INMAN, S.C. – For the first time in a week, the Chapman Panthers took to the diamond for a non-region contest, this time against the Spartanburg Vikings. A solid performance on the mound and three runs over a two-inning span propelled the Vikings to a 4-2 road win over Chapman.
Each club struck for a run in their first turn at bat, as Spartanburg scored on a fielder’s choice. Chapman tied the game in the bottom of the first when Cason Owens notched a base hit and later crossed home plate courtesy of a Viking error. “We’re getting better,” said Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro. “The scoreboard doesn’t define who we are. All I care about is every time that we come to play and step between the lines, we’re getting better.” In the Panthers’ half of the second inning, Jack Settle and Wesley Shipman reached on a walk and base hit, respectively, and then subsequently moved into scoring position. As Hudson Moss drew a full count walk, ball four went to the backstop and allowed Settle to score, giving Chapman a 2-1 lead. Spartanburg right-hander Ian Squires settled in after that, limiting the Panthers to two base runners for the remainder of his outing. The North Greenville commit tossed five and two-thirds innings, yielding two runs (one earned) on five hits while tallying seven strikeouts and two walks. “That’s a really tough arm,” Fusaro remarked about Squires. “Ian’s a really good pitcher. He’s going to North Greenville, who we know is pretty good. That’s who we want to see and compete against because we know it’s going to make us better in the end.” Dee Davis tied the game at two in the fourth, as he scored on a Chase Staley sacrifice fly to center field. A diving grab by Chapman center fielder Devin Roe on the play helped hold the Vikings to the one run in the inning. In the next frame, Spartanburg took a 4-2 lead on a Garrett Fulmer single and Andrew Dantin RBI groundout. In the final frame, Roe reached on a Viking error with one out, but Tripp Darwin struck out the next two batters to end the game. For the Panthers, Coleman Gray tossed three scoreless innings of relief while Moss and Settle each reached base safely twice. “Compared to what we were against Boiling Springs a week and a half ago against the same type of arm,” Fusaro added. “We got better. I’m not okay with losing, but I understand, too, where this team is headed and we’re trending in the right direction.” Due to the forecast for inclement weather, Chapman (3-2) and Spartanburg (4-1) will finish the home-and-home series on Thursday at Duncan Park, with a scheduled start time of 6:30 PM. INMAN, SC - The local high school softball regular season began on Monday and in a battle between two rivals, it was the Chapman Panthers who came away with the 4-3 victory over the visiting Boiling Springs Bulldogs.
For both teams the runs came early in the game as both pitchers kept the other team off the board from the third inning to the final outs of the game. The Bulldogs took an early 3-0 lead after second baseman Gracen Bennett hit a towering home run to right centerfield bringing home both Bri McAbee and Leaha Rushing in the top of the second inning. "Since it was early on when that first homerun was hit, I think our girls realized it was still early in the game," said Chapman head coach Casey Green. "I think after we got that homerun in the bottom half of the second inning, we just played scrappy to get back in it and take the lead." In the bottom half of the second inning, Chapman pitcher Reagan Garrett hit a home run of her own to right centerfield to cut the Bulldogs lead to two runs at 3-1 Boiling Springs. The bottom of the third inning was the big inning for the Panthers as Krislyn Britt-Wilder worked a walk before advancing to second base on a single to left field by Abby Gossett. Wilder cut the lead to 3-2 when she scored on an infield single by Autumn Fisher and on a play trying to throw Gossett out at third base, Fisher was able to advance to second. Sophie Whitley came up with the biggest hit of the game on the next at-bat when she hit a single to centerfield scoring both Gossett and Fisher to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead. Boiling Springs tried to rally in the next inning as they got two runners on with no outs but a catch on a flyball and a strong throw from Whitley in right field to third base doubled the Bulldogs up ending the rally in the fourth inning. From that point on it was pretty much both pitchers not allowing much offense. In the fifth inning the Panthers loaded the bases but Boiling Springs pitcher Bri Stanley mowed down the next three batters for strikeouts which accounted for three of her game high 14 strikeouts. Chapman pitcher Reagan Garrett had a pretty strong night in the pitching circle herself as she recorded six strikeouts and didn't allow a runner past first base after the fourth inning. "Usually if Reagan is going to give up a home run it's going to be in the first or second inning for some reason," said Green, "It's crazy and I don't know if it's just the nerves and adrenaline, but she always seems to settle in after that. She doesn't throw the ball blazing hard, but she hits her spots and changes speeds keeping the other team off balance." Chapman will return to action on Thursday at Riverside before competing in the Crescent Tournament this weekend. Boiling Springs on the other hand will try and bounce back quickly as they travel to West Oak on Tuesday before going to Riverside on Wednesday and then opening their home schedule on Thursday and Friday against Mauldin and West Oak. WOODRUFF, S.C. – Wednesday night marked the conclusion of the Steve Sanders Baseball Tournament as the Chapman Panthers clashed with the Woodruff Wolverines.
A strong start on the mound and a number of contributions propelled the Panthers to a wire-to-wire 9-2 victory over Woodruff. Right-hander Lawson Harris earned his first start of the season for Chapman and did his part, holding the Wolverines to one hit in three scoreless innings. Five different pitchers (Harris, Wesley Shipman, Jacob Cogdell, Coleman Gray, and Cason Owens) limited the Wolverines to four total hits and tallied eight strikeouts. “We have a lot of confidence in Lawson,” said Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro. “He pitched in relief the other day and was outstanding, so we wanted to put him in that starter role to see what that looked like. As the season goes on, there’s different roles that people are going to be asked to take on, so we wanted to prepare our team as a whole for that. Anytime that he takes the mound, we know we have a chance to win.” The Panther lineup gave Harris a lead to work with in the second inning, as Gray recorded a base hit and scored on a Jack Settle sacrifice fly to right, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Spanning three of their final four turns at bat, Chapman scored at least two runs in an inning. In the fourth, Hudson Moss smacked a two-run triple to the centerfield wall that allowed Devin Roe and Settle to score. Jarren Metcalf then legged out an infield single, which drove in Moss for a 4-0 Panther advantage. Johann Rodriguez notched a leadoff single in the fifth and scored on a Roe sacrifice fly to left. Two batters later, Peyton Hodge lined a two-run triple to right field, which plated Gray and Owens for a 7-0 lead at that juncture of the contest. “It was fun to see (Moss) come up there (and get a triple),” Fusaro stated. “He’s coming back from surgery and is still trying to find his form. I thought that was an at-bat where he stayed within himself. Hodge is a very unselfish young man. I was so excited for him to get to third base after that big triple, to be able to give him a hug and tell him how proud of him I am.” Woodruff scored twice in their half of the fifth on a fielder's choice and Connor Kelley double, but the Panthers tacked on two more runs in the seventh off of a Wolverine error to provide the final margin. The trio of Owens, Gray, and Roe combined to score six times on the night for Chapman. Owens also reached base safely in all four plate appearances (four walks), while Roe was 2-for-3 at the plate. Next up for Chapman (3-1) is a home non-region contest on Wednesday, March 8th against the Spartanburg Vikings. The start time is slated for 6:30 PM. |
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