Boiling Springs and Spartanburg opened up their annual baseball series in a unique way on Monday by playing a doubleheader at two locations that are separated by ten miles and ninety-three years of history.
The day opened up at historic Duncan Park that was opened in 1926 and has been the home of the Spartanburg Vikings baseball team since 2008. The stadium has played host to many baseball greats such as Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Ryne Sandberg, Dale Murphy, Tom Glavine, and Larry Bowa who have all taken to the diamond inside the walls of Duncan Park. Boiling Springs got an impressive performance from their offense and from pitcher Mitchell Miller in the Bulldogs 9-5 victory in game one of the series on Monday afternoon. The Bulldogs jumped on the board early as they scored three runs in the first inning as Davis Brown and Bryson Mitchell both scored on a Nick Bailey single to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. Bailey would come around to score on a Ben Hutchins double to right field to put the Boiling Springs lead at 3-0. In the bottom of the first inning Spartanburg was able to score three runs with only one out being recorded when Mitchell Miller came on in relief for the Bulldogs to limit the first inning damage. Miller would pick up the win for the Bulldogs as he pitched 6 2/3 innings of relief while limiting the Vikings to two runs and six hits the rest of the game. ”Mitchell is a guy who has been in situations like this before for us but not usually this early in the game,” said Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lipscomb. “We knew we were going to have to burn some innings today and he really stepped up for us.” The Bulldogs retook the lead in the third inning when Dawson Taylor reached on a single before stealing second base. He then stole third base and came around to score on an error on the throw to third to give Boiling Springs a 4-3 lead. They would add one more run in the third inning when Hutchins scored on an Andrew Greer double to put the Bulldogs up 5-3 after three innings. In the fifth inning Boiling Springs added four more runs as Tristan Smith, Greer, Brown, and Mitchell all scored without a Bulldogs hit in the inning and pushed the Boiling Springs lead to 9-3 on their way to victory in game one. As the sun started to fade on Monday evening the second game of the day began at Boiling Springs’ brand new baseball field that opened at the start of the 2019 season and a facility that the Bulldogs hope to fill with a legendary history of its own. "We've got a great new ballpark here that we're very thankful to have," said Coach Lipscomb. "We're still figuring the new park out and looking forward to the history we can make here." Boiling Springs fell behind in the top of the first inning 1-0 but didn't trail for long as they took the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Davis Brown opened up the game for the Bulldogs with a single and later advanced to third base on an errant pickoff throw before scoring on a single by Bryson Mitchell. Mitchell would later score on a wild pitch after stealing second base to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead after one inning. Spartanburg would tie the game in the third inning when Garrett Stevens scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2. In the bottom of the sixth inning the Bulldogs had some good luck and patience on their side as the Bulldogs grabbed a 5-2 lead when Andrew Greer, Tristan Smith, and Davis Brown were all able to score without registering a hit in the inning thanks to Vikings errors and walks. The Vikings went down in order in the top of the seventh as the Bulldogs struck out the side and grabbed the 5-2 victory. "Duncan Park is a really special place and I our kids were so lucky to get to play in a stadium with so much history to start the day and end the day here at our brand new facility," said Coach Lipscomb. "It has just been a great day of baseball." With the victory the Bulldogs will go into spring break on a three game winning streak and their coach thinks they're starting to get healthy at the right time of the season. "With a few more wins we can help solidify ourselves a playoff spot," said Coach Lipscomb. "This is a crazy game and if you can get hot a the right time anything can happen. We're getting some guys back from injuries and I think that can only make us better." The Bulldogs will return to action after spring break when they host Riverside on April 9th. The Boiling Springs Bulldogs softball team spent the first few days heading into spring break competing at the 23rd Annual Eastman Invitational Tournament in Kingsport, TN that included a competitive field of thirty-nine teams from all over the southeast including some of the best teams in Tennessee. The Bulldogs finished pool play with a 2-2 record and were part of bracket play, that included the best sixteen in the tournament, where they fell to the overall number one seed in the tournament Morris East.
