The Boiling Springs girl's soccer team returned home on Monday night and was able to pick up a 1-0 victory over Spartanburg to improve their record to 2-2 in Region II-5A.
"It was a good region win and any region win is a good one," said Boiling Springs head coach Jonathan Burnett. "After our last two games it was great to come back home and get a solid victory." The Bulldogs offense and midfield controlled most of the game as the ball rarely crossed midfield into the Boiling Springs defensive side of the field that wasn't controlled by the Bulldogs. While the Bulldogs controlled the midfield they struggled to find the back of the net in the first half as the Spartanburg goalkeeper played a great game and registered fifteen saves in the game. "We have to get a lot of credit to their goalkeeper," said Coach Burnett. "She made some unbelievable saves." While the Bulldogs showed a lot of patience throughout the game as they worked to control the ball it didn't take them long to get on the board in the second half. With just under two minutes off the clock in the second half Boiling Springs' Kate Johnson was able to find the back of the net on a shot from the top of the penalty box to break the tie and give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. "We told them coming out of halftime if you get an open look from around twenty-five yards or out they should take it and see what happens," said Coach Burnett. "Kate did just that and gave us the lead and that was enough tonight." Boiling Springs will look to build on their win over Spartanburg when they travel to Hillcrest on Thursday night. "A 1-0 win is a good way to start off the week and we're looking forward to carrying that momentum to Hillcrest," said Coach Burnett. "We still have a lot to play for this season." After getting their tournament started a little late due to being rained out on Friday night the Boiling Springs softball team didn't let that slow them down as they won four straight games on Saturday including defeating Clover 5-4 in the championship game of the 2019 Crescent Softball Tournament to become the champions of the tournament for the third year in a row.
The Bulldogs got their day started before noon on Saturday as they defeated JL Mann 2-1 to make up the rained out game from Friday night. The first game was a pitching duel as Boiling Springs Olivia Hall outdueled the Patriots pitchers as she only gave up one run on two hits while striking out three batters. The Bulldogs got a big performance at the plate from Ragan Bristol as she drove home both runs for Boiling Springs in game one. The first run of the game was scored when Hailey Owens, who had reached base on a single, scored from second base when Bristol singled to centerfield and gave Boiling Springs a 1-0 lead. After the Patriots were able to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning the Bulldogs soon reclaimed the lead when Grace McKinney led off the fourth inning with a triple and then scored on a single to left field by Bristol to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. In game two, Boiling Springs seventh grader Brianna Stanley gave the Bulldogs six strong innings from the circle and picked up her first career victory as the Bulldogs defeated Ninety-Six 7-6. The Bulldogs offense came to life in the second inning as they scored five runs and the biggest play of the inning came when Hailey Owens doubled to left field to score both Abby Threatt and AD Raines to give the Bulldogs a 5-1 lead. That wouldn't be the only clutch hit for Owens in the game though as Ninety-Six was able to tie the game in the top of the sixth but Owens got the game winning hit for Boiling Springs in the bottom of the sixth inning when she singled to left field scoring Raines and giving the Bulldogs the victory. With West Oak being the only thing standing in between the Bulldogs and a return trip to the championship game, Boiling Springs defeated the Warriors 6-2 in game three. The Bulldogs offense jumped on the Warriors early as they scored five runs in the first inning as the Bulldogs grabbed an early 2-0 lead when Grace McKinney tripled scoring both Zoey Stewart and Hailey Owens. McKinney would score on the next at-bat when Ragan Bristol hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. Sammy Quinterro and Katie Philbeck would both score before the inning was over as the Bulldogs held a 5-0 lead before the Warriors had even gotten a turn at the plate. Stanley picked up her second straight victory as she held the Warriors to two runs while striking out two batters. In the championship game, Boiling Springs got another pitching milestone as Hailey Owens picked up her first career win going five innings and only allowing two hits. The Bulldogs were trailing 4-3 entering the top of the seventh inning and with one out Ragan Bristol doubled to centerfield. Jacie Ross came on as a courtesy runner and later scored when Brianna Stanley grounded out to shortstop tying the game a 4-4. Katie Philbeck reached base on the next at-bat and would score the winning run when AD Raines singled to left field giving the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead and their third straight Crescent Softball Tournament championship. The Bulldogs got great pitching performances from all three pitchers on Saturday with Stanley and Owens both picking up their first victories on Saturday. They also got a great performance at the plate from Ragan Bristol who went seven of twelve on Saturday