On Monday afternoon the Boiling Springs golf team backed up their impressive performance from a week ago by returning to the same Chester Golf Club and winning the 5A Upper State championship by shooting a tournament low score of 297.
”It was a nice day on the course today,” said Bulldogs head coach Josh Pruitt. “The conditions were a lot nicer today than it was a week ago when it was little more rainy but we played pretty good today and now we’re going to get ready for next week.” Boiling Springs was led by Andrew Gregory who shot a 71 on Monday, the only player other than medalist Nathan Franks (68) from Dorman to shoot under par at the tournament. Gregory was joined by three other Bulldogs to shoot in the seventies on Monday as Zach Phillips (73), Davis Hill (74), and Clayton Taylor (79) all joined him as Easton Keller (83) was just behind them. With the victory the Bulldogs punched their ticket to the state championship tournament next week and will be joined by seven other teams from the Upper State tournament as Spartanburg (302), Blythewood (307), Dorman (308), Mauldin (308), Hillcrest (314), Fort Mill (314), and TL Hanna (316) will all participate at the state tournament as well. “We still have a long way to go because those two rounds of golf at state are tough,” said Pruitt. “The boys are confident and we feel like we can get it done. If we keep playing like we have been doing then I think we’ll have a shot.” The Bulldogs will kick off the two day state tournament on Monday at The Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, SC where they will look to capture the school's fifth state championship in boy's golf. The Boiling Springs baseball team used a big sixth inning from their offense to capture their seventh straight win as they defeated Spartanburg 7-5 to end the regular season on Friday night. It's also their third win in three days as they defeated Spartanburg 4-2 on Wednesday night at Duncan Park while also defeating Eastside 2-0 at home on Thursday night.
"We started out slow trying to it hit too far instead of doing what we do to be successful," said Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lipscomb. "Good teams find ways to win even when you're not playing your best and this is a pretty good team. I'm looking forward to next Saturday with this team." Spartanburg jumped ahead in the top of the first inning as Deacon Cox reached base on a walk before coming around to score on a single to left field by Eliar Sanchez giving the Vikings an early 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the second inning as Hudson Wilson reached base on a Spartanburg error before tying the game at 1-1 when he came home after Avery Stewart singled to right field. In the top of the third inning the Vikings pushed their lead to 4-1 by scoring three runs which started when Joe Cash and Elliot Cont reached base on back-to-back infield singles before Sanchez loaded the bases by working a walk. Cash scored on a Bulldogs error before Cont scored made the score 3-1 by scoring on a sacrifice fly to right field by Dontarian Davis. Spartanburg made the score 4-1 when Sanchez scored on a squeeze play off a bunt by Caleb Hodge. Boiling Springs cut into the Vikings lead in the bottom of the third inning as the Bulldogs Tristan Smith started the inning with a triple to centerfield before making the Spartanburg lead 4-2 when he scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Will Holmes. After the Vikings added a run in the top of the fourth inning to make their lead 5-2 Hudson Wilson started the bottom of the fourth inning for the Bulldogs with a single to left field before moving to second base on a stolen base. After moving to third base on a Jackson Reel groundout, Wilson cut the Spartanburg lead to 5-3 when he scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Stewart. Both teams went scoreless in the fifth inning but the Bulldogs finally grabbed their first lead of the game when they scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brent Fowler started the inning by working a walk before moving to second when Jimmy Rosengrant was hit by a pitch while Avery Stewart loaded the bases when he beat out an infield bunt down the third base line. Davis Starnes worked a walk with the bases loaded to score Luke Compton, who was running for Fowler, cutting the Spartanburg lead to 5-4. Tristan Smith tied the game for the Bulldogs when he hit a sacrifice fly to right field as a diving Rosengrant beat the Vikings throw home to make the score 5-5. Will Holmes scored Stewart from second base on a single to right field to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 6-5 over the Vikings. Starnes added to the Bulldogs lead when he scored from third base on a single to left field by Hudson Wilson push their lead to 7-5. "We got eight quality at-bats there in the sixth inning which started with Fowler, Rosengrant, and Stewart," said Lipscomb. "Holmes and Wilson came up with big hits as well." In the top of the seventh inning Bulldogs pitcher Landon Ellis struck out three of the final four batters to secure the win for Boiling Springs. Ellis' final inning capped off a strong night in relief for the pitcher as he pitcher five innings of relief striking out nine batters while only allowing one run. "This is probably Landon's best outing yet," said Lipscomb. "His changeup was very good tonight and he has a lot of confidence in that pitch. He threw with a lot of confidence tonight and I'm proud of him." Avery Stewart had a strong night at the plate for the Bulldogs going two for two with two RBIs and a run scored. With the win the Bulldogs finish out their regular season on a high note which they look to carry with them into the playoffs. "It's big finishing the regular season with a win as we've now won seven in a row," said Lipscomb. "We're looking forward to the playoffs where we know it will be a battle. This team has come a long way as we started out the season terrible but they haven't quit and we finished out the regular season strong." Boiling Springs will now wait until May 15th when they open the 5A playoffs with a home game against their former region foe Byrnes. After falling behind 5-1 early, the Boiling Springs softball team scored eighteen unanswered runs to defeat Laurens 19-5 in a non-region road matchup to extend their winning streak to four straight games on Wednesday night.