The Bulldogs started off their tournament by defeating Patrick Henry (VA) 2-1 on Friday afternoon. Boiling Springs fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning but were able to tie the game up in the fifth inning when Grace McKinney reached on a double and later came around to score on an error by Patrick Henry. The Bulldogs took the lead for good when Abbie Threatt led off the sixth inning with a homerun to left field giving Boiling Springs the victory. In game two the Bulldogs had a little bit of their luck from their previous game go against them as they fell to the #14 ranked team in Tennessee, Knoxville Halls 2-1, on a walk-off single in the final game on Friday night. After trailing Knoxville-Halls going into the sixth inning the Bulldogs were able to tie the game at 1-1 when Ragan Bristol singled to centerfield scoring Abbie Threatt. Boiling Springs started day two of the tournament with a loss to the #11 ranked team in Tennessee, Morristown-East, 2-0 on Saturday morning. The Bulldogs were unable to get the bats going in game three as they were only able to get two hits in the game as Brianna Stanley and Jaycie Osment were the only Boiling Springs players to record a hit. Boiling Springs defeated Cherokee (TN) 3-2 in the final game of pool play as Katie Philbeck singled home Sammy Quintero in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Bulldogs the victory. The Bulldogs jumped on the board early in the bottom of the first inning when Hailey Owens scored on a Ragan Bristol hit to the shortstop to grab a 1-0 lead and allowed Zoey Stewart to advance to third base. Stewart would score on the next play when Brianna Stanley hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead after the first inning. The Bulldogs got a strong pitching performance at the tournament as their pitchers registered twenty-four strikeouts as Olivia Hall recorded sixteen strikeouts for the tournament while Brianna Stanley recorded five strikeouts and Hailey Owens recorded three strikeouts. Boiling Springs was led offensively by Ragan Bristol who went four of twelve from the plate with two RBIs and Abbie Threatt who went two for eight from the plate with a home run and a run scored. Boiling Springs will return to action after spring break when they travel to Mauldin on April 9. The Waccamaw Warriors five hour trip back to the Myrtle Beach area was made a little more joyful as they grabbed an 11-3 victory over Boiling Springs on Saturday.
Waccamaw jumped out to an early lead just four minutes into the game when Claire Withington scored the first of her four goals on Saturday to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Boiling Springs answered just over a minute later when Jenna Varner found the back of the net and tied the game at 1-1. The Warriors jumped out to a 4-1 lead over the next seven minutes as Withington, Rae Schiess, and Elise Rendulic each scored a goal to help push the Waccamaw lead to three over the Bulldogs. With ten minutes left in the half, Boiling Springs' Emily Bates cut the Waccamaw lead to two when she found the back of the net making the Warriors lead 4-2. Waccamaw went on another three goal run from the nine minute mark until just over two minutes left in the half as the Warriors Lauren Maser, Charlotte Bellamy, and Withigton each scored to give Waccamaw a 7-2 lead. The Bulldogs stopped the Warriors run when Varner scored her second goal of the game to put the lead at 7-3 in favor of Waccamaw. The Warriors added another goal just before the end of the half when Rendulic scored her second goal of the game and giving Waccamaw an 8-3 halftime lead. In the second half it was all Warriors as Withington scored her fourth goal of the game with just under twenty minutes left in the game. Rendulic would score her third goal of the game while Maser would score her second goal of the game over the last nineteen minutes pf the game to give Waccamaw the 11-3 victory. Boiling Springs will be off for the spring break holiday before returning to action on April 10 at Byrnes. The Mauldin Mavericks used a three goal second half to capture a 3-0 victory over the Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs soccer team on Thursday night in a Region II-5A matchup. The game on Thursday was a battle between the current third and fourth place teams in the region.