with four RBIs. Boiling Springs will return to action on Tuesday as they host Mauldin at 7:30 PM. The Boiling Springs softball team opened up their new softball facility in impressive fashion as they defeated Spartanburg 16-1 on Thursday night. The victory improves the Bulldogs to 3-0 in region play after they also defeated Riverside in a double header (12-2 and 13-2) on Tuesday night. "It was good to come out and win like that in front of a big crowd," said Boiling Springs head coach Randy Piazza. "We're now 3-0 in the region and while there's still a long way to go it's important to win all the region games you can." The Bulldogs started off the night strong as pitcher Olivia Hall struck out three of the first four batters that came to the plate for the Vikings in the first inning. Hall pitched three innings on Tuesday night while striking out six batters and didn’t allow a hit. On a night of first at the new softball facility the Bulldogs' Ragan Bristol got the first hit which was a single to centerfield that scored Haley Owens, who had reached base on a walk earlier in the inning, to give the Boiling Springs a 1-0 lead at the end of the first inning. In the second inning the Bulldogs bats erupted as they scored twelve runs in the inning to grab a 13-0 lead. All the Boiling Springs batters that came to the plate scored in the second inning while Brianna Stanley, Alexis McFalls, and Abby Threatt, the three batters that started the inning, all scored twice for the Bulldogs in the inning. Boiling Springs also got a good night from Grace McKinney who went three of four at the plate and was just a homerun away from hitting for the cycle. The victory for the Bulldogs not only improves their region record but also gives them momentum as they travel to play in the Crescent Tournament on Friday, a tournament that the Bulldogs won last year. "We're going down there as the defending champions and your goal has to be to do it again," said Coach Piazza. "That's a tough tournament down there against a lot of quality teams and we start out with a tough game against JL Mann. We'll know a lot about ourselves after this weekend." After returning from the Crescent Tournament the Bulldogs will return to region play next week as they host Mauldin on Tuesday night. Baseball Opens New Stadium With a Region Victory The Boiling Springs baseball team opened up their new stadium with a 10-3 victory over region foe Gaffney on Thursday night. The game was moved up to Thursday due to the threat of rain on Friday night.
The Bulldogs used a big first inning to help propel themselves to the victory on Thursday night as they opened up the new stadium with a four run first inning. The first hit in the new stadium came off the bat of senior Davis Brown and he later scored the first run when junior Aaron Thomas hit a triple to plate three runs and give Boiling Springs a 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs would push the lead to 4-0 when Thomas scored on a sacrifice fly. Thomas finished the night going three of four with five RBIs. Boiling Springs senior pitcher Dawson Taylor picked up the first victory for the Bulldogs at their new stadium while striking out seven Gaffney batters. The Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday night as they travel to Dorman for another region matchup. Boiling Springs senior basketball player Zach Baldinelli was named to the North-South All-Star team on Monday afternoon.
Baldinelli finished his senior season averaging 14.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while also finishing the season with eighteen steals. Baldinelli also surpassed the 1,000 point mark for his career this past season. He will be joined by other local players on the North team as Dorman’s Talon Cooper, Spartanburg’s Sean Jenkins, and Broome’s Khalil Stringer all made the team as well. They will also be joined by Chesnee head basketball coach Andy Pitt who will be an assistant coach on the North team. The North-South game will be held on March 16th at Lexington High School. On Monday afternoon the Boiling Springs dedicated their new athletic complex that will be the new home of the Bulldogs baseball and softball teams.
"They have both been two of our most successful programs," said Boiling Springs principal Chuck Gordon, "Now they will have facilities that represent that success." Boiling Springs head softball coach Randy Piazza said that he is thrilled for the girl's to have a new facility that will be located on campus unlike their former field. "I used to not understand it," said Coach Piazza. "The girls are happy that they will have a field here on the main campus where they and the baseball teams can support each other unlike it has been in years past." Boiling Springs head baseball coach Jeff Lipscomb said that it's going to be great to have a new facility and that he hopes they can bring the winning tradition from the old field and carry it on at the new field. "Our region is tough and we start our with Gaffney this Friday," said Coach Lipscomb. "We just hope that Bulldog mojo will just carry over with us here to the new facility." The Boiling Springs softball team is scheduled to hold their first game at their new facility on Thursday against Spartanburg while the baseball team is scheduled host their first game at the new facility on Friday against Gaffney. The Boiling Springs and Chesnee golf teams both opened up their season on Monday morning at the 2019 Rebel Invitational at River Falls Golf Course.
