campbell to the plate with a 2-out single.

    Koch led off the top of the fifth with a solo home run to left field to even the game at 2, but Blythewood took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of that frame.

    Manley, Parker, and Goff hit back-to-back-to-back one-out singles, and Manley scored on Goff’s hit. After Campbell flied out for the second out, the inning looked to have ended when Hall struck out.

    Except Dutch Fork catcher Jenna Elkins lost the ball. When Elkins found a handle on it and threw to first, no Silver Fox was on the bag, and Parker scored the second run of the inning.

    Simpson grounded out to Stolzenbach to end the inning, but it appeared that Blythewood had the game well in hand.

    But after a scoreless sixth, Dutch Fork swung away and spoiled the Bengals hopes for victory.

    The Bengals played in the Byrnes Tournament last weekend.

     

     

    York    000      110      6          –           8 10 0

    Blythewood     100      120      1          –           5 12 2

    WP: Meghan Stolzenbach. LP: Emily Babbitt.

    Hitters: Dutch Fork – Morgan Scott 3-4, 2B. Hannah Putlock 2-4. Kyla Koch HR. Madison Stone HR. Blythewood – Emily Babbitt, 2-4, 3B. Kendall Parker 2-4, 2B. Erin Goff 2-4, 2B. Faith Manley 2-4.

  • Eagles Down Griffins in crosstown matchup

    WINNSBORO- Richard Winn met Fairfield Central Monday night in a battle of crosstown schools. Fairfield jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but it would not be enough and the Eagles walked out with a 7-4 victory.

    “I told the kids I was proud of them,” Griffins’ head coach Gwen Rouse said. “I think we played a good game, we lost, but sometimes it’s not about the wins or losses and looking at who pitched against us I think we did a great job.”

    Bailey Taylor walked the first Griffin batter of the game, but she settled down to get three straight outs, including two strike-outs. Taylor looked like a strikeout-artist with her 11 punch-outs in the game.

    “My pitcher always does a great job,” Eagles’ head coach Millie Lambert said. “She throws hard, she plays her game, she calls her pitches and she knows what she’s good at for what batter.”

    Despite Taylor’s strong showing and high strike-out numbers, the Griffins were able to get some momentum going early. China Woodard singled in the first, and came in on an error, then Nikedra Harper knocked in Tameshia Woodard to give Fairfield a 2-0 lead.

    “I feel like we hit the ball good against her,” Rouse said. “We hit a lot of balls on the left side which was good compared to when we played them the first time.”

    A walk and an error by Taylor in the second brought China Woodard back up to bat. Woodard singled again, but this time she scored the runner from the third, and Richard Winn’s deficit grew to three.

    Then the Eagles exploded in the third, and they did not look back. The inning began with a groundout, but Sallie Costenbader sparked the offensive onslaught with a single and Riley Simpson, the next batter, reached on an error.

    Alyssa Atkerson fields the ball and eyes down her third baseman before she makes her throw over to the bag.

     

    Costenbader and Riley Simpson both scored on wild pitches while Gracie Atkerson was in the batter’s box. Atkerson walked on five-pitches, and next, Bailey Taylor stepped up to take her swings again.

    Taylor, who’s already committed to Troy University, belted the ball out of the park for a two-run homer. She nearly homered in the first, but the ball pelted a tree, and stayed in play for a double.

    “The girls came alive finally,” Lambert said. “Started hitting the ball, we had a couple of kids that don’t usually hit really good, but really came through for us today and was hitting every at bat, so I think that was a huge turning point.”

    The home-run gave Richard Winn the lead for the first time, and the Eagles added some insurance to that lead, in the bottom half of the fourth. Again, the Eagles’ started the inning off with an out, but Riley Simpson doubled on the next at bat.

    An error allowed Gracie Atkerson to reach base again, and this time the Griffins opted to intentionally walk Bailey Taylor. “She hit a home-run, you have to respect a good batter,” Rouse said.

