When building a program it's all about taking the next step every year and that's just what the Boiling Springs girls soccer program did on Monday night as they captured a 2-1 victory over Easley in the first round of the 5A soccer playoffs a year after making it into the playoffs for the first time in over five years.
"I've been trying to get the girls on board about being a program that is always taking that next step," said Bulldogs head coach Jonathan Burnett. "Tonight we took that next step." The Bulldogs took advantage early of their opportunity to get to host a playoff game on Monday night as they got the scoring started just eight minutes into the game when Natalie Koller put the Bulldogs up 1-0 after outrunning the defensive back on the right side and taking a shot that landed in the bottom left corner of the net. Koller added another goal to the Boiling Springs lead during the first half stoppage time when she took an assist from Sammi Ewing down the right side of the field giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead when she hit the top right corner of the net for another score. Boiling Springs almost added another score in the first half but Easley goalkeeper Ali Perry made great saves on two Boiling Springs shots towards the end of the first half. "We really had a great performance by the whole team tonight," said Coach Burnett. "Natalie has been our leading scorer this season and we decided to move her up top tonight because we thought she might could get behind their defense and make some plays for us and she did just that. She was just one goal from a hat trick and I'm just really happy for her." Easley was able to get on the board eight minutes into the second half when Calista Turner was able to score on a Green Wave corner kick to put the Boiling Springs lead at 2-1. The Bulldogs defense was able to control the ball the rest of the match though as Boiling Springs goalkeeper Cora Brendle didn't allow another Green Wave score. With the victory the Lady Bulldogs soccer team will travel to Clover on Wednesday night in the second round of the 5A playoffs after Clover defeated Hillcrest on Monday night. On Wednesday night the Boiling Springs softball team entered the 5A playoffs as a four seed and one week later the Bulldogs will have to be beaten twice this coming Wednesday not to advance to the next round of the playoffs after the Bulldogs grabbed a 6-4 win over Mauldin on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs game Saturday was a winner's bracket game because the Bulldogs were able to defeat number one seed Woodmont 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The Lady Bulldogs didn't waste time getting on the board on Saturday afternoon as they scored four runs in the top of the first putting Mauldin in a bad spot early. Boiling Springs' Grace McKinney gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead when she scored from third base on a delayed squeeze bunt by Olivia Hall. Emily Hall, who had reached on a single, would be the next Bulldog to score in the first when she came scored on a single by Natalie Hazzard to put the Boiling Springs lead at 2-0. Hazzard was followed by Tori Beland who tripled to left field bringing home Ragan Bristol and Hazzard to give Boiling Springs a 4-0 lead after the first inning. The Boiling Springs offense got off to a hot start but so did their defense as Bulldogs' pitcher only allowed two hits through the first five innings. The Bulldogs also got a great play by right fielder Abbie Threatt in the first inning when she threw out a Mauldin baserunner at first base on a fast ground ball to right field. The Bulldogs offense continued to add to their lead in the third inning after Emily Hill tripled and then scored on a Mauldin error to make the Boiling Springs lead 5-0 after the third inning. Boiling Springs extended their lead in the fourth inning when Abbie Threatt scored on a Grace McKinney sacrifice fly to right field giving the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead after four innings. Mauldin was able to score a run in the bottom of the sixth inning and three more in the bottom of the seventh inning but it wasn't enough to catch the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. With the victory Boiling Springs awaits the winner of the Clover and Mauldin game on Monday night and will host the game on Wednesday night knowing either team will have to defeat them twice to advance. "We told the girls at the start of the playoffs that this was a new season and they've done everything we've asked them to do," said Bulldogs head coach Randy Piazza. "We came out here ready to play early and I'm just really proud of this team." On Tuesday night the Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs softball team ended their region season with a 14-0 victory at Spartanburg and while the Bulldogs finished out their region season on Tuesday night they will have to wait until later this week to find out where they will start the 5A playoffs.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Ragan Bristol hit a single to centerfield to score Zoey Stewart who had reached base on an earlier walk. Boiling Springs added two more runs in the second inning when AD Raines tripled to left centerfield allowing Olivia Hall and Abbie Threatt to score and giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs would make the score 4-0 in the third inning when Emily Hill singled home Grace McKinney who had reached base on a double of her own. In the fourth inning the Bulldogs finally broke the game wide open when they batted around and all but two players scored in the inning. The fourth inning got started when Tori Beland reached base with a double to left field and soon came home to score on a double by Natalie Hazzard. Hazzard would score on the next at-bat when AD Raines made the score 6-0 on a double to leftfield and gave Raines her third RBI of the night. It seemed Spartanburg was going to be able to get out of the fourth inning with no more damage done after getting two outs but the Bulldogs hitters had other ideas in mind as McKinney, Bristol and Hill all scored on a triple to left field by Hall putting the Boiling Springs lead at 9-0. Hall was followed by Threatt who hit a homerun to centerfield and capped the Boiling Springs seven run fourth inning with the Bulldogs leading 11-0. The Bulldogs would add three more runs in the fourth inning when Sammy Quintero and Hailey Owens both scored on a double by Jaycie Osment. Osment would come around to score on a double by Hall giving Hall her fourth RBI of the game. While the Boiling Springs offense was impressive on Tuesday night the pitching wasn't bad either as Tori Beland, who came on in relief to pitch, was able to strike out eight of the final nine Spartanburg batters she faced. "We started out a little slow tonight but we finally got the bats going." said Bulldogs head coach Randy Piazza. "It's always a good feeling to get a win heading into the playoffs." The Boiling Springs Bulldogs tennis team knew that their match against Gaffney on Thursday night was crucial to their playoff chances and they took care of business as they defeated Gaffney 4-2 to lock up there spot as the fourth seed in Region III-5A.