"It was a tough loss but all the credit to Mauldin," said Bulldogs head coach Jonathan Burnett. "We didn't have some things go our way tonight but we'll dust ourselves off during the spring break and get back to work on Friday." The two teams battled throughout the first half as it seemed both teams were determined to not let the other team have any sort of advantage as they battled to a 0-0 tie at halftime. In the second half Mauldin got on the board when forward Zoe Leavitt found the bottom left corner of the net off a cross from another Mavericks player to give Mauldin a 1-0 lead just eight minutes into the new half. Just eight minutes later the Mavericks added another score when midfielder Laynie Frazier scored from twenty yards out on a shot from the right side of the field that found the top left corner of the goal just outside the reach of the Bulldogs goalkeeper to give the Mavericks a 2-0 lead. With ten minutes to go in the game Mauldin was able to add to their lead when Ava Weston found the back of the net on a break away to give the Mavericks a 3-0 lead and the victory. "After they got that first goal I think it just kind of lifted them," said Coach Burnett. "We tried to respond but they're a good team and were able to get it done better than we were tonight." Coach Burnett said that despite the loss he was still proud of the effort from his team tonight. "Our girls played their heart out tonight," said Coach Burnett. "I feel like they left it out on the field tonight but we just came up short tonight and sports are just like that sometimes." The Bulldogs will be back in action after Spring Break when they travel to Spartanburg on April 8th at 7:00 PM. The Boiling Springs Bulldogs softball team used a five run fifth inning to claim an 8-4 victory over Gaffney and to snap a three game losing streak.
"That was a big win and this team needed a big win," said Bulldogs head coach Randy Piazza. "Every game this team has played this year they have been in and had a chance. Every team in this region can play and that goes for Gaffney too but tonight it was our night." Boiling Springs grabbed the early lead in the bottom of the first inning on a wild pitch to Jaycie Osment that saw both Hailey Owens and AD Raines score to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Gaffney answered back in the top of the second inning as Abigail Price led off the inning with a single and scoring on the next at-bat when Peyton Yenchick tripled to give the Indians their first run of the game. Yenchick scored on a single by Maggie Byars to tie the game at 2-2 and Byars would give the Indians a 3-2 lead when she scored on single by Jaelyn Martin. The Bulldogs were able to tie the game in the bottom half of the second inning when Abby Threatt reached base on a walk and after advancing on a wild pitch scored on a single by Zoey Stewart. After a quick start to the game both teams were unable to get on the board again until the Bulldogs scored five runs in the fifth inning to grab the lead. The inning got started when Grace McKinney was hit by a pitch to put the leadoff batter on base for the Bulldogs. McKinney would score on the next at-bat when Breanna Stanley laid down a bunt and was able to advance to third base on an error that allowed McKinney to score and give the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead. After taking the lead Stanley was followed by AD Raines who reached on a walk and they would both score on a single by Olivia Hall to give the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead. Hall advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Abby Threatt before scoring on a single by Sammy Quintero and Quintero would score on the next at-bat by Hailey Owens to give the Bulldogs a 8-3 lead at the end of the fifth inning. Coach Piazza said that he was really proud of his team's mental approach in the game especially in the fifth inning. "We talked about adversity before the game and that's exactly what we were dealing with there after they took the lead in the second inning," said Coach Piazza. "Our girls kept it together though and tied the game but there in the fifth inning was probably the finest execution of any team I've ever had as they did exactly what we asked of them." The Bulldogs got a good outing from pitcher Olivia Hall as she battled the Indians hitters all night while pitching all seven innings and striking out six batters. "I feel this is a game that we can really build some momentum from for the rest of the season," said Coach Piazza. "We always tell them to celebrate the win but as soon as we leave it's time to focus on the next one." Boiling Springs will return to action on Tuesday night as they travel to Byrnes in a big region matchup for the Bulldogs. On a chilly Thursday night the Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs soccer team ended their first trip through region play with a 2-1 victory over Byrnes in penalty kicks.