The Bulldogs finished in a tie for third with Byrnes as both teams shot a 312 with both teams trailing Dorman (309) and eventual champion Eastside (294). Chesnee wasn't far behind the Bulldogs and Rebels as they were just eight shots behind finishing the day with a score of 320. Boiling Springs was led by Zach Phillips and Andrew Gregory who both led the Bulldogs as they both shot a 75 on Monday. Chesnee was led by All-Tournament player Garrett Cooper who shot a 72 for the Eagles. Chesnee head golf coach Andy Pitt said that he was very happy with his team's performance to start the season. "I saw some good things from our guys today," said Coach Pitt. "It gives us a good starting point to work from this year and the key for us is continuing to improve to where we are trending upward and playing our best golf at the end of the season." The medalist on Monday was Riverside's Nick Dunlap who shot a 64 on Monday and the rest of the All-Tournament team consisted of Seth Taylor (72) of Gaffney, Nathan Franks (73) of Dorman, and Jimmy McCollum (70) and Calahan Keever (71) of Eastside, The Bulldogs will return to action on Friday in a match against region for Spartanburg while Chesnee will return to action on Thursday at the Greenville Country Club against Greenville. The Boiling Springs baseball team entered the 2019 season as the preseason number one team in 5A and they helped backup those expectations by winning the 2019 IP Baseball Classic with a 6-3 victory over AC Flora on Sunday afternoon in Georgetown, SC. The victory over AC Flora, the number one team in 4A, made the Bulldogs 4-0 in the tournament and gave them their fourth win over a ranked team in the SC preseason baseball polls.
The Bulldogs started off the tournament on Thursday night with a victory over the number one ranked team in 3A when they defeated Bishop England 4-1. On Friday morning the Bulldogs had quite an adventure as they defeated the number seven ranked team in 5A Chapin 10-0 in five innings but the game ended up being the longest game of the tournament for the Bulldogs because of rain delays and a two hour delay to start the game. Boiling Springs defeated Blythewood, the fifth rank team in 5A, 5-4 on Saturday to move themselves into the championship game against AC Flora. The Bulldogs Ben Hutchins was named the tournament MVP while Blake Hansman, Davis Brown, Dawson Taylor, and Aaron Thomas were all named to the All-Tournament team. Davis Brown also was named to the IP Classic Academic All-Tournament team. Boiling Springs will have a special dedication ceremony on Monday at 4:30 PM at the school to celebrate the opening of their new baseball and softball athletic complex. In a week that saw the Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs lacrosse team play five matches in five days they were able to finish the week with an impressive 16-6 victory over Wade Hampton on Friday night. The long week also saw the Bulldogs defeat Dorman for the first time in the program's history.
"It was a great way to end our week," said Bulldogs head coach Michelle Lockwood. "We had a big win against Dorman on Wednesday night and we're really proud of how our girls have been working to get better." Boiling Springs didn't waste much time getting on the board on Thursday night as the Bulldogs Jenna Varner scored the team's first goal just fifty-six seconds into the game giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead. Varner's two first half goals would bookend Boiling Springs' offense in the first half as she also scored with forty-two seconds left in the half to give the Bulldogs a 10-2 halftime lead. Boiling Springs had seven different players score in the first half and that's something that Coach Lockwood said she is happy to see with her team. "Our team this year truly plays as a team," said Coach Lockwood. "As a lacrosse coach you really love to see that because when more players are scoring it doesn't allow the defense to just face guard one player." In the second half Wade Hampton tried to start to start the half with a rally as the General's Grace Wallace scored two early goals to get the score to 10-4 with nineteen minutes left but that momentum was quickly ended when Boiling Spring's Emily Bates scored at the twelve minute mark to put the Bulldogs ahead 11-4. The Bulldogs continued to get scoring from all over the field in the second half as the Bulldogs ended up having nine different players score on Friday night on their way to a 16-6 victory. With the victory the Bulldogs ended their long week of games with a 2-3 record and will look to improve on that record next week as they will be hosting Clover on Tuesday night and hosting Eastside on Friday. |
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