North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By John Smithson
The North Myrtle Beach Chiefs sparkled in last week’s varsity baseball action, sweeping Conway with three shutouts and then beating West Bladen last Saturday to complete a four-carat week on the diamond.
The Chiefs started the week on Tuesday at Conway, one day after weather postponed their Monday 6AAAAA region opener. They won game one 4-0.
Gabe Priest started for the Chiefs and went five and a third innings, giving up three hits and striking out eleven Tigers. Sawyer Smith finished up for the Chiefs, allowing one hit and adding two more Ks in his one and two-thirds of relief.
The Chiefs offense had three singles in the first two innings but didn’t score until the top of the third when Evan Steudl doubled with one out and Sawyer Smith drove him in with a single to left field.
The Chiefs added a run in the top of the fourth inning. After Camden Butler doubled to left Riley Wiggens’ RBI single made it 2-0. The Chiefs put the game away with two more runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Steudl walked and Smith struck out. With Mitchetti at bat, Steudl stole second and Trevor Mitchetti walked. Steudl scored on a sacrifice bunt and Mitchetti scored run number four on an error at short on Camden Butler’s grounder.
The Chiefs and Tigers moved to The Hank for game two of their three game series. Once again Chiefs pitching allowed no runs, this time with Fisher Nichols two-hit five-inning shutout in a game shortened by the Chiefs 10-0 score.
The Chiefs scored a run in the bottom of the second inning. Mitchetti singled to start the inning. Gabe Priest struck out. Mitchetti was out trying to steal second before Butler doubled to deep center. Porter Anglin doubled to left to drive in Butler for a 1-0 Chiefs lead.
The Chiefs put six more runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Butler singled and Anglin’s bunt single put two runners on. They stole second and third before Jack Williams walked to load the bases. Kaden Lank’s double drove in Butler and Anglin. Williams scored on a wild pitch and Peyton Gallup’s single to center drove in Lank for run number five. Two more runs scored on two walks, a hit batsman and Conway error.
The Chiefs added their final three runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth on walks to Julian Garver, Kaden Lank, a single by Josh Shemanski, Steudl HBP, walk to Smith and a sacrifice fly by Bannon Hill. Hill’s RBI ended the game, with the Chiefs taking game two 10-0.
The Chiefs were back to Conway for the final game of the series. Chiefs pitchers again shut out the Tigers, this time by a 9-0 score. Andrew Mundy, Jake Frick and Sawyer Smith shared the shutout on the mound.
The Chiefs scored twice in the first inning as Mitchetti’s double drove in Peyton Gallup and Evan Steudl. In the top of the third Sawyer Smith drove in one run and Butler’s fielder’s choice grounder made it 4-0.
Three more Chiefs runs scored in the top of the sixth. A walk to Priest, a Wiggins single to left and Conway error loaded the bases. A Lank walk, a wild pitch and error at third scored two Chiefs runs. Gallup’s sacrifice fly scored the seventh run.
The Chiefs last two runs were scored after the Chiefs loaded the bases on singles by Smith and Anglin. Smith was out trying to score on Breeden’s grounder and error at second. A walk to Nance loaded the bases. A Conway error on a fielder’s choice grounder scored Anglin and Breeden for the 9-0 final score and sweep of the Tigers.
The Chiefs finished the week with a Saturday afternoon game with West Bladen. The Chiefs used four pitchers in the game, with Nance pitching three innings, followed by Breeden’s inning, Steudl’s two innings and Brooks Alderson chalking up an inning in relief.
After West Bladen scored two runs in the top of the second inning the Chiefs took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the inning. Kaden Lank’s two-run single was the big hit in the inning. The Chiefs and the Knights added a run in the third and West Bladen scored its fifth run in the fifth.
The Chiefs put the game away with a four-run bottom of the fifth, with another two-run single by Lank paving the way to the 8-5 Chiefs win and 9-0 record going into this week’s three-game region series with Socastee.