"A region win is a region win and those are always important," said Bulldogs head coach Jonathan Burnett. "At the end of the night we came out with a win and to finish the first round of region play with a 5-2 record we feel pretty good." Boiling Springs jumped out to an early lead when midfielder Skylar Young made a break behind the Rebels defense and found the bottom right corner of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the game. Byrnes responded just two minutes later though when Rayven Sortor broke down the right side of the field finding the right side of the Bulldogs net and tying the game at 1-1. "Byrnes has a really good coach and his girls have really bought into what he's trying to teach them," said Coach Burnett. "They came in here and played us very tough tonight. In the second half I really thought we were going to get that winning goal but we just weren't able to take advantage of our opportunities." Both teams made runs throughout regular time with the Bulldogs even getting a few shots that sailed just wide of the net before the end of regulation but both teams were unable to find the back of the net and sent the game into overtime. In overtime both teams were unable to get much going in the two five minute halves which led to the game being settled with penalty kicks. When it came to the penalty kicks the Bulldogs were perfect as they hit all four of their attempted penalty kicks as McKenna Wilson, Taylor Wilson, Emma Dube, and Brooke Cash all were able to find the back of the net. The Bulldogs were victorious as they defeated Byrnes 4-2 in the penalty kick round and claimed the 2-1 victory. Coach Burnett said he was proud of how his team responded during the penalty kick session which can be a stressful situation for many players. "For us to come out on top in an overtime game with penalty kicks it tells me this team is mentally strong and doesn't let the pressure of the situation get to them," said Coach Burnett. With the victory the Bulldogs finish the first half of region play with a 5-2 record and will look to get the second half started on the right foot when they travel to Riverside on Monday. "Getting this victory was big for us tonight," said Coach Burnett. "Now we can focus on the second half of region play." On Tuesday night the Boiling Springs boys volleyball team got their first victory in the first ever home match for the new program as they defeated Hillcrest 3-1 in front of a pretty good sized crowd. The Bulldogs are part of a pilot program amongst other teams in the state playing the sport as a club team that they hope will lead to the clubs being a SCHSL sanctioned sport in the next few years.
Boling Springs volleyball coach Allyson Elliot, who is also the girls varsity volleyball coach, says that the response from the kids and administration has been really great as they got over twenty kids that have joined the new team. "A couple of months ago they had talk about getting it started and we had a group of kids that wanted to play," said Coach Elliot. "I told them I would do all I could for them to get it started and we've had nothing but support from Superintendent Radford, Principal Gordon, and Coach McManus." Coach Elliot says that a recent grant that the team received has really made the starting of the program a lot easier than it may have been without it. "We applied for a grant through the Palmetto Region Volleyball and that has helped pay for our jerseys and transportation," said Coach Elliot. "The money from that grant has really helped us not having to search for money like some schools may have to deal with since schools don't have budgets for club teams." The first match at home for the new team saw the Bulldogs grab a 25-8 win in the first set before falling in the second set to the Rams. After winning the third set 27-25 the Bulldogs went into the fourth set with a chance to win their first ever match. The Bulldogs fell behind in the fourth set 17-12 before outscoring the Rams 14-7 to claim the set and the match. "It was awesome to get the first win here in the first game at home," said Coach Elliot. "I feel very lucky with this being the offseason for the girls team that I have this opportunity to be a part of this. I " The Bulldogs will play their next match at Dorman on Thursday. Baldinelli and Pitt A Part of North TeamThe SCBCA North-South All-Star game was played Saturday at Lexington High School with the North team walking away with a 121-105 victory. The North team was loaded with local connections as Dorman’s Ta’Lon Cooper was named the North team MVP after scoring 17 points. Boiling Springs and Chesnee were both represented on Saturday as well as Bulldogs Zach Baldinelli scored five points and Eagles head coach Andy Pitt was a member of the coaching staff. The North team was also represented by other local players as Spartanburg’s Sean Jenkins (18 points) and Broome’s Khalil Stringer (2 points) joined Baldinelli, Cooper, and Pitt in the All-Star game festivities. Lady Bulldogs Win York TournamentThe Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs soccer team grabbed a 2-0 victory over Northwestern to become the champions of the 2019 York County High School Soccer Tournament. Chesnee Golf Finishes Top 10The Chesnee Eagles golf team shot a 322 on Saturday to claim tenth place at the two-day Georgia-South Carolina Cup tournament played at the Plantera Ridge Golf Course in Peachtree City, GA.
