Softball teams open with 5 wins
By Chris Koonce
Correspondent
Our area softball teams won all five games played in the opening week of the spring sports season.
Jack Britt won three games in the first week as the Buccaneers defeated former Mid-Southeastern Conference rivals Scotland County, Hoke County and Richmond County.
Jesse Crist had the key hit in the Buccaneers' 4-3 win against Scotland County as the junior drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the third inning.
Britt scored eight runs in the first inning and added seven runs in the third in a 15-4 win against Hoke County.
The Buccaneers had 13 hits and defeated Richmond County, 7-0. Senior Caitlin Sandy had three hits to lead the Britt offense.
Gray's Creek won both games of a doubleheader played at Pine Forest. The Bears won the opener, 9-2, as pitcher Amanda Wells struck out nine batters. Gray's Creek completed the sweep as Kayla Dillon homered and drove in three runs to lead the Bears to a 6-5 win. Senior Toni Jones had five hits in six at-bats, drove in four runs and scored three times in the two games.
Baseball
South View threw back-to-back shutouts against West Bladen as the Tigers won 4-0 and 10-0. Brandon Huffman pitched a two-hitter and struck out 15 batters in the season opener. South View scored all four runs in the first inning, two coming on a base-hit from Lou Adams. Dale Urquhart, Travis Sirois and Scott Skyrdzlinski added hits for the Tigers.
In the second game of the week, Urquhart pitched a no-hitter and hit a home run to lead South View to the win. The Tigers scored six runs in their final at-bat to stop the game after five innings because of the 10-run margin. Senior C.J. Tobin connected for a home run and Robert Novak had two hits, while Terrence Gaines and Sirois added run-scoring hits as South View improved to 2-0.
Gray's Creek also won twice in the opening week as the Bears defeated Pine Forest 6-5 in 10 innings and took the second game 7-2.
Jack Britt split a pair of road games as the Buccaneers lost at Scotland County, 3-0, and won at Hoke County, 4-1. Jack Britt managed only two hits against Scotland and saw its best run-scoring chance of the game erased by an inning-ending double play.
The Buccaneers bounced back as pitcher Tyler Drew allowed just three hits and one run to pick up the win against Hoke County. Kevin Thornton provided the offensive spark as he homered and drove in three runs.
Girls' soccer
Jack Britt won two of three matches played last week. The Buccaneers defeated Gray's Creek 1-0 on a goal by junior Corinna Maxwell. Caitlin Novak was credited with an assist as Britt opened the season with a shutout win.
Sophomore Alicia Chinlund scored a goal against Pinecrest, but the Buccaneers lost 3-1.
Jack Britt bounced back to post its second shutout of the season as the Buccaneers defeated Union Pines 1-0. Novak scored the only goal of the game on a pass from Kiyah McDermid.
South View played Wilmington Ashley to a scoreless tie and then played Scotland County to a 1-1 draw. Sophomore Kristin Carney scored the Tigers' goal on an assist from Heather Kashner.
Gray's Creek only gave up four goals in three games, but it was enough to drop all three contests.
The Bears opened the season with a 2-1 loss to Whiteville. Gray's Creek had eight shots on goal, but the Bears were only able to score once against the Whiteville goalkeeper. Gray's Creek closed the week with back-to-back 1-0 losses to Jack Britt and Pine Forest.
Boys' tennis
South View won five of six matches in singles and all three of the doubles matches to defeat Gray's Creek 8-1 in the first match of the season for both squads. Later in the week, the Tigers won all six of the singles matches to open conference play with a 7-1 win against Cape Fear.
Jack Britt split a pair of matches, losing to Richmond County 9-0 and defeating Cape Fear 7-2. Jonathan Withers, Grant Shelton, Bradley Bratcher and Jon Smith picked up wins in singles matches against Cape Fear.
Upcoming schedule
Today
Baseball - South View at Westover
Girls' soccer - Cape Fear at South View, Jack Britt at Hoke County, Lumberton at Gray's Creek
Boys' tennis - Southern Lee at Gray's Creek
Thursday
Baseball - Scotland County at Jack Britt
Softball - Scotland County at Jack Britt, Richmond County at South View
Girls' soccer - South View at Scotland County
Boys' tennis - Jack Britt at Pine Forest
Track - Gray's Creek at Westover
Friday
Baseball - Cape Fear at South View, Purnell Swett at Gray's Creek
Softball - Hoke County at Jack Britt, Purnell Swett at Gray's Creek
Girls' soccer - Wilmington Ashley at Jack Britt
Saturday
Baseball - Lumberton at Jack Britt