Ware, Denton twirl gems as Dogs sweep Lake City

Ware, a right-hander, had a perfect game foiled by an infield single with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. That was the only player to reach base for the hosts. Ware was effective and efficient as he had 10 strikeouts and only threw 86 pitches, with 65 of those being strikes. Ware improved his individual record to 5-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.37 for the season.

Camden jumped out in front in the top of the 1st inning when Brady Furniss reached on a one-out hit by pitch. Zechariah Haney clubbed a two-run home run down the right field line for a quick 2-0 lead.

In the top of the second inning, the Dogs padded their lead as Campbell Denton led off with a base hit to right and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Shiver Huggins reached on a fly ball outfield error before Chandler Johnson followed with a walk. Aidan Heriot drove in Denton and Huggins with a base hit down the left field line. Kade Bell rapped a single to left as both Johnson and Heriot scored from throwing errors while Bell ended up on third to make it 6-0.

The visitors closed the scoring in the sixth when Heriot led off with a double to left center before scoring score on an errant infield throw to first base to complete the offensive output for CHS.

The Dogs pounded out 10 hits for the night as Bell and Heriot had two each while Furniss, Denton, Huggins, Johnson, and Thomas Bishop all had a single to go along with Haney’s two-run blast.

Campbell Denton pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only one hit with 11 strikeouts as the Camden baseball team stayed perfect in Region 6-AAA play with a 3-0 win over visiting Lake City last Tuesday night at American Legion Park.

For Denton, it was his fourth victory in five decisions this season. The senior lefty threw a season-high 109 pitches but had very good command of his fastball as he threw 79 strikes and only 28 balls for a 74% strike figure.

The Dogs provided Denton with a two-run lead in the bottom of the third as Aidan Heriot led off the inning with an infield single. He quickly stole second base and was able to score on an RBI double from Cade Bell. Brady Furniss moved Bell to third on a ground out to first. Bell scored on an attempted bunt for hit by Zechariah Haney, only for the Panther catcher to throw to first base for the out.

The hosts tacked on an important insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Byer Ware reached on a two-out error. He was replaced by pinch runner Brian Elliott. Mac Mellichamp followed with his second hit of the night to put runners on first and second. Shiver Huggins then delivered a two-strike pinch hit single to score Elliott which extended the hosts’ lead to 3-0.

The Panthers threatened in the top of the third after Denton walked the leadoff batter and then followed that by hitting the next batter. Denton bounced off the mound to field a swinging bunt and threw out the batter as the two runners moved up with just one out. Denton would fan the next two batters and the visitors would not reach third base again for the rest of the game.

Mellichamp led the offense with two singles while Bell had a double with Haney, Heriot and Huggins each having a single.

Last Monday, the Bulldogs scored 25 runs on just nine hits as they improved to 5-0 in Region 6-AAA play with a 25-1 win at Crestwood in a makeup game of an earlier rained-out contest. The game was stopped after three innings due to the 15-run mercy rule.

The Bulldogs (12-4-1) sent Kade Bell to the mound and the senior right-hander earned his first victory as a pitcher with two innings pitched in which he allowed one hits while striking out four Knights. Camden Washington pitched the final inning and gave up a hit while fanning three.

Mac Mellichamp, Brady Furniss and Wyatt Thompson all had two-hit nights for the winners with Charlie Ray, Zechariah Haney and Bell having a hit each.

The Dogs jumped to a 9-0 lead after a half inning of play before adding a dozen runs in the second and four more in the third. Crestwood pitchers issued 13 walks while hitting another nine Camden batters on the evening.

On Wednesday, the Dogs dropped a 9-2 non-conference contest to visiting Wilson Hall.

The hosts (12-5-1) jumped in front in the bottom of the second inning when Byer Ware led off with a base hit up the middle. Mac Mellichamp followed with a hard grounder that was played into an error before being lifted at first base by courtesy runner Chris Evan. Shiver Huggins reached on a fielders’ choice. Brian Elliott then reached on a catcher’s interference call. Evan and Huggins scored when another hard hit ball off the bat of Aidan Heriot was played into a two-run error.

The visiting Barons erupted for five runs in the fourth before tacking on four more runs in the sixth to increase their lead to 9-2.

Cade Marturano was the starting pitcher for Camden and the junior right-hander worked the first 3.1 innings before Zechariah Haney came on to pitch two-thirds of an inning not allowing a run with one walk, a hit batter and a strikeout. Heriot was next and pitched two innings allow before Camden Washington pitched the final inning giving up no runs.

Camden had five hits on the night as Ware, Haney, Washington, Wyatt Thompson and Thomas Bishop each had a single.

Camden has a key series with Marlboro County, which is also unbeaten in 6-AAA action. Game one of the two-game series is set for tonight in Bennettsville with the back end of the series being played in Camden on Friday.

Demons blank RNE, sweep series: One night after defeating Richland Northeast, 11-1, for their 10th straight win, the Lugoff-Elgin baseball team made it 11 straight on Wednesday with a 10-0 road win over RNE.

The victory gave the Demons a 6-0 record in Region 5-4A play.

On Wednesday, Frankie Ward’s charges received another strong mound performance from Skiler Jackson, who fanned 10 batters while allowing four hits in a game stopped