The Eagles finished the tournament as the fourth best team from South Carolina trailing Bishop England, Christ Church, and Mauldin. Chesnee got off to a pretty good start on Friday when they shot a 309 and was tied for eighth after day one but cold conditions on Saturday caused the Eagles some problems on Saturday. Chesnee head golf coach Andy Pitt was happy with his team’s overall performance though at the two day tournament. “It was a good finish but with our score we still have plenty of room to grow,” said Coach Pitt. “I like where we are heading as a team. It’s important we don’t peak too early.” The Hillcrest Rams scored two late second half goals to grab a 3-1 victory over Boiling Springs in boys soccer on Thursday night. "I think tonight we saw two teams that were tired of losing and it came down to which team wanted it more," said Bulldogs head coach Nathan Robbins. "They just wanted it more tonight." Hillcrest controlled the middle of the field early in the game but it was the Bulldogs who got the first score of the game on Thursday night when Sam Maslyanchuk found the back of the net with just over fifteen minutes left in the first half. The Rams would answer back with seven minutes left in the half when Manuel Ramirez tied the game on a shot in the middle of the field to tie the game at 1-1 going into halftime. In the second half both teams had plenty of opportunities as Hillcrest and Boiling Springs both got some good looks at the goal but were unable to capitalize. The Bulldogs got some great play from their goalie Emanuel Ocampo as he recorded nine saves including a great save on a Hillcrest penalty kick as he dove right knocking the kick away and preserving the 1-1 tie with only twenty-four minutes left in the game. "(Emanuel) is our senior goal keeper and we expect him to make saves like that," said Coach Robbins. "He hasn't let us down all season when it comes to big moments." Hillcrest was able to break the tie with just over fifteen minutes left in the second half when Jeremy Montero scored to give the Rams a 2-1 lead and the Rams would strike again just under two minutes later when Amourlaye Fondio found the back of the net and extended the Hillcrest lead to 3-1. "We still have some important region matches still coming up," said Coach Robbins. "We're going to put this one behind us and move on." The Bulldogs will return to action on Monday as they host Gaffney in another region matchup. Lady Bulldogs Defeat Hillcrest The Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs soccer team picked up a key region victory on the road at Hillcrest as they won in overtime 4-3 on penalty kicks.
The Bulldogs got a key save from goalkeeper Cora Brendle in penalty kicks to seal the victory. After falling behind 2-0 to the Rams, Boiling Springs' Natalie Koller scored two goals for the Bulldogs to send the game into overtime. They also got a goal from Taylor Wilson in overtime to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead before winning the game for good in penalty kicks. The Bulldogs will travel to Gaffney on Monday night. On a thrilling night of softball the Boiling Springs Bulldogs came up just short as they fell to the Mauldin Mavericks 5-4 in nine innings on Tuesday night.
"It was an exciting game but we just fell short," said Bulldogs head coach Randy Piazza. "We'll forget about this one and move on to the next. We're young so sometimes we'll let games slip away like that but I think we're going to surprise some people too." The Bulldogs were trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning and were able to get the game to 2-1 when Ragan Bristol singled to left field bringing home Hailey Owens who had doubled to start the inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning Boiling Springs was able to tie the game when Jaycie Osment, who was pinch running for Breanna Stanley, was able to score on a Mauldin error. After an exciting seventh inning that saw both teams have a runner reach third base both teams had their rallies end on great catches by a member of their outfield. The Mauldin rally was ended by a great diving catch by Bulldogs right fielder Katie Philbeck. Both teams were unable to get runners across the plate in the eighth inning as well despite having runners at third base again which moved the game into the ninth inning that brought into play the international tiebreaker rule that puts a runner at second base to start the inning. The Bulldogs were able to get back to back outs to start the inning while only allowing one run to score before back to back doubles and a single by Mauldin's Virginia Bishop put the Mavericks lead at 5-2 heading into the bottom half of the inning. The Bulldogs were able to bring Zoey Stewart home on a Hailey Owens single and Owens would later score on a groundout by Bristol but Boiling Springs fell just one run short and losing their first region game of the season. Despite the loss Boiling Springs got a good performance from pitcher Olivia Hall who held Mauldin hitless through the first three innings and struck out eight Mavericks hitters on Tuesday night. "When you have a pitcher that throws like that you always feel like you have a chance," said Coach Piazza. "She pitched great tonight and I think she'll only get better as the season goes along." Boiling Springs will look to rebound later this week as they travel to Gaffney on Thursday night and will travel to Spartanburg on Friday night. |
Our Sponsors
If you would like to join us as a sponsor please contact us at: [email protected]
Archives
October 2023
Categories |