spring sports 2016

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blue ridge • byrnes • eastside • greer • riversideThe Greer CitizenThe Greer Citizen

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We have you covered from the diamond to the gridiron!

www.cityofgreer.orgFollow us on Facebook and Twitter

From popular sports like soccer and baseballto relatively new leagues like kickball, the

City of Greer Parks and Recreation Department helps keep you and your family active all year.Registration begins in June for all Fall sports.

Youth: football, cheerleading, baseball, softball and soccer. Men’s softball and basketball.

Adult Kickball: Free play May 11 and 18 at Victor Park League play begins May 25

It’s the busiest time of year for local athletes.The weather is warm, the days are longer and many high school

sports teams are setting their sights on the playoff s.Greer area teams have seen plenty of success over the last several

months.

blUe ridgeAt Blue Ridge, the baseball and softball teams have been clicking on

all cylinders, each claiming the Peach Blossom title and a top playoff spot. The Lady Tigers only dropped one region game, while the base-ball team only fell twice.

byrnesAt Byrnes, the softball team has established itself as one of the most

formidable lineups in the state. The Rebels won the region easily, and they did so with an incredible year from the plate. Byrnes scored more than 300 runs on the season, holding opposing teams to under 30 runs.

easTsideEastside has been strong in a number of sports, including: baseball,

golf, soccer, tennis and lacrosse. The baseball team will head into the postseason with home fi eld advantage, while the tennis and soccer teams celebrate region championships.

greerGreer has had another strong season on the track, posting several

strong outings, including a top fi nish at the Greenville County meet. Troy Pride Jr., who recently signed to play football at Notre Dame, set multiple records and came away with several gold medals at the event. The Yellow Jackets’ softball, soccer and golf teams have also post-ed solid seasons.

riVersideRiverside has seen success on the

track as well, as the girls took sec-ond place at the Greenville County meet. The Warriors were also strong in golf, tennis, soccer and lacrosse this season.

This special section should provide you with a snapshot of the season that was for local teams. We hope you enjoy.

photos throughout the section taken by staff photographerspreston Burch and Mandy Ferguson.

a snapshot of some of the best teams, moments

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Blue Ridge

Tigers

Focus

on


W 2TXT

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By Billy CannadaSportS Editor

The Blue Ridge baseball team locked up the Peach Blossom region championship last week with a 4-0 win over rival Greer, capping an 18-4 regular season.

The Tigers won 16 straight games to close the regular season, earning home field advantage in the playoffs.

“The two words I use to describe this team are ‘guts’ and ‘grit,’” head coach Travis Henson said. “We’ve done it on the mound, in the field and at the plate this season. We’ve been able to win games in different ways and we’ve been able to win through adversity.”

The team is led by star pitcher Ethan Few, who is joined by a staff that includes Zach Waddell, John Coker and others. Elijah Henderson, one of Blue Ridge’s top performers from the plate, has been battling injuries for most of the season, but has re-mained in the lineup. The team has also received solid contributions from Jacob Wilbanks and Bran-don Southern.

sofTballThe Blue Ridge softball team is a perfect 13-0 in

region competition this season, working its way to an overall mark of 16-3.

The Tigers, which stand to claim the region title this week, have a team batting average of .446 and 23 total home runs.

The team is led by four seniors: Summer Under-wood, Kelsey Jones, Ansley Gilreath and Sametra Duck. Standout pitcher Gabi Howard has also had a strong season from the plate, recording a bat-ting average of .676.

Samantha Blackwell leads the team from the plate with an average of .692.

soccerThe Blue Ridge varsity soccer ended its regular

season campaign on Saturday, finishing the year at 17-4 with a 11-3 mark in the region. The Tigers finish second in the region for the second year in a row behind Eastside.

Blue Ridge won the Chester Invitational Tourna-ment in February and came in second at the Hill-crest Classic. On the year, Blue Ridge has scored

81 goals, giving up only six goals. The Tigers won 16 of 17 matches by shut out.

The Tigers will open the state tournament at home on Monday May 2 against a team from re-gion IV near Columbia.

“We have had a great year led by our senior lad-en class,” head coach Chris Crist said.

Those seniors include: Cheyenne Brady, Chase Crist, Claire Herman, Cassidy Hipp, AJ Lynn, Bailee Seppala and Rylie Walters.

boys TennisThe Blue Ridge Tiger boys tennis team complet-

ed the season with a 9-4 overall record and a 9-3 mark in the region, good enough for third place.

