MyrtleBeachOnline.com: High School Sports

Conway two wins from baseball title

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:19 EDT

Conway's quest for the Class AAAA baseball state title is now just two wins from fruition.

The Lower State champion Tigers (27-2) travel to Upper State champion Boiling Springs for the first game of the best-of-three championship series tonight at 7. Conway will start junior Colby Holmes (8-1) on the mound. He, like his team, hasn't lost in more than two months.

Both teams are seeking their first state championships and are appearing in the championship series for the first time. Conway's historic season has featured a 25-game winning steak. With a win tonight, the Tigers would tie the 1986 Irmo Yellow Jackets for the fifth-longest winning streak in state history.

Warriors' Moran receives lofty tennis award

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:31 EDT

Waccamaw's Wesley Moran started his prep tennis career at No. 5 singles. Six years later, the senior has entrenched himself as one of the nation's premier players.

Moran, a Clemson signee, was one of 40 players nationally to earn All-American honors from the National High School Tennis All-American Foundation on Thursday. Moran won individual and team state titles last year and his bid to repeat those feats begins Saturday in the Class AA team state championship.

Moran is 26-1 this season, the only loss coming to Myrtle Beach's Chip Cox shortly after Waccamaw returned from a grueling trip to the NHSTAAF Invitational Tournament Championships in California. Moran went 4-0 at the tournament, the elite event in high school tennis.

Prep postseason in high gear this weekend

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:31 EDT

The high school playoffs are about to get even more important in baseball, track and field and girls soccer. Here are previews for today's events in those sports:

Baseball

Conway finds itself one win shy of a berth in next week's Class AAAA, best-of-three state championship series. The Tigers host Stratford at 6 p.m. needing to win just one of two games to advance. Conway (27-2) hasn't lost in two calendar months, a span of 25 games.

Seahawks' season ends in heartbreaking fashion

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:56 EDT

When the final horn sounded, the members of Myrtle Beach's girls soccer team dropped their heads and placed their hands on their knees in disgust, almost like a group of synchronized swimmers.

Losing in the playoffs is tough. Losing like the Seahawks did Wednesday is nearly unbearable.

Myrtle Beach dominated Brookland-Cayce in possession and shots, but the Bearcats scored a fortuitous goal in regulation and had an improbable score in overtime to eliminate the Seahawks from the Class AAA playoffs in the second round with a 2-1 win.

Several locals garner all-state honors

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:56 EDT

Conway catcher Evan Childs and Waccamaw pitcher Addie Avant have been chosen to compete in June's North-South All-Star softball series.

The senior standouts were also selected as all-state performers in their classifications. They were joined on the all-state teams by St. James pitcher Ashley Brown and third baseman Kerah Elliott, Socastee second baseman Sarah Gibson, Waccamaw pitcher Ashley Czechner and Carvers Bay pitcher Caroline Avant.

Childs, a South Carolina signee, batted .607, slugged over 1.000 and had an on-base percentage of .719 this season. She had 38 RBIs, six home runs, stole 18 bases and was intentionally walked 15 times.

High school playoffs scores

Thu, 08 May 2008 00:25 EDT

Wednesday's scores

Boys tennis, Lower State championships

Class AAA

Myrtle Beach, Waccamaw boys tennis teams reach state final

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:56 EDT

The boys tennis teams from Myrtle Beach and Waccamaw will defend their state championships Saturday after winning Lower State titles on the road Wednesday.

The Seahawks, who will seek their third straight Class AAA state title, defeated Hilton Head 4-3 in a match that saw No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles all go to tiebreakers. They won four of those five matches and then No. 1 doubles team Chip Cox and Elliott Smith won 6-3, 6-3 to win the match and exact some revenge on Hilton Head, which eliminated Myrtle Beach's girls team from the postseason last fall.

"The boys said right after the match this one was for the girls," Seahawks coach Rivers Lynch said.

Waccamaw soccer tops Ridgeland

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:37 EDT

Senior Justin Blomdahl scored three goals, Tyler Staub scored one and Clayton Bezdek and Sean McLoughlin combined in goal for the shutout as Waccamaw (17-4-1) beat Ridgeland 4-0 in their Class AA playoff opener. The Warriors will host Tuesday's Marion-Wade Hampton winner on Thursday at an undetermined time.

Boys soccerSt. James 5, (at) Wilson 1 | Ryan King scored four goals, and Oscar Ojeda had a goal and an assist to lead the Sharks to a victory in the first round of the Class AAA state playoffs.

St. James will go on the road to play Brookland-Cayce at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Conway Tigers continue to cruise

Tue, 06 May 2008 09:21 EDT

Conway pitcher Colby Holmes struck out 17 batters and hit a solo home run to lead the Tigers to a 6-4 road victory over Summerville on Monday that puts the Tigers within one win of the Class AAAA state championship series.

The Tigers will not play again until Friday, when they will host the winner of Wednesday's Lower State loser's bracket championship game. The winner of the loser's bracket championship would have to beat Conway twice Friday - a daunting task for any opponent considering the Tigers have now won 25 consecutive games.

Although Holmes gave up an uncharacteristic amount of runs - half of them came on a two-out home run in the bottom of the seventh inning - he overpowered the Green Wave for most of the night. The Tigers' offense gave him plenty of support, scoring two runs in the first, adding a third on Holmes' home run in the fourth, scoring two in the fifth and adding another insurance run in the seventh.

Myrtle Beach's hoops coach takes job at Wando

Tue, 06 May 2008 09:21 EDT

Myrtle Beach girls basketball coach Mickey Hunter has accepted an offer to fill the same position at Wando in Mt. Pleasant.

