TheState.com: Preps

Dynamic duo lead Gilbert to title

Fri, 16 May 2008 23:43 EDT

FLORENCE — Someone asked Gilbert baseball coach Ashley Burnett to name his most valuable player after his Indians rallied to beat the Dillon Wildcats 6-2 for the Class 2A baseball championship at West Florence High on Friday.

Burnett shot the works: “Can I pick two?” he asked.

With his third championship since 2004, Burnett could write his own ticket, and at the top of it was a pair of familiar names: right-handed pitcher Kyle Owings and center fielder Desmond Kennedy. The two were the backbone of Gilbert all season, so why not Friday night?

“Kyle threw on three days rest. He had a kind of rough first inning, but he settled in and did a great job,” said Burnett after his ace scattered eight Dillon hits to finish his season with a 9-1 mark.

And Kennedy? After being limited to a single hit in Dillon’s 5-1 win on Wednesday, he broke loose, ripping three singles from his leadoff spot, driving in one run and scoring a run.

Soccer: Vikings’ star a man among boys

Fri, 16 May 2008 21:50 EDT

For the record, Sean Flynn is just 18 years old.

But he understands why unsuspecting soccer fans might think otherwise.

Even before a referee nicknamed him “Manimal,” during a game his freshman year, the Spring Valley midfielder has been playing with wisdom and skill beyond his years.

And then there’s the facial hair, a 5-o’clock shadow that appears around noon.

“You know, I was big and I had all the hair, so I guess that’s why they called me that,” said Flynn, a senior who will lead the defending champion Vikings against Northwestern in the Class 4A title game tonight at 7 at USC’s Stone Stadium.

Soccer: Seahawks erase bad memories

Fri, 16 May 2008 23:35 EDT

Hilton Head wasn’t nervous this time around.

After a 2-0 loss in last year’s state finals in which players complained of nerves, the Seahawks erased the game from their memories with a 3-1 victory against Riverside in the Class 3-A state championship match Friday night.

Sophomore Stephanie Sosa scored the game’s first goal on a direct kick from 25 yards out in the 25th minute. Sosa lofted the ball within inches of the crossbar, too high for Warriors goalkeeper Jessica Humphries to get a hand on.

Hilton Head High (18-4) took control of the final 15 minutes of the half after Sosa’s score. It recorded five shots in that time span, the last of which also found the back of the net, a 37th minute goal from midfielder Emily Natoli. The junior gained possession of the ball inside the box and dribbled through a pair of Riverside defenders to find open space in the center of the box.

The score gave the Seahawks a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Soccer: Wando repeats as champions

Fri, 16 May 2008 23:00 EDT

The Wando girls’ soccer team repeated as the Class 4A state champion with a 2-1 victory against Mauldin on Friday night in front of approximately 1,200 fans at Stone Stadium.

The Warriors’ Sally Hyland scored on a header off a corner kick in the 75th minute of the match to give the Warriors a 25-1 record and their second consecutive state championship. Mauldin finished with a 19-7 record.

Wando reversed the curse as the Warriors became the first team to win Spring Valley’s Viking Cup and the state championship in the same season.

“Wow, this is amazing,” Wando coach Shannon Champ said. “What a feeling. Back-to-back, Viking Cup champs. At the beginning of the year, nobody said we could do it. We broke the curse. I’m so proud of the girls. It’s a great feeling. They worked hard. We’ve got six seniors who are the cornerstone of the program.”

Wando took a 1-0 lead in the 67th minute when Olivia Urig scored on an assist from Tina Evenagelista. The Mavericks had only one shot on goal in the second half, and it came off a corner kick in the 71st minute. Brooke Nemecek scored on a header with the assist from Leah Young.

Baseball: Gilbert, Dillon test their drive

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:34 EDT

After losing at home for the first time this season, with a state title on the line, Gilbert baseball coach Ashley Burnett admitted he has no idea how his team would react.

He will find out tonight, when the Indians play Dillon in the decisive game of the Class 2A best-of-three championship series at West Florence. “I haven’t seen the kids yet, so I really don’t have any idea yet about their mind-set,” Burnett said before practice Thursday. “That was a tough loss, a real tough loss.”

The Wildcats (22-8) forced Game 3 by downing the Indians 5-1 on Wednesday, slugging three home runs, including two solo shots by Anthony Smith, the No. 9 hitter in the Wildcats’ lineup.

