Chiefs 3-1 in tournament

By John Smthson

The North Myrtle Beach Chiefs baseball team won three of the four games they played last week in the South Atlantic Bank Invitational Baseball Tournament. The tournament is the second largest baseball tournament in the country with over 100 teams in the Myrtle Beach area playing games at area schools.

The North Myrtle Beach High School was one of the sites for tournament games and the Chiefs won three of the four games they played at their home field at The Hank Sports Complex.

The Chiefs first game was last Tuesday evening against the Martinsburg, West Virginia, varsity Bulldogs team.

Sawyer Smith started for the Chiefs and gave up a run on two hits in the first inning and a two-run homer in the second for a 3-0 Bulldogs advantage.

The Chiefs scored all of their runs in the game in the fourth inning. Kaden Lank got the inning started with a walk and he went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Peyton Gallup. Porter Anglin walked after Lank stole third base. Lank scored on a wild pitch and Anglin went to second.

Jack Williams’  bunt single moved Anglin to third and Williams stole second before Smith singled to left driving in Anglin and Williams. Bannon Hill ran for Smith. Gabe Priest walked and Hill stole second and third. Priest stole second and Hill scored on the play for a 4-3 Chiefs lead.

Fisher Nichols pitched the last two innings for the Chiefs and allowed no hits or runs in the last two innings and struck out three batters to preserve the Chiefs first win of the tournament.

The Chiefs second game of the SAB last Wednesday was against the Jefferson Cougars from Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia, who were undefeated. The Chiefs sent Gabe Priest to the mound to start the game, and he dominated the Cougars, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out 16. Evan Steudl pitched the final inning and struck out the side in the seventh. The Chiefs struck out 19 in the game.

The Chiefs got one run in the bottom of the first. Sawyer Smith was hit by a pitch, Gabe Priest bunted and was safe on a pitcher’s error. Both runners stole a base with one out and Smith scored on an Andrew Mundy groundout.

Priest homered with one out in the bottom of the third for a 2-0 Chiefs lead and Smith homered in the bottom of the fifth for the Chiefs third run and a 3-0 victory.

Game three for the Chiefs was last Thursday against the Monsignor McClancy Crusaders. Jake Frick started for the Chiefs and gave up the only two runs of the game (both unearned)  to the Crusaders in the top of the first inning. Two Crusaders reached base on Chiefs errors and scored without the benefit of a hit for a 2-0 lead. Frick struck out three in the inning.

The Chiefs got those runs back in the bottom of the first. Riley Wiggins was safe at first on a dropped third strike and Kaden Lank reached first on an error. After Trevor Mitchetti walked to load the bases, Camden Butler singled and two Chiefs runs scored for a 2-2 tie.

Mitchetti singled in the third inning and stole second, then went to third on a flyout by Julian Garver. He scored on a Crusader error at short on a groundout by Jake Frick and 3-2 Chiefs advantage.

The Chiefs put eight on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Josh Shemanski singled to lead off the inning and he scored on a double by Sawyer Smith. Smith was thrown out trying to stretch his double to a triple. Wiggins singled to left but was picked off first for the second out.

Kaden Lank walked, Mitchetti singled to center and Butler walked to load the bases. Frick walked, Lank scored and Hill ran for Frick. Garver walked to score Mitchetti. Espen Thomas doubled in Garver, Butler and Hill for a 9-2 lead. Shemanski walked and Jack Williams ran for him. Smith doubled to left and Williams and Thomas scored runs 10 and 11.

The Chiefs scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth. Mitchetti doubled to open the inning and moved to third on a Butler flyout. Mitchetti scored on a Luke Breeden groundout and the ten-run rule gave the fans an early exit.

Frick got the win and struck out nine in the game. Luke Breeden pitched a scoreless top of the fifth in relief and struck out one batter. The Chiefs pitching struck out 29 batters in two consecutive games.

Chiefs hopes for four wins in the tournament were dashed in the first inning of last Friday’s final tournament game with the Daniel Lions from Central, S.C. Daniel was riding a seven-game win streak coming into the game with the Chiefs, 11-6 overall and ranked in the top ten of AAAA teams in South Carolina.

Andrew Mundy started the game for the Chiefs and quickly gave up a walk, a double, another walk and a three-run homer for a 4-0 Lions lead. Two more walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases again, and two hits and a wild pitch resulted in four more runs and 8-0 lead for the Lions.

The Chiefs scored their only three runs of the game in the bottom of the first. With one out Priest singled, Mitchetti walked and Evan Steudl doubled in Priest. A walk to Anglin and single by Butler scored the other two runs for an 8-3 score.

The Lions scored four more runs in the top of the third inning and three runs in the top of the fourth for a 15-3 lead. The Chiefs had only one baserunner in the fourth and fifth innings and the game ended due to the ten-rule with a 15-3 Lions victory.

The Chiefs had to put that loss behind them as they entered the last two weeks of the season Monday at St. James and a home game against the Sharks on Wednesday before the return trip to St. James tonight. The Chiefs entered the final stretch with a 15-3 record. They were second in the 6AAAAA with a 6-2 record entering this week’s play.