North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By John Smithson
The North Myrtle Beach Chiefs baseball team ended their regular season schedule last week with wins over the Carolina Forest Panthers and South Florence Bruins.
The Chiefs raised their record to 21-5 with four consecutive wins in their final four regular season games and set themselves up as a number one seed in the SCHSL playoffs.
The Chiefs win over Carolina Forest was especially welcomed by the Chiefs. They knocked out one of the Panthers ace pitchers Parker Reavis, scoring six runs on Reavis who had allowed one run and struck out 13 Chiefs in a 3-1 Panthers win on March 30th.
The Chiefs 9-3 win was a fitting end to their region schedule, and with their strong follow-up win over South Florence, good preparation for the playoffs.
The Chiefs made a statement in the first inning of the Panthers game, scoring four runs on singles by Sawyer Smith and Kaden Lank, a Panthers error and a home run by Evan Steudl.
The Chiefs added two more runs in the top of the second on a single and stolen base by Riley Wiggins and RBI single by Kaden lank. Porter Anglin drove in Lank for a 6-0 Chiefs lead.
The Panthers scored twice in the bottom of the second inning, but the Chiefs kept pace, scoring twice in the top of the third on RBI singles by Smith and Lank for an 8-2 lead. Two Panthers hits and a Chiefs error made it 8-3 after four innings.
The Chiefs added their last run in the top of the sixth inning. Lank singled and stole second, moved to third on a flyout and scored on a Porter Anglin single.
The Panthers were kept in check by Gabe Priest and Sawyer Smith on the mound. Priest worked the first three innings, gave up two runs, none earned and struck out four batters. Smith pitched four innings and allowed two hits, one unearned run and struck out seven, the last three strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Last Wednesday the Chiefs were back at The Hank for their final scheduled game with South Florence.
The Chiefs opened their scoring with five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Steudl walked and Anglin was safe on an error. Gabe Priest followed with a home run to right field and a 3-0 Chiefs lead. Andrew Mundy followed with a double and Bannon Hill ran for him and eventually scored on a wild pitch after a Sawyer Smith walk. Smith moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Lank single for a 5-0 lead.
The Chiefs added another run in the bottom of the third as three Chiefs walks and a wild pitch scored Steudl and a 6-0 lead.
The Chiefs broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth. Wiggins and Smith singled and moved up a base on a Lank groundout. Trevor Mitchetti’s single drove in Smith and Wiggins. Michetti moved to third on two wild pitches and Anglin walked. Priest drove in Mitchetti.
Anglin went to third on a wild pitch and Priest to second on the same pitch. Noah Nance singled in Anglin and Priest went to third. Priest scored the 11th run on an error at short. Fisher Nichols pitched the top of the fifth and allowed the only run for the Bruins but worked out of trouble and struck out the last Bruin to preserve another ten-run win for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs now wait to see who their next opponent will be. As a number one seed in the lower state, they will wait to see who wins and advances to a round four game this Saturday at The Hank.
