Tuesday’s area sports briefs
The Warriors are getting another shot at the Yellow Jackets.
This time, though, they must win twice.
Hallie Butler drove in four runs Tuesday as the Waccamaw softball team defeated Battery Creek 12-2 in five innings to advance to the District VI finals.
Awaiting the Warriors will be an Andrews team they lost to 4-3 in their playoff opener.
“I think the key for us – the first time we spotted them three runs in the first inning – is we’ve got to get off to a fast start,” Waccamaw coach Scott Streiffert said. “We’ve got to get key hits. We have to get opportunities to score runs on the road and we have to cash in.”
Streiffert hopes his team sets the tone early.
“My feeling is you win the first game and after that anything can happen,” he said. “We’re going to take it one inning at a time, one out at a time. Hopefully we can get the job done. We got a good group of kids. Hopefully they’ve got one more shining moment left.”
The Warriors will rely heavily – as they have all season – on the arm of McKenzie Lugin, and for the second straight day they were able to end a game via 10-run rule.
“We did get her through in five innings and that’s what we were trying to do,” Streiffert said.
Waccamaw | 450 | 03 | — | 12 | 11 | 0 |
Battery Creek | 002 | 00 | — | 2 | 5 | 5 |
▪ W: McKenzie Lugin (17-7). L: Peeples. Top hitters: Waccamaw: Olivia Dunlap 2-3, 3 runs; Hallie Butler 3-4, 2B, 4 RBIs, 2 runs; Madison Homnick 2-3, RBI.
▪ Records: Waccamaw 19-8.
High school boys tennis
▪ St. James 6, (at) Aiken 0 | The Sharks got their first “Shark bite.”
After third-seeded St. James earned its first playoff victory in school history, coach Lee Cannon’s players each grabbed a memento – be it a grass blade, rock or anything that would fit in a jar from the courts in Aiken – to put on display in a match classroom at the school.
“We always talked about getting a ‘shark bite’ and we finally did it,” said Cannon, whose team made its first appearance in the Class AAA playoffs last year. “There was excitement, jubilation and all that stuff.”
The Sharks went 4-4 in a highly competitive Region VII-AAA, which Cannon believes helped his squad come away with a resounding win on the road.
“That’s key,” Cannon said. “Your region being stronger – playing Wilson, Myrtle Beach – certainly prepares you for the playoffs.”
Already playing with house money, St. James plans to take the same approach it did Tuesday into a Thursday match against top-seeded Hartsville.
“We didn’t start off timid,” Cannon said. “We just went at it and realized we were up at every court and thought, ‘Whoa, look at this.’”
▪ Singles: Jeffrey Dayton (SJ) def. McLeod Barber 6-0, 6-0; Joseph Martinez (SJ) def. Jeremiah Hawkins 6-1, 6-4; Christian Heath (SJ) def. Kyle Frei 7-5, 6-1; Aaron Ficklin (SJ) def. Luke Bolton 6-3, 7-5; Sullivan Young (SJ) def. Sean Tullen 6-1, 6-0.
▪ Doubles: Carlos Cordero/Nick Klintworth (SJ) def. Travis Chopple/Donnie White 6-2, 6-4.
▪ Records: St. James 7-7.
High school baseball
▪ Timberland 7, (at) Loris 5 | The Lions were eliminated from the Class AA, District VI playoffs.
Timberland | 113 | 200 | 0 | — | 7 | 10 | 5 |
Home | 000 | 212 | 0 | — | 5 | 7 | 5 |
▪ W: Hood. L: Zach Hudson (2-6). Top hitters: Timberland: J. Dennis 3-4; Bryant 2-4; Dawson 2-2. Loris: Clay Faircloth 2-3; Cullen Stalvey 1-3; Junior Long 1-3.
▪ Records: Loris 10-14.
This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Tuesday’s area sports briefs."