The Tigers lost two close matches to eventual region champ, Eastside. Blue Ridge split its two matches with Travelers Rest, squeaking out a nar-row 4-3 victory over the Devildogs late in the sea-son.

Blue Ridge will look to rising sophomores Jacob Messer and Carlin Davenport to get the team back on top of the region next year. Senior co-captains Brason Haney and Chase Borgman provided solid leadership this season.

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bR baseball takes peach blossom title

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Byrnes

byrnes

Focus

on


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...Because She Caresand is a strong advocate for District 36

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Have a great seasonByrnes Rebels and

Greer Yellow Jackets


The Byrnes softball team was perfect in region play this season, finishing 14-0 in the conference and 23-2 overall.

The only two losses for the Rebels came to Union County by scores of 3-2 and 5-3. Byrnes has been dominating teams this season, scoring a to-tal of 307 runs and holding opponents to 20 runs.

The Rebels are led by pitcher Tatum Arboleda, along with Kasey Widmyer, Peyten Bennett and Al-lison Neely.

“We’re young, so going into the season, I really didn’t know what to expect,” head coach Brandi Aiken said. “A lot of times, young players don’t per-form every day the way you would like them too, but our team has been so solid all season. Every-one is stepping up and our young players are be-coming more consistent.”

Byrnes is guaranteed a No. 1 seed in the state Class AAAA playoffs.

golfThe Byrnes golf team has worked its way to a 7-

4 record this season with top five finishes at the Rebel Invitational, the Emerald Classic and the Hardaway tournament in Georgia.

The team will compete in two more matches before beginning region championship competi-tion next week.

Reed Bentley, who has been named to the All-Tournament team twice this season, has led the Rebels this season. His shot average is currently 36 for nine-hole matches and 74 for 18-hole matches. Tyler Jones has also been a solid contributor for Byrnes this season, averaging 37 in nine-hole matches and 77 for 18-hole matches.

soccerThe boys soccer team is 3-10 in the region with

a 7-12 mark overall. The Rebels will wrap up the season this week with matches against Blue Ridge and J.L. Mann.

The girls soccer team has also struggled this spring, currently sitting at 1-9 in the region and 5-

14 overall. The Rebels have two matches left, one region and one non-region. The team is led by se-nior center back/forward Tess Schomer.

lacrosseThe Byrnes boys lacrosse team finished the

2016 season with a winning record, going 8-5 on the year. That was not enough to secure a playoff bid, however, as the Rebels continue to search for their first postseason appearance in the school’s history. The girls lacrosse team finished just under the .500 mark at 5-6 in the region.

Track and field The Byrnes track and field team has seen several

standout athletes make a name for themselves this spring.

The Rebels are led by Jamarris Adair and Malik Epps on the boys side. Adair is ranked in the triple jump and long jump, while Epps is ranked in the mile run, the two-mile run and the 800-meter. Ray Miller has also been a solid contributor for the boys.

On the girls side, McKenzie Young Miller has led the Rebels in the triple jump, long jump, 400-me-ter hurdles, the high jump and the 100-meter hur-dle events. She has placed in each meet this sea-son. Also contributing to the girls team this season has been Taylor Guthrie and Sarah Taylor.

TennisWith one match left, the Byrnes boys tennis

team sits at 6-7 on the season, coached by Jenni-fer Pearson. The Rebels have picked up notable wins over Wade Hampton, Boiling Springs, St. Joe’s, Dorman, Spartanburg Day and Riverside. The Rebels could seal a playoff berth with a win over J.L. Mann this week.

baseballThe baseball team will miss the state AAAA

playoffs this season after a seventh-place region finish last week.

The Rebels finished 3-10 in the region.


Rebel softball dominates region play



Eastside

eagles

Focus

on



Despite welcoming a new coach and losing sev-eral key seniors, the Eastside boys soccer finished atop the Peach Blossom region once again in 2016.

“Each year, if you ask the varsity players what their goal is, they’ll tell you they want to win state,” head coach Michael Martin said. “That sounds good, but the question is, are we willing to put in the work required to make that a reality? I think these guys have been backing up what they’re saying.”

The Eagles finished the season at 18-3 overall with a 13-1 mark in region play. Eastside’s only slip up came against Berea.

The Eagles have earned notable wins over Bly-thewood, Fort Mill, Greer and West Florence this season.

The team is led by Matt Woodington and Jay Odom, both of whom are committed to North Greenville University.