"Making the playoffs is really exciting for our team," said Bulldogs head tennis coach Scott Galloway. "We play in the toughest region in the state at the 5A level and to win two games here tonight to get in the playoffs, I'm just really proud of this team." The Bulldogs played two matches on Thursday night as they had to conclude an earlier season matchup against the Indians that had been interrupted due to rain, Boiling Springs won the first matchup 5-1 and went into game two knowing that if they could win they could lock up the fourth seed in the region and be bound for the 5A playoffs. The second matchup of the night saw Boiling Springs' Joey Wert defeat Gaffney's Shayan Tavassoli (6-0, 6-1) in number one singles and Boiling Springs' Blaine Lawter defeat Gaffney's Merritt Earp (6-3, 6-1) number two singles. In number two doubles Boiling Springs' Caleb Corbitt and Brett Belcher defeated Gaffney's Zac Peterson and Joe Karriker (6-1, 4-6, 10-8). With the Bulldogs leading the match 3-2, their trip to the playoffs came down to the number four singles where Boiling Springs junior Paul Owen defeated Gaffney's Caleb Hogg (6-4, 6-3). With that victory the Bulldogs were able to stamp their ticket to the 5A tennis playoffs. "The hype was there for both teams today but the way our guys just kind of battled I just couldn't be more proud of those guys," said Coach Galloway. "We just really executed today and weren't forced to play number one doubles in either game which doesn't happen often in this region." The Bulldogs will have to wait to find out who they will be matched up against in the playoffs and will have to play at least one more region match as they travel to Spartanburg on Tuesday afternoon. - The Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs softball team fell to Byrnes 3-1 on Thursday night. Read game story here. The Lady Bulldogs will host Gaffney on Friday night for Senior Night.
- The Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs soccer team fell to Dorman 3-1 also on Tuesday night. The Cavaliers held a 1-0 lead at halftime but Boiling Springs' Savannah Williams was able to tie the game five minutes into the second half. The Cavaliers soon struck back four minutes later to retake the lead at 2-1 and with just three minutes left in the game Dorman was able to add one more score and walk away with the 3-1 victory over the Bulldogs. The Lady Bulldogs will return to action Thursday as they host Byrnes. - The Boiling Springs tennis team fell to Byrnes 5-2 on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs got wins in the four singles as AJ Eubanks defeated Paul Owen (5-7, 6-3, 10-4) and in the five singles as Noah Glover defeated Connor Carr (6-0, 6-0). The Bulldogs will return to action Thursday night as they host Gaffney in a partial doubleheader as the two teams have to finish out a match from earlier this season that was cut short because of rain. Wednesday Games: -Boy's Golf competes at Dorman at 4:00 PM -Track and Field travels to Gaffney for a match at 5:00 PM -Baseball travels to Duncan Park to play Spartanburg in their mid week matchup at 6:30 PM The Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs were able to get one run across the plate but left two runners on base when the third out was called as they fell to the visiting Byrnes Lady Rebels 3-1 on Tuesday night.
While both teams were held scoreless through the first two innings, the Rebels were able to get on the board in the top of the third inning when Hayden Bradley scored on a single by Haven Pesce but the Rebels were only able to score one on that at-bat as Boiling Springs' Abbie Threatt threw out Christa Whiteside out at the plate to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of the Rebels. The Rebels added two more runs on the next at-bat though as Tatum Arboleda doubled to bring home Casey Widmyer and Pesce to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead at the end of the third inning. While Widmyer was able to keep the Bulldogs bats in check most of the night the Bulldogs were able to start a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ragan Bristol reached base on a single. Tori Beland was able to get a double two batters later and put runners at second and third with two outs. Abbie Threatt kept the game going and brought home the Bulldogs first run to make the score 3-1 with runners at first and second base. The Boiling Springs rally was cut just short in the seventh inning though as the Bulldogs' AD Raines was just barely beat to first base by a throw from Byrnes' Pesce to end the game at 3-1 in favor of the visiting Rebels. "I thought we played some great defense tonight but we just weren't able to string together many hits tonight," said Bulldogs head coach Randy Piazza. "We had a chance there late but it just didn't happen. I'm really proud of the girls effort tonight though." The Lady Bulldogs will return to action on Friday night as they host the Gaffney Indians in another region matchup. It will also be senior night for the Bulldogs as they will be honoring seniors Natalie Hazzard and Emily Hill prior to Friday night's game. |
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