    Alyssa Atkerson followed Taylor’s intentional walk, and she picked up an RBI with a sac-fly out to left-field. Then Kimmy Albert beamed a two-RBI triple out in the right-field gap, for one of her four hits, and the Eagles went up 7-3.

    The Griffins scored a run on an error in fifth, but they only managed two base-hits after the fourth inning and during that same stretch they struck-out four times. The game fittingly ended with another Taylor strike out.

    “We can’t be beat if we can have one inning like the third inning,” Lambert said. “I don’t know many teams that’ll beat us, but we have to stay consistent, we have to play that one inning seven innings.” RWA: 0-0-0-4-3-0-7 FCHS: 0-2-1-0-0-0-0-4

    Pitching: RWA– Bailey Taylor (W), CG, 7H, 4R, 2ER, 3BB, 11K. FCHS- Trenatee Roberts (L), CG, 8H, 7R, 5ER, 4BB, 1K.

    Hitting: 1B- Riley Simpson, Kimmy Albert (3), Sallie Costenbader (RWA); Amari Jones, China Woodard (3), Nikedra Harper (2), Zanyha Rice (FCHS). 2B- Bailey Taylor (RWA). 3B- Kimmy Albert (RWA). HR- Bailey Taylor (RWA).

    LOB: RWA- 6, FCHS- 7.

  • Bulldogs outdo Griffins in region opener

    Chris Simmons (6) attempts to make the pickoff at second base.

    WINNSBORO- A superb pitching performance by Devin Beckley, the Camden ace, helped the Bulldogs edge out Fairfield Central 8-2, in the Griffins’ region opener. Beckley, a Citadel commit, stormed his way to a complete game in which he struck out 10, and only gave up five hits.

    “That pitcher is probably one of the best in the state, he’s college brand” Griffins’ head coach Scotty Dean said. “That kind of baseball game you have to win it 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, you don’t win that game 9-8. I’m proud of the way we competed in spots, and some of our guys did a great job getting the bat head to the ball.”

    Lindsay Pierce, just the second batter of the day, lined in a double for the Bulldogs. Beckley, gave himself some run-support when he popped up a sac-fly that brought Pierce around the bases for a run.

    Camden put some more distance between the Griffins and the lead, when they put up two runs in the top of the second. Parker David banged out a RBI-triple and Kyle Currie sacrificed himself with a ground-out to bring David in to score.

    Parker David was a home-run shy of completing the cycle, and in the process had himself a three-RBI night.

    Chris Simmons picked up the Griffins’ first hit with a big triple that nearly made it over the center-field fence, and he scored when Montavious Thompson collected a RBI-single. Thompson’s single would be Fairfield’s last hit until the seventh and final inning.

    The Bulldogs added some padding to their lead in the third and fourth. An error cost the Griffins a run in the third, and in the fourth Camden scored two-more runs, after leading off the inning with a pair of doubles.

    Again in the fifth, Camden’s red-hot offense struck for another run. Parker David picked up his third-RBI when he knocked in first-baseman William Cobb, after Cobb was walked earlier in the inning.

    The sixth inning was the only inning that Camden did not manage to push a run across the plate, but they picked it back up in the seventh. A Griffins’ error allowed Lindsay Pierce to score in the top of the seventh, and that left the Griffins down by seven with just three-outs left to play with.

    “I feel like we had a chance if we don’t make little simple mistakes,” Dean said. “On defense, the first ball that they put into play rolled to the fence for a triple and they get a run out of that, and we staring at 1-0 deficit already and good teams you ain’t going to be able to compete like that. We just let our opportunity go.”

    Harvey Smith, a pinch hitter, led off the final inning with a double for Fairfield, but Beckley stayed poised and picked up two quick outs. Montavious Thompson picked up his second RBI-single of the game when he knocked Smith in, but Breckley ended the game with a groundout, just two-pitches later.