The Eagles will head to the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, earning home field advantage throughout.

baseballThe Eastside baseball team is headed to the

postseason after a 16-7 finish in the regular sea-son. The Eagles went 11-3 in region play with close losses to Emerald, Travelers Rest and Blue Ridge.

Eastside capped the regular season last week with a 4-2 win over Emerald on senior night. The win secures a second place finish for the Eagles. Emerald (10-4) and Travelers Rest (8-6) finished be-hind Eastside.

The team has been led by players such as Tank Harrison, Michael Sholtis and Sterling Turmon.

Tennis The Eastside boys tennis team has been on fire

this season, working its way to a 15-1 record and claiming the region championship. The team was undefeated in region play and will head into the playoffs as the top seed on May 3.

The team is led by: Austin Powell (11-5 singles, 6-1 doubles). Josh Marke (16-0 singles, 7-1, 1 dou-bles), Johnny Daniel (15-1 singles, 1-0 doubles), Matthew Berman (11-5 singles), Trey Gibson (12-4 singles). The doubles team of Jack Joplin and Con-nor Noon went 16-0 on the season. Other team members include Logan Saunders, Colin King, Jake Blevins, Sam Jeter, Sam Jones, Wilkins Nor-wood and George Skenteris. Powell, Marke, and

Daniel will be All-Region Selections. Powell is a North/South All-Star nomination.

lacrosseAfter a 9-4 regular season, the Eastside boys la-

crosse team dropped its opening round playoff game to Greenville, 12-5.

The varsity has been led by Austin and Braeden Dixon, who were recently voted first team All-State. Ben Bradham was also given All-State hon-ors, as he was named to the second team.

The junior varsity Eagles also had a solid season, finishing 6-1.

golfThe boys golf team has had a stellar season,

claiming the county championship back in March.Eastside golfers shot a combined 304 in the

tournament, with Bennett Gilliard posting a per-sonal score of -2 through 27 holes.

Gilliard and Carter Bingham were named to the All-County team. The Eagles won the Viking Invita-tional in Greenwood recently as well.

eastside soccer wins peach blossom title


Greer

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JackeTs By Billy CannadaSportS Editor

The Greer High track team recently had a strong showing at the Greenville County Championships. The girls team finished third overall, while the boys finished second.

Leading the girls was Ebony Balsley, who cap-tured first place in the long jump, third place in the 400-meter hurdles and sixth in triple jump. Kaiya Bradford had a second place finish in high jump, a second place finish in the 100-meter hur-dles and a third place finish in the 100 meters.

The boys were led by Troy Pride Jr., who finished first in the 100-meter dash. Pride also earned first in the 200 and 400-meter races. Pride broke three Greenville County records during the event. Dorian Lindsey took second place in the 400-me-ter hurdles, while Quavian White finished first in the 110-meter hurdles. Adrian McGee finished third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump.

The boys 4x100 team, comprised of Pride, Mc-Gee, Lindsey and White, finished second.

golfThe Yellow Jacket varsity golf team has earned

six wins this season, defeating opponents such as Chapman, Berea and Greer Middle College. Greer is led by Sam Merrell, Andy Snow, Noah Hannon and Sam Gravley.

Rob Gravley is wrapping up his first season as the team’s head coach and said he has been en-couraged with the Yellow Jackets’ play this spring.

“It’s been fun watching young kids beginning to love golf,” Gravley said. “That has been really cool. These kids are taking it serious and they’re treat-ing it like a real sports team. They’re also having a lot of fun.”

Greer will take on Dorman, Boiling Springs, Riv-erside, Blue Ridge, Chapman and Broome before the region tournament on May 2. The region championship will be held at the Links O’Tryon Country Club.

soccerThe Greer boys soccer team has locked up a

playoff spot heading into the final week of the regular season. With a win this week, the Yellow Jackets will lock up a third place region finish.

Greer has earned recent wins over Southside, Chapman and Blue Ridge, last falling in a region game to Eastside on April 12, 2-1.

sofTballThe Greer softball team has had another strong

season, currently sitting at 10-3 in the region with a 16-8-1 mark overall. The Yellow Jackets will com-pete this week for a second place region finish, which would give them a home playoff game.

The team, led by senior Brooke Wade, has won seven of its last eight games.

Taylor Hannah and Sydney Craig have handled duties on the mound for Greer this season.

baseballThe Greer varsity baseball finished the regular

season with a 4-17 overall record and a 3-14 re-cord in the region.