“We didn’t hit a lick in the first game, but we got some great swings (in the second game) on some good pitches, and the ball was really carrying well for some reason that night,” said coach Gregg Dozier, who is in his 14th season at the helm for Dillon.

“We made it to the finals twice in 3A but played great Riverside teams and never got a chance to play for a title in a third game. We’ve got our shot now, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Soccer: Backup goalie boosts Chapin

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:34 EDT

When it became clear all-state goalkeeper Greg DeMare was not going to play in Chapin’s first-round playoff game because of a shoulder injury, the team did not fret.

His backup is just as good.

Senior Haze Weinspach spent the season playing forward and midfield, but he is also one of the state’s best goalkeepers.

As the Eagles prepare to face Riverside in the Class 3A championship Saturday at USC’s Stone Stadium, having two strong goalkeepers provides an extra shot of confidence.

“Most teams struggle to find one good goalkeeper, where we for the past four years have been blessed with two goalkeepers who are all-state caliber,” said Chapin coach Dick Hiller, whose team is appearing in the state final for the first time since 2005. “To win championships, you have to have a certain kind of leadership, of seeing the whole field and knowing what’s going on, and without a doubt, both of them provide that for us.”

High school scoreboard

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:34 EDT

Baseball

All series best-of-3

Wednesday's scores

Class 4A Championship series

Boiling Springs 5, Conway 1. Boiling Springs wins series 2-0.

Preps: Senior star leads Bearcats

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:14 EDT

A.C. Flora needed the win.

Brookland-Cayce wanted it.

And while the Falcons posted a valiant effort to stay alive in the Class 3A championship series, Brookland-Cayce’s desire fueled it to a 3-1 victory and the program’s ninth state title.

“We really wanted it bad. We wanted to win it here, not to go to some neutral site,” said B-C’s Adam Westmoreland, who struck out 15.

The Falcons hoped for a big hit from the middle of its lineup in the bottom of the seventh inning, but only got a walk to first base against Westmoreland.

Cardinal Newman Softball: Champions

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:24 EDT

After back-to-back second place finishes in the state softball tournament, Cardinal Newman has got that championship feeling again.

The Cardinals defeated Laurence Manning last to win the SCISA Class 3A championship for the second time in five seasons. On Monday, coach Doug Frye talked with The State’s Akilah Imani Nelson about the Cardinals’ championship season.

Question: Coming off a runner-up finish last year, what were your expectations as this season began?

Answer: “We thought we’d be pretty good. We lost two girls from last year, but I knew we had a good group coming back. Then we pulled up three girls from the junior varsity ... Also, we had a lot of experience out there, girls who had won championships and who also had tasted defeat in the last two years. I thought we’d be right in there at the end of the season.”

Question: What made the Cardinals a championship-caliber team?

Baseball: Bottom of the order boosts Dillon

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:16 EDT

GILBERT — The fact that Dillon’s Anthony Smith was hitting second cleanup once removed didn’t bother him in the least. He still sent two shots over the fence at Gilbert on Wednesday night to lead the Wildcats to a 5-1 victory against the Indians in the Class 2A state championship series.

“I feel comfortable at No. 9,” said Smith after he hit his sixth and seventh homers of the season. “A lot of people ease up on me, so I do what I have to do for the team.”

The best-of-three series is evened at one win apiece, setting up a deciding game Friday at West Florence High at 6 p.m.

“He’s not your typical No. 9 batter, with as much power as he has,” Dillon coach Gregg Dozier said. “He’s got big long arms and swings the bat well. He’s a good, patient hitter. That’s where he feels comfortable hitting at.”

Smith found his comfort zone in his first at-bat, sending a leadoff shot over the left field barrier in the third, then matched it with a towering drive to center in the fifth.

Blythewood Track and Field: Champions

Wed, 14 May 2008 23:49 EDT

Less than two years ago, Blythewood High bolted into the upper echelon of the state’s high school athletics scene when its football team won the Class 3A state championship in its first season of varsity play.

Last Saturday, the Bengals boys track team completed a rise that, while not as meteoric, was just as stark. After not qualifying an athlete for the 2006 Class 3A state meet and scoring only four points to finish 30th in 2007, Blythewood rang up 60 points to win the state title at Spring Valley’s Harry Parone Stadium.

The Bengals edged Region 3-3A rival Chester by seven points to take the crown.

