LIBERTY, SC - In Liberty, SC on Friday afternoon the top 2A track athletes in the upstate of South Carolina met for the Upper State championships to decide which ones were going to qualify for the 2A state championship next Saturday in Columbia.
The Chesnee Eagles, who finished fifth overall as a team, had several athletes qualify on Friday night and head coach James Davis was proud of his team's effort at the meet. "I'm extremely proud of my athletes and how they competed," said Davis. "They left everything on the track today." The Eagles are a very young team with only four seniors but all four of those seniors will be competing for state championships at the 2A meet next week. The top four finishers in each event qualified automatically for the state championships while some athletes are still waiting to find out if they qualify as the top 8 finishers not qualifying automatically at upper and lower state will also qualify for the state meet. Chesnee's Terrel Kessler qualified in three different events for the state championship as he finished second in the 100m event, third in the 200m event, and as a member of the 4x100m relay team that finished fourth, the relay team will be looking to win again and become back-to-back state champions this year. Kessler is joined on the 4x100m relay team by Bryson Thompson, KJ Valentine, and Adonis Burguess. Jayden Gossett won the shot-put event as Clay Davis came in second place as the Eagles had the top two finishers in the event at Upper State. Garrett Williams, third place, and Exavion Valentine, fourth place, both qualified for the state championships in the discus event. Chesnee will compete in the state championship events at Lower Richland High School in Columbia, SC this coming Friday, May 20th. CHESNEE, SC -Chesnee softball advanced to the championship game of the district playoffs by defeating Liberty 9-1 on Monday night, the second time the Eagles have defeated the Red Devils in the district playoffs.
"I'm proud of the girls for bouncing back from a tough loss on Saturday," said Chesnee head coach Tripp Fogle. "Emily pitched great in the circle. While we made some errors, we didn't let it consume us and were able to get the outs we needed." After Emily Pruett shut down the Red Devils in the circle in the top of the first inning, the Chesnee offense done its part in the bottom half of the first inning. Aubrey Aparis used her speed to get on first base and steal second base before later scoring on a RBI single by Jada Sellars. Sellars added to the lead as well as she scored on a Red Devils error after a single by Kyleigh Thompson to put Chesnee up 2-0 early. Emily Pruett continued her strong work in the circle with back-to-back shut down innings but Liberty scratched a run across in the top of the fourth inning on an error to cut the Chesnee lead to 2-1. Pruett started the bottom of the fourth inning with a single and her courtesy runner, Brie Smith, later scored on a error. Hannah Henderson followed Pruett with a single of her own and later scored on Emma Fogle's RBI single. Mikayla Cannon followed up Fogle by hitting into a fielder's choice but later scored on a RBI single by Kyleigh Thompson. Maddie Handy delivered the big blow of the inning with a three RBI double that landed at the base of the wall to give the Eagles an 8-1 lead after four innings of play. "My first two at bats I was swinging early in the count," said Handy. "My last two at bats I was able to be patient and find the pitches to drive." Aparis' speed and Thompson's bat helped the Eagles score an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Aparis reached base because of her speed causing an error by the Liberty defense. She later stole second base and third base before scoring on a RBI sacrifice fly by Thompson. Pruett finished strong in the circle for the Eagles as she sat down ten of the final twelve batters she faced, as the only two who reached base came from Eagles errors. She threw a complete game one hitter that saw her only surrender one unearned run. "I felt confident in the circle," said Pruett. "Tonight was dedicated to one of my past coaches who recently passed away." Several Eagles had big nights at the plate as five Eagles had two hits each as Aubrey Aparis had a pair of singles along with three stolen bases while scoring three runs. Jada Sellars also had a pair a singles and Emma Fogle also had two singles with a RBI. Maddie Handy had a pair of doubles and three RBIs while Kyleigh Thompson had a pair of singles with a RBI and a run scored. The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Ninety-Six to take on the Wildcats with a 5:00pm start time. The Eagles must win two to advance to the Upper State championship series. "I'm happy to get a chance to play them again," said Handy about the rematch against Ninety-Six. "Hopefully we'll be the ones advancing to the Upper State." GREENVILLE, SC - On Monday the Chesnee boy's golf team stamped their ticket to the SCHSL 2A state championship golf tournament with a second-place finish at their region tournament championship.
