Pee Dee area prepsters enjoy success in late spring sports season
By David Shelton
Senior Writer
Florence – Pee Dee area prep athletes have enjoyed a great deal of success during the spring sports season and that success has carried into the state playoffs.
Region titles in most sports have been pretty much decided by the time May 1st rolls around and several Florence area schools are still involved in the state playoffs.
South Florence’s softball team, which finished second in region 6-AAAA during the season, picked up a key 3-1 win over Goose Creek on April 30th to advance to the District VIII championship game. South Florence traveled to Summerville on May 2nd, needing to beat Summerville twice to advance to the lower state final four series. Summerville sent South Florence to the loser’s bracket on April 29.
South Florence carried a 19-8 record into the May 1st game. Pitcher Nichole Rogers continues to be strong this season and fanned seven hitters in the win over Goose Creek.
Lauren Burt and Briana Kelly continue to be among the offensive leaders for the Lady Bruins.
West Florence’s baseball team was very close to advancing to the district finals but dropped a 4-3 decision to James Island on April 30. The Knights closed out the season with an 18-7 record and both of its playoff losses came to James Island.
Not to worry, however, as coach Bob Kleinknecht has most of his team returning next spring and should be a legitimate state title contender.
Leading hitters this season included Akeem Bostick and Zach Shields. Bostick finished with a .458 batting average and swiped 18 bases while Shields hit .443 with 21 stolen bases.
Zack Herndon hit .385 and had 22 RBI while Logan McRae hit .346 with 17 RBI.
Bostick, a junior, was one of three main pitchers this season. Bostick was 5-1 with a 1.64 earned run average. Junior Brandon Baggette finished 7-1 with a 1.71 earned run average while Adam Pizzutti was 4-2 with three saves while posting a 1.22 earned run average.
The West Florence boys’ golf team captured its first region championship since 2008 by winning the region 6-AAAA tournament earlier this week.
Leading the way for the Knights was Nic Shuster, who fired a 71 in the 18-hole event. Ben Walker shot 76, followed by Mark Taylor’s 79. Brian Wenzel shot 80 to round out the scoring.
West Florence finished with a 306 score, two shots better than Carolina Forest and Conway.
South Florence finished fourth in the tournament. The top Bruin was Dylan Thompson, who shot 77. Maxie Jeffords shot 79 while Tommy Brunson and Kent McDaniels each shot 91.
West and South Florence compete in Region 6-AAAA championship meet
The track teams at West Florence and South Florence competed in the Region 6-AAAA meet last week. West Florence’s boys’ team placed fourth in the team standings while the girls’ team was third.
South Florence’s girls’ team finished fourth while the boys were third.
For the South Florence boys’ team, Tevon Johnson was the region champion in the 200 meter dash and finished second in the 400 meter run. Johnson also ran a leg on the region champion 4 x 100 meter relay unit, joined by Shannon James, Joey Felder and Raekwon Rouse.
James won the region title in the long jump while placing fourth in the 100 meter dash. James also placed third in the triple jump.
The South Florence girls’ team did not have a region champion in the individual events but a few athletes competed well in their respective events.
Shinice Hickson was a fourth-place finisher in the 100 meter run and earned a spot in the state qualifying meet this weekend. Hickson also qualified in the long jump with a second-place finish.
The 4 x 400 meter relay team finished second overall. Hickson ran a leg on that relay team, along with Kirstin Daniels, Shakayla Harley and Matisha Knight. Harley also placed fourth in the long jump and second in the triple jump.
The 4 X 800 meter relay team also finished second. Daniels and Knight were members of that team, along with Meleaha Johnson and Euniqua Jones.
India Brown and Meaghan Cooke were the big winners for the West Florence High girls’ team.
Brown was crowned champion in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash, while Cooke captured region championships in the 100 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles.
Tiana Bush finished third in the 100 and second in the 200 for West Florence, earning a spot in this weekend’s state qualifier.
West Florence’s 4 x 100 relay team captured the region title in a close race with Sumter. Brown, Bush and Cooke each ran a leg on that unit, along with Toniesha Yarborough.
Sharon Wilson qualified for the lower state meet this weekend with a fourth-place finish in the shot put.
Austin Weiss turned in a strong performance for the West Florence boys’ team, winning the pole vault, taking third in the 1600 meter run and fifth in the 3200 meter run.
Matthew Reaves was second in the pole vault and Deonte Kinder was third in the shot put.
Greg Townsend won the region title in the discus while Kinder was third.