Blythewood head coach Ryan Hemby talked with The State’s Steve Wiseman about the program’s success:

Question. Describe your feelings on Saturday watching the championship being won?

Dutch Fork Golf: Champions

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:24 EDT

Dutch Fork wasted little time in getting back to the top of Class 4A golf. The Silver Foxes took a 26-shot lead on the first day of the championship tournament and finished with an 897-936 victory against runner-up Gaffney. Dutch Fork claimed its third title in seven seasons, and afterwards, coach Mark Giles talked to The State’s Akilah Imani Nelson about the overwhelming victory.

Question. How did the final results match up with your expectations?

Answer: “It exceeded my expectations. I expected us to do well, but I didn’t expect us to do as well as we did. I think our kids’ tournament experience made a big difference because the greens were very firm and that has a lot to do with how you can hit the greens for them to hold their shots, so course management was a big part of the match and it had a lot to do with what we were able to do.”

Question: Was tournament experience something that you planned into the high school season, or do they come to you with that experience?

Answer: “They play so many tournaments year-round that, coaching-wise, I really didn’t have to do a whole lot as far as preparing them, other than mentally, for those two days. To make sure that they really remembered what this really meant.”

First Senior Hall class has plent of local ties

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:24 EDT

The first class of inductees into the S.C. Senior Sports Classic Hall of Fame is full of Midlands connections.

One of the nine individual inductees was from Lexington, another recently moved to Lexington and the lone team in the class was formed at Seven Oaks Recreation Center near Irmo.

The honors will be handed out today at a ceremony at Francis Marion University. Here are the details on the Midlands honorees:

• Yvonne Hoskins of Lexington personified perseverance, overcoming cancer and diabetes on her way to becoming one of the top senior athletes in the state. Just months after doctors told her she had a 50-50 chance of surviving blood infections, she won 12 medals at the State Senior Sports Classic. She once won a gold medal in badminton at the National Senior Sports Classic. Hoskins died at the age of 70 in 2005.

• Ernie Powell, 88, grew up in Ohio and got involved in senior sports when he moved to Myrtle Beach in 1986. He has won gold medals at the state games every year since 1992, and won two gold medals at the national games. He and his wife Winnie moved to Lexington in 2006.

All-Star game gives area players lifetime of memories

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:24 EDT

Granted, July 12 will only be the second time for the Clash of the Carolinas soccer all-star matches. But, noted Airport girls coach Keith Morris, since he didn’t have any girls on the roster last year, he Shumpered-up this time.

Cousins Courtney Shumpert and Heather Shumpert both made the roster of South Carolina team that meets their North Carolina counterparts at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston in a boys-girls doubleheader.

The matches, the only interstate high school all-star games in the country, are sponsored by the Columbia United Football Club this year. They are part of a weekend that includes a banquet and a USL First Division match between the Charleston Battery and the Puerto Rico Islanders.

“It’s the first time we’ve had a girl nominated to it,” so it’s a great honor,” Morris said. “To have two of the top-caliber soccer athletes in the Carolinas in the game is outstanding.”

The Shumperts are part of a Midlands contingent that includes last year’s state player of the year Kira Campbell of Lexington, goalkeeper Jamie Shaw of Spring Valley and midfielder Ellison Sharpe from Dreher.

All-Star game gives area players lifetime of memories

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:24 EDT

Both Lexington High soccer teams were eliminated from the Class 4A playoffs in the second round last week, but for three players, at least, there’ll always be Charleston.

"I'm pretty excited," said Kira Campbell, the Lexington midfielder who was the state’s Gatorade Player of the year as a junior in 2007. "I've been there to see games, but I've never played there, so that will be exciting."

Campbell, a three-time all-state selection, is one of a contingent of Midlands high school senior players to represent the state in the second annual Clash of the Carolinas soccer matches in Charleston’s Blackbaud Stadium on July 12th.The game pits high school all-stars from S.C. against all-stars from North Carolina.

The matches, the only interstate high school all-star soccer games in the United States, this year are sponsored by the Columbia United Football Club. They are part of a weekend that includes a banquet and a USL First Division match between the Charleston Battery and the Puerto Rican Islanders. The games will be played at Blackbaud, which is the soccer-specific home of the Battery, on Daniel Island.

From the Lexington boys’ team, goalkeeper Tanner Osborne and midfielder Andrew Chavarria will be the Wildcats’ reps on the all-star squad.