"It started out like a mess tonight but we settled down," said Bulldogs head coach Randy Piazza. "We got a good game from Bri Stanley as she had a tough start but she grew up a little bit on the mound tonight and she done a great job especially there at the end. We felt good even being down early because you know the type of bats that you have on the bench and when you have bats like that you know you always have a shot." After failing to score in the top of the first inning the Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 in the bottom half of the inning as Michaela Smith reached base before scoring on a double to right field by Carly Edwards to go up 1-0. The Raiders made it 2-0 when Edwards scored on a single to right centerfield by Taylor Hardin. Boiling Springs cut the lead in half in the top of the second inning when Kate Philbeck, who was celebrating her birthday, moved to third base on a double by Reese Smith before scoring on a single to left field off the bat of Katie Roberts to put the Raiders lead at 2-1. In the bottom of the second inning Laurens added three runs with two outs when Kauree Munyan hit a three run homer over the right centerfield wall brining home both Smith and Edwards to put the Raiders lead at 5-1 at the end of the second inning. The Bulldogs started their rally in the top of the third inning as Olivia Hall worked a walk to start the inning before moving to second base on a single to centerfield by catcher Ragan Bristol. With two runners on starting pitcher Bri Stanley helped her own cause when she hit a three run homer to left centerfield scoring both Hall and Bristol to put the Bulldogs within one run at 5-4. Hailey Owens followed Stanley with a double to left centerfield before moving to third base on a double to centerfield by Jaycie Osment. Owens evened the score when she scored from third base on a Laurens wild pitch to put the Bulldogs in a 5-5 tie when the third inning came to an end. The fourth inning saw the Bulldogs score seven runs as they batted through their lineup which began when Alexis McFalls singled to left field. Hall followed McFalls with a single down the right field line to put two runners on with no outs. With two runners on Ragan Bristol took a 2-2 pitch to straight centerfield that landed ten feet past the outfield wall giving the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 8-5. Stanley followed Bristol by reaching base on a hit by pitch before Sammy Quinterro, pinch running for Stanley, raced home from first base off a double to left centerfield by Owens to put the Bulldogs lead at 9-5. Osment followed Owens with a double to centerfield to put runners at second and third base for Philbeck who then hit a double to right centerfield scoring both Osment and Owens to put the Bulldogs ahead 11-5. Philbeck made the Bulldogs lead 12-5 when she came home to score on a single to centerfield by Roberts, for her second RBI of the game. Stanley started the fifth inning for the Bulldogs reaching base on a walk before Quinterro, who was pinch running, stole second and third bases eventually giving the Bulldogs a 13-5 lead when she scored on a Laurens wild pitch. Boiling Springs batted through their lineup again in the sixth inning as Jacie Ross, who entered the game after an injury, started the sixth inning with a single to centerfield. She was followed to the plate by Sammy Quinterro who reached base on a bunt single down the third base line to put runners at first and third base, as Ross raced to third base on the bunt. Hall loaded the bases by working a walk before Ross pushed the Bulldogs lead to 14-5 when she scored on a Laurens wild pitch to Bristol. Quinterro made the lead 15-5 when she came around to score after Bristol reached base on a Laurens error. Bri McAbee, who was pinch running for Bristol, along with McFalls, who was pinch running for Stanley, along with Owens who had reached base on a fielder's choice had the bases loaded for Osment who hit a single that scored both McAbee and McFalls to push the Bulldogs lead to 17-5 with only one out in the inning. Philbeck followed Osment with a single of her own to bring home Owens before Osment made the lead 19-5 when she scored on a fielder's choice by Smith. Each of the the eleven Boiling Springs batters that came to the plate on Wednesday night came away with a hit as Jaycie Osment led all batters going four of five with three RBIs. Ragan Bristol and Bri Stanley joined Osment with three RBIs each of their own with both players picking up a homerun for the Bulldogs. Bri Stanley had a strong night from the pitching circle for the Bulldogs as she pitched all six innings and didn't allow a run after the second inning while striking out ten Laurens batters. "I was struggling there early and I just needed the confidence I got from the pitching outing tonight," said Stanley. "After those first two innings I was just ready to quit but after I got that homerun it seemed to get the team up which got me up and gave me confidence when I returned to the mound." Boiling Springs will now turn their focus to their road matchup against former region rival Byrnes on Thursday night. Piazza says his team has been looking forward to Thursday nights game and will be ready to play. "Tomorrow night is a big game and we're going to be ready for it," said Piazza. "The team has been excited all week and I didn't realize it was as big of a rivalry, like everyone keeps calling it, but I guess it is and we'll be there tomorrow night ready to play." As storms creeped into the upstate of South Carolina on Monday, the weather held out just long enough at the Chester Golf Club for the Boiling Springs golf team to claim the Region III-5A championship.
The Bulldogs put on quite an impressive performance on Monday as they shot a team score of 289 which was twenty shots better than the second place team. Zach Phillips led the Bulldogs with a tournament low score of 66 as he was named the region player of the year. Phillips wasn't the only Bulldogs player with a strong performance on Monday as fellow teammates Andrew Gregory (74), Clayton Taylor (74), and Davis Hill (75) all joined Phillips on the all-region team with their scores. The four Bulldogs were joined on the all-region team by Fort Mill's Tarver Griffin (67) and Bryce Whitmer (76), Gaffney's Ryker Ward (73), and Nation Ford's Gabe Schmitz (73). Fort Mill will join the Bulldogs in the Upper State tournament next week after finishing second with a score of 309. Nation Ford finished third with a score of 321 just ahead of Gaffney (328) and Clover (338). The performance by the Bulldogs was good preparation for next week's Upper State championship tournament that will also be held at the Chester Golf Club on May 10 starting at 10 AM. The Chester Golf Club is located at 770 Old Richburg Rd in Chester, SC. |
Our Sponsors
If you would like to join us as a sponsor please contact us at: [email protected]
Archives
October 2023
Categories |