He leaves the Seahawks just months after leading them to the Class AAA state championship game. They finished 26-3 this season, losing the title game 60-55.

Myrtle Beach will have to rebuild after losing standout guard Ashley Clarke, guard Brianna Webb, forward Shanique Hudson and forward Jasmine Jones to graduation. However, it doesn't appear that was the reason behind Hunter's decision.

Seahawks, Sharks reach state in golf

Tue, 06 May 2008 09:21 EDT

The boys golf teams from St. James and Myrtle Beach qualified for next week's Class AAA state championship at Coastal Carolina by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in Monday's Lower State championship at Charwood Country Club in Columbia.

St. James finished with a total of 308, just six strokes behind champion Strom Thurmond, and Myrtle Beach finished just two shots behind the Sharks. North Myrtle Beach finished ninth to narrowly miss qualifying for the state championship it will host at Quail Creek Golf Club.

However, North Myrtle Beach's Mitch Bradley and Socastee's Kevin Beahm qualified as individuals by shooting 77 to finish tied for 11th. The lowest three individuals whose teams did not qualify are eligible to compete in the two-day state championship.

Busiest week of prep sports begins Monday

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:26 EDT

The playoffs for all the spring sports converge this week in what is the busiest time of the year in prep athletics. Here is a preview of this week's early action:

Baseball

Conway continues its push toward a state title in the Class AAAA Lower State tournament today at Summerville. The Tigers (26-2) haven't lost in 24 outings and will make their first road trip in the postseason. The Green Wave (19-7) beat Stratford 5-4 Saturday to advance.

Seahawks blank Darlington in tennis

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:29 EDT

The Myrtle Beach boys tennis team cruised past Darlington 6-0 in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs.

The Seahawks will either play at Chapin or host Airport on Monday.

Singles: Chip Cox (MB) def. Alex Howle 6-1, 6-3; Elliott Smith (MB) def. Thomas Schluter 6-0, 6-0; Elliot Giddens (MB) def. Marcus Sigmon 6-0, 6-0; Henri Liriani (MB) def. Brent Harrison 6-1, 6-1; Eric Wunder (MB) def. Adam Miles 6-0, 6-1.

Sharks' state hopes sunk

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:26 EDT

St. James' softball team entered the postseason looking for a repeat state championship. The Sharks exited looking for their bats.

St. James picked the wrong time to go cold at the plate and lost consecutive games - 7-1 in game one and 3-1 in game two - to Brookland-Cayce in the Class AAA, District VII championship Wednesday, eliminating the Sharks from the postseason much sooner than expected.

The Bearcats had no problem producing runs against St. James starter Ashley Brown, who was nearly unhittable en route to last year's state title but gave up six runs in the first two innings of the first game. Once the Bearcats gained the momentum, they kept it all night.

Berkeley blanks Conway

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:26 EDT

Conway was eliminated from the Class AAAA softball playoffs with a 4-0 district final loss to Berkeley on Wednesday.

The Tigers finished the season at 14-8.

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Tigers reach Lower State

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:26 EDT

Conway beat Dutch Fork 3-2 Wednesday in the Class AAAA, District VI baseball championship, becoming the only area baseball or softball team to advance to the Lower State tournament.

The Tigers will host Wando, which won District V by beating Hartsville twice, on Saturday.

In Wednesday's game, Matt Brown drove in the winning run on a two-out single in the fifth inning to back Colby Holmes, who struck out seven batters in a complete-game effort as the Tigers improved to 25-2.

High school playoff scores and schedule

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:26 EDT

Baseball

Wednesday's Results

District finals

High school roundup: Games called due to rain

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:31 EDT

All thirteen high school baseball and softball games involving area teams were postponed Monday due to heavy rains. All of those games have been rescheduled for today. Only one game got started - the Carvers Bay softball team trailed Lamar 5-2 in the fourth inning when that game was postponed until today because of rain.

Today's games are the losers bracket championships, meaning any team that loses is eliminated from the playoffs. Winners advance to Wednesday's district championships. Only Conway's baseball team and St. James softball teams have already secured spots in the district finals.

Baseball

Area high school teams back on field today

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:50 EDT

The South Carolina high school baseball and softball postseason continues today with loser's bracket championship games in the district playoffs.

Each team playing today has already lost once, so another loss would eliminate them from the postseason. Conway's baseball team and St. James' softball team have already clinched spots in Wednesday's district championships and will not play tonight.

Georgetown, Carolina Forest, Myrtle Beach and Carvers Bay all host baseball games tonight, while Carolina Forest and Socastee will host softball games. Thirteen area teams play today.

Panthers gamble, win

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:24 EDT

Carolina Forest has put itself in the optimal position to face Class AAA's No. 1 team - if there is such a thing when facing Brookland-Cayce.

The Panthers hit the ball with authority, were solid in the field and got six strong innings from starter Matthew Jolly to win their opening game of the District VI tournament 10-1 over Bluffton Thursday, setting up a road matchup with the Bearcats and pitching ace Adam Westmoreland on Saturday night at 7.

Carolina Forest risked a loss by starting Jolly over the team's ace, Jeremy Knab, who is 6-0 with a 1.40 ERA this season. But Jolly allowed only four hits and two walks while striking out four in six innings. After struggling in the second and third innings - the Panthers saved at least one run with a inning-ending double play in the second - Jolly, the coach's son, settled down and allowed just one baserunner the rest of the way.