Brookland-Cayce coach stays modest after milestone win

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:24 EDT

BROOKLAND-CAYCE SOCCER coach Kevin Heise is modest when he talks about his 300th career victory, but no less so than when he talked about the other 299.

“If you stay in it long enough, it happens,” Heise said after his Bearcats posted the landmark victory — 3-2 in overtime against Myrtle Beach in the Lower State semifinals last Saturday.

Then, typically, he added: “We did not talk about it as a team or coaching staff until after it happened. We hadn’t anticipated it; it wasn’t a goal. It was one of those things that just happened.”

It was somehow fitting that German exchange student Christoph Holzwarth stole a pass in the 99th minute and drilled home the game-winner in B-C’s victory. If soccer on that side of the pond is a community thing, as Heise says, then the community has grown to international level. He has been building it since 1991.

“Before we played, I had 15 phone calls, text messages and e-mails saying, ‘Coach, we hope you get it done tonight and hope to see you in the state championship next weekend,’” Heise said. “The bottom line is, these are guys who keep up with what we’re doing, down in Barbados, Antigua and out in Montana and California.

Quailty athletes give Pelion coach something to crow about

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:24 EDT

PELION TRACK AND FIELD coach Mark Bedenbaugh says at the Class 2A level, it’s all a numbers game at the state meet. What Bedenbaugh didn’t say about his boys’ and girls’ teams’ excellent finishes at last weekend’s finals was the “X” factor.

As in “times 10.”

“It was definitely quality over quantity,” Bedenbaugh said Monday, basking in the glow. “I took five girls and two boys. Four girls ran in four events and finished fourth in the state. The two boys finished eighth by themselves.

“That’s pretty good, isn’t it?”

Pretty good indeed. Consider: In the boys competition, Andrews High qualified athletes for eight events and scored 73 points. Bishop England qualified for seven events and finished fifth with 50 points.

For participants

Tue, 13 May 2008 21:17 EDT

SIGNUPS

FOOTBALL

Spurrier football camp: Steve Spurrier's 2008 Football Camp: Session 1, June 4-6; Session 2, June 10-12; Cost is $280 for overnight campers and $240 for day campers; for boys 8 years old to rising HS seniors. For camp details and registration go to www.gamecocksonline.com.

BASKETBALL

Brookland-Cayce Camp. June 9-12 from 1-4 p.m. at Brookland-Cayce Gymnasium. For ages 8-15. Cost: $50 (second child in same family $40). Registration forms may be picked up from the main office at Brookland-Cayce High School. E-mail coach Bouknight at rbouknight@lex2.org.

Falcons claim first crown

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:23 EDT

Ben Lippen coach Brent Walsh said the smartest move he made all year was to move third baseman Kyle Williamson to the top of the batting order. It may not have been the only smart move, but it paid off with a state championship Tuesday night.

The Falcons, needing a win to close out sweep the best-of-three SCISA 3A championship series against Northwood Academy, earned a drama-filled 5-4 victory at Ben Lippen.

Williamson, one of eight seniors in the Falcons’ starting lineup, had a pair of singles and scored a pair of runs — including the deciding run in the top of the sixth — to lead Ben Lippen to its first title.

“Kyle has been our trendsetter all year,” Walsh said. “We moved him to the leadoff spot because people were pitching around him. We said if people are pitching around him, we might as well get him on base more.”

Ben Lippen (25-5) had to battle back from a pair of two-run deficits against the North Charleston team before taking the lead for good in their last at-bat.

Golf: Brothers step up for title

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:45 EDT

CONWAY — Sophomore Thomas Bradshaw and freshman Will Murphy figured their older brothers had buttressed the A.C. Flora High program long enough.

They took it upon them selves to make sure the two seniors — Clemson signee Brewer Bradshaw and Furman signee J.B. Murphy — went out as champions on Tuesday at Quail Creek Golf Club at Coastal Carolina.

The younger Bradshaw fired rounds of 70 and 73 for a 1-under-par 143 that won the individual Class 3A State Tournament title by a shot, and Will Murphy contributed a 73 in Monday's opening round that helped the Falcons win their second consecutive team state title by eight shots over Hilton Head with a 24-over 602.

“We wanted to do it one more time for the seniors so they could have a couple state championships [in a row],” said Thomas Bradshaw, who played in his third state championship. “It felt good to help them do that.”

Brewer Bradshaw, who has played on three state title teams, shot uncharacteristically high rounds of 79 and 78.