    FCHS:0-0-1-0-0-0-1-2

    CH: 1-2-1-2-1-0-1-8

    Pitching: FCHS: Antonio Jackson (L), 5IP, 6H, 7R, 6ER, 2BB. Stanley McManus- 2IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 2K, 0BB. CH: Devin Beckley (W), CG, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 10K, 2BB.

    Hitting: 1B- Montavious Thompson (2), Travious Williams (FCHS); Nick Butler, Lindsay Pierce, Parker David (CH). 2B- Harvey Smith (FCHS); Lindsay Pierce, William Cobb, Brady White, Parker David (CH). 3B- Chris Simmons (FCHS); Parker David.

    LOB: FCHS-6 CH-4

  • Dreher takes first win over Redhawks

    Branden May (18) toed the mound for the Redhawks against the Dreher Blue-devils.

    For the first two innings against Dreher Friday night, the Westwood baseball team was perfect.

    The same could not be said for the next five innings of the Redhawks’ season opener, which was a 7-1 defeat to the Blue Devils at the Westwood baseball field.

    “We lost focus, and that’s what we’re working on,” Redhawks head coach Jonathan Burroughs said. “We’ve got to be mentally tough enough to not let that lack of focus happen. It’s a huge part of this game.”

    The Redhawks got to Dreher starting pitcher Matt Campbell early.

    Matthew Oxendine singled to lead off the game, but was out at second when Anthony LaCola bunted. LaCola moved to third by the time Bryce Henson lined out for the second out, and scored on a wild pitch as Campbell faced Rashawn Green.

    Green was hit by a Campbell pitch, but Ethan Barton flied out to end the inning. Meanwhile, Westwood starting pitcher Brandon May worked two clean innings, striking out four.

    “He was pitching well,” Burroughs said. “He was pretty much shoving it through the first two innings.”But the Redhawks’ 1-0 lead didn’t go past the third inning.

    The Blue Devils led off the third with back-to-back singles from Ryan Campbell and Eddie Mattocks. Hunter Mullinax moved them to second and third base on a fielder’s choice, and then May created some of his own trouble.

    He hit both Dada Washington, which loaded the bases, and Ethan Mattocks, which scored Ryan Campbell. Then he walked Jay Washington to score Eddie Mattocks.

    Ben Williams fouled out for the second out of the inning, but Dada Washington tagged up at third and rushed into home under the tag to score. Jay Washington ran to second on the play, but was tagged out to end the inning.

    Dreher was up 3-1 by the end of that frame, and Matt Campbell had settled down significantly since his trouble in the first. Campbell went the distance, scattering five hits, striking out eight, walking two, and hitting one.

    The Blue Devils got two runs on two hits and two Westwood errors in the fifth, and two more runs on two hits in the seventh.

    “Dreher’s a well-coached team, they always are,” Burroughs said. “They’re always going to run some good plays and keep you on your toes.”

    May worked four-plus innings before running into trouble in the fifth. He gave up five runs on four hits, issued three walks and hit three batters. He struck out four.

    Brandon Anderson finished out the fifth and went into the seventh, striking out two, walking three, and gave up two runs on two hits and a Redhawks error.

    “But we saw some good things tonight, but we also had 10 walks and hit-by-pitches,” Burroughs said. “You’re not going to beat many people by giving them 10 free baserunners. Throw that in with a base hit here, a misplay there, and here we are, 7-1.”

    Westwood plays three games in as many days next week, hosting Richland Northeast Tuesday, Irmo Wednesday, and traveling to York Thursday.

    “We’ve got a lot we can build on for next week,” Burroughs said.

     

    Dreher            003      020      2          –           7 7 0

     

    Westwood     100      000      0          –           1 5 3

    WP: Matt Campbell LP: Brandon May

    Hitters: Dreher – Ryan Campbell 2-3, Eddie Mattocks 2-3. Westwood – Jab Bennett 3B.

  • State Title Game Update

    Final in Columbia — the Dorman Cavaliers are the 2017 Class 5A state champions, 55-53 winners over Blythewood.