Friday’s area sports briefs
It didn’t take the Aynor softball team long to reach the Class AA, District VIII finals.
A total nine combined innings to be exact.
For the second consecutive day the Blue Jackets routed an opponent in 4 1/2 innings, beating Silver Bluff 18-1 to cruise to the district finals.
“It feels good, but we’re not celebrating because we’ve got to keep the energy high and attitudes where they need to be,” Aynor coach Sandie Jones. “We just want to stay positive and stay strong no matter who we play. We need to make sure we execute to be successful.”
A day after beating Lake Marion 15-5, the Blue Jackets found themselves in an early hole as Silver Bluff took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. No worries, Jones said.
“It was OK. Teams are going to score when you get to this level,” she said. “When they put one up, we want to get at least two. You just want to win the inning, play one inning at a time.”
Aynor did just that, scoring three in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead. Sparked by four homers – one each from Layne Johnson, Hannah Seaver, Brooke Elliott and Taylor Charlton – the Blue Jackets broke the game open with 15 runs in the fourth.
“We got a lot of key hits with people on bases,” Jones said of the inning. “When we started rolling I said, ‘OK, here it goes.’”
Aynor will host the winner of Monday’s game between Lake Marion and Silver Bluff on Wednesday with two chances – if needed – to advance to Lower State in the double-elimination format.
Silver Bluff | 100 | 00 | — | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Aynor | 300 | (15)x | — | 18 | 18 | 1 |
▪ W: Brooke Elliott. L: M. Fulton. Top hitters: Silver Bluff: Jessman Squirrewell 2-2, 2B, run. Aynor: Shelby Cox 3-4, 2 runs; Hannah Seaver 2-4, HR, RBI; Taylor Charlton 3-4, 3B, HR, 3 runs; Morgan Richardson 3-3, 2 runs; Elliott 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 runs.
High school softball
▪ (At) North Myrtle Beach 8, Airport 2 | Taylor Hansis struck out 13 batters and three Chiefs – Makala Gore, Julia Cole and Regan Urbaniak – homered as the Chiefs won their Class AAA, District VIII opener.
Airport | 000 | 020 | 0 | — | 2 | 3 | 0 |
NMB | 021 | 122 | x | — | 8 | 11 | 0 |
▪ W: Taylor Hansis (14-3). Top hitters: North Myrtle Beach: Makala Gore Hr, RBI; Julia Cole HR, 2 RBIs; Rayni Newman 3B, RBI; Regan Urbaniak HR, 3 RBIs; Taylor Gore 2-3.
▪ Records: North Myrtle Beach 18-6.
▪ (At) Gilbert 13, Myrtle Beach 5 | The Seahawks dropped their Class AAA, District V opener.
Myrtle Beach | 211 | 010 | 0 | — | 5 | 8 | 2 |
Gilbert | 413 | 203 | x | — | 13 | 18 | 3 |
▪ W: Alicia Dorgan. L: Carly Grace Bodge. Top hitters: Myrtle Beach: Leah Belack 2-4, 2 runs; Elissa Leach 2-4, run; Carly Grace Bodge 2-3, 2 2Bs. Gilbert: Dorgan 3-5, 2B, 2 3Bs, 5 RBIs; Meredith Hendricks 3-5; Rachel Kuntz 3-3, 2 runs.
▪ Records: Myrtle Beach 11-12.
▪ (At) Midland Valley 11, St. James 3 | The Sharks fell in the first round of the Class AAA, District VI playoffs.
High school baseball
▪ (At) Airport 2, Georgetown 1 | The Eagles scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Bulldogs in the first round of the Class AAA, District VI playoffs.
Georgetown | 100 | 000 | 0 | — | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Airport | 100 | 000 | 1 | — | 2 | 9 | 2 |
▪ W: Gage Jeffcoat. L: Noah Lawrimore. Top hitters: Georgetown: Brett Howard 1-3, RBI; Carter Thompson 1-3, 2B; Mark Alan Nash 1-3, run. Airport: Jacob Shirey 3-4; Josh Tucker 1-4, RBI.
CCU women’s lacrosse
▪ Liberty 14, Coastal Carolina 8 | At Rock Hill, the Flames knocked off the Chants in the semifinals of the Big South tournament.
After going down 2-0, Coastal gained the lead with three straight goals from Keri White, Jen Cosgrove and Charlotte O’Leary. However, Liberty rallied for four straight to go up 6-3.
The Chants rallied again, tying the match at 7 before the Flames scored three in a row and 10-8 was the closest Coastal got the rest of the way.
White and Cosgrove each had a hat trick and Sara Nolan added the Chants’ other goal.
CCU baseball
▪ (At) Florida State 16, Coastal Carolina 2 | The Seminoles jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning and rolled from their in the series opener.
Florida State’s first nine runs came via small ball before DJ Stewart hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to make it 11-1.
G.K. Young hit a solo homer in the seventh inning and Michael Paez scored on a passed ball in the eighth to provide the Chants’ only runs.
This story was originally published May 1, 2015 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Friday’s area sports briefs."