"I'm really proud of the guys today as Creighton Rentz really stepped up for a nice day today," said Chesnee head coach Andy Pitt. "It's a big step for our guys to qualify for the state championship tournament." The Eagles as a team shot a score of 358 for the second-place finish which was eleven shots better than third place Brashier Middle College and twenty-three shots better than fourth place Greer Middle College. Chesnee got strong tournaments from Creighton Rentz, who shot a score of 79, and Peyton Lawter, who shot a score of 82, as both players were named to the All-Region team. They were joined on the All-Region team by Brashier's Bryson Paris, Greer Middle College's Brady Barlow, along with the foursome of Joey Clary, Henry Hall, Cade Hagan, and CJ Sahlman from St Joseph's. Coach Pitt feels like his young team with this performance just keeps growing and will only continue to grow with these young player's first trip to the state tournament. "It will be their first trip to the state tournament and hopefully we can take advantage of this opportunity to gain some experience," said Pitt. "We will have all five of these guys back again next year, so this could build a lot of momentum for us." The Eagles will compete in the 2A state championship tournament next Monday and Tuesday (May 16th - 17th) at Cheraw State Park Golf Course in Cheraw, SC. CHESNEE, SC - Chesnee softball got a strong night all over the field as a team to grab a 10-0 victory over Liberty and advance to the second round of the district playoffs on Wednesday night.
"It feels good to start off with a win," said senior Hannah Henderson. "We have prepared all season for this and I'm happy for this win." Chesnee head coach Tripp Fogle said he was happy with his team's performance but knows they still have room to grow. "It was good to see us play hard and have a clean game," said Fogle. "We still have room to get better but all and all I'm happy with the game tonight." The Eagles got off to a strong start as Maddie Handy struck out the side in the top of the first inning. Chesnee's Aubrey Aparis led off the offensive side of the game for the Eagles with a single before later stealing third base and scoring on a Maddie Handy RBI single. Kyleigh Thompson followed Handy with a RBI triple before Emily Pruett added a RBI double, the first of her three hits in the game. Emma Fogle followed with a big two RBI single to give the Eagles a 5-0 lead after an inning of play. Handy kept things rolling in the circle as she retired the first nine batters she faced in the game as Liberty got their first hit to lead off the top of the fourth inning when Sheridan Adams hit a roller that found daylight. The Eagle offense added more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as they plated four runs with Kyleigh Thompson driving in the first run on a bases loaded walk before Emily Pruett followed with a three RBI double to make the score 9-0 in favor of the Eagles. Pruett ended the game with three hits including a pair of doubles along with four RBIs. "It felt good to have a big night at the plate," said Pruett. "Most of all it felt great to come through for my teammates. All season long we have had a mentality of wanting to do what's best for the team and the people beside us." Aubrey Aparis led off the fifth inning with a single before stealing second base to set up Hannah Henderson's game ending single. Henderson quickly credited her teammates when asked about driving in the game ending run. "It feels great," said Henderson. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates and the other nine runs." The single was Aparis's third time reaching base on the night as she was also joined by Skylar Barrett and Pruett in reaching base three times on Wednesday night. Handy spun an excellent performance in the circle as she allowed only two base runners while striking out seven batters and not allowing a walk. She was quick to give credit to her defense for her performance. "It feels really good in the circle when you have this defense behind you," said Handy. "This group of girls trust each other and want to make a play to help the team," said Fogle. "Nobody is shying away from trying to make a play and as a coach it makes you proud to see them willing to do whatever it takes to help the team." The Eagles will be back in action on Friday night when they host Ninety-Six at 6:00 PM. Chesnee Track Finishes Runner-Up At Region Meet On Tuesday and Wednesday the Chesnee track team competed in their region track events at Landrum High School where the Eagles boys' track team finished in the runner-up position. The Eagles boys' 4x100 relay, the 2A defending state champions, came away with the region championship. The team is made up of Bryson Thompson, KJ Valentine, Adonis Burgess, and Terrel Kessler. The relay was the second region championship for Kessler as he also was the region champion in the boys' 100m event. Jayden Gossett also walked away with a region championship in shot-put for the Eagles. DORCHESTER, SC - The Chesnee soccer team made a trek to the other side of the state to start the 2A playoffs and on their return trip the team was celebrating their first ever playoff victory after defeating Woodland 2-2 (3-2) on Monday night.
The Eagles first ever playoff victory was a hard fought one as they defeated Woodland 3-2 in penalty kicks on Monday night. The score was tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation as Leo De La Cruz and Ian Harris each netted goals for the Eagles during regulation. Ian Harris, Ray Romero, and Caleb Vaca each netted penalty kick goals for the Eagles in the overtime period. Chesnee goalkeeper Caleb Rentz also came up big in in overtime and in penalty kicks for the Eagles as he came away with many stops. The Eagles will travel to Christ Church to play in a second-round match on Wednesday night. |
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