The Jackets will be graduating seven seniors, in-cluding: Colt Leopard, Chandler Giebner, Bo Rob-erts (a five year starter) Clayton Groce, Todd Car-roll, (a five year starter) Brandon Wortkoetter and Parker Long.

Greer will have several promising seniors return in 2017, including: Adam Burgess and Justin Brooks. The Yellow Jackets will also return under-classmen Chaz Bellinger, infielder; Will Pitts, catch-er; Matthew Huff, outfielder; Josh Fenton, pitcher, Ben Thornton and Logan Magera.

greer track sees success at county meet


Riverside

Warriors

Focus

on



The Riverside girls track and field team took sec-ond place at the Greenville County champion-ships over the weekend, while the boys finished fifth.

Individual county champions included: Rachel Lentz, Mikie Harris, Abigail Smith and Cate Am-brose, who finished with a time of 9:41 in the 4x800 relay. Ambrose also finished first in the 1600-meter race with a time of 4:13. Jessie Crow-ley took first in the 3200-meter race with a time of 11:29.

Several Riverside boys broke school records this season. In the mile, Ben Cignarale claimed the new record with a time of 4:36.96. He also set a record in the 3200-meter race with a time of 9:41.97. In the high jump, Deion Blackman tied the previous record of a 6’ 0” jump. Dillon Young set a school re-cord in the 1500-meter racewalk with a time of 9:10.46.

For the girls, Smith, Ambrose, Crowley and Fal-low broke the record in the 4x1600-meter race with a time of 22:12.89. A discus record of 97’ 7” was set by Sydney Deane. Ambrose also broke the previous mile record with a time of 5:14.39.

soccer The boys soccer team posted a 3-1 win over

Boiling Springs and a 1-0 loss to Mauldin last week. The team currently sits at 10-6 overall with an 8-5 mark in region play.

The Warriors are locked into the fourth position in the region and will likely face Blythewood in the first round of the playoffs.

Riverside earned big wins over J.L. Mann and Eastside this season, led by key seniors Sean Fini-gan, Josh Vanasse and Kenny Rado.

“Our biggest question mark coming into this season was our mid-field. We have all new starters there,” head coach Todd Lea said. “To date, the mid-fielders has preformed beyond expectations.” The mid-field is led by Dani Jaramillo, Dalton Sheeks and Brandon Sharrun, all of which will re-turn next season.

Andrew Halloran is the team’s top striker with 21 goals on the season. The team’s goalkeeper, Shane Berson is committed to Notre Dame.

baseballThe Riverside baseball team capped the season

a game under .500 at 12-13, securing a fifth place finish in the region.

The Warriors could make the playoffs, but it is unlikely.

“We had streaks where we played really well, but we also had a couple of slumps throughout the season,” head coach Travis Pitman said. “We just couldn’t find the consistency. But we feel good about the group we have coming back.”

golfThe Warrior golf team put together back-to-

back strong finishes last week finishing with a team score of 156 (good enough for second) at Gaffney and 164 (second place) at home.

In the first match of the week, Riverside fin-sished behind Gaffney (148), but bested Boiling Springs and J.L. Mann. In their final home match, the Warriors finished in front of Boiling Springs and Greer.

Riverside was led by Parker McDonald, who fin-ished with a score of 38 after nine holes.

The team will travel to Aiken for a tournament at Southern Cross next Thursday. The region tourna-ment is set for May 2.

sofTballThe Riverside softball team capped its season

Monday night, finishing with a record of 1-14 in re-gion action.

The Warriors will not make the playoffs.The team was led by senior captains Katy Wat-

son, Olivia Norton and Elizabeth Standridge. Other key contributors include: Victoria Schaffner, Rae-gan Wilson, Hope Russell, Madison Pinson, Lauren Morelli, Alyssa Jones, Madison Mercer and Macey Drye.


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RHS girls take second at county meet


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Greer Rec

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We have you covered from the diamond to the gridiron!

www.cityofgreer.orgFollow us on Facebook and Twitter

From popular sports like soccer and baseballto relatively new leagues like kickball, the

City of Greer Parks and Recreation Department helps keep you and your family active all year.Registration begins in June for all Fall sports.

Youth: football, cheerleading, baseball, softball and soccer. Men’s softball and basketball.

Adult Kickball: Free play May 11 and 18 at Victor Park League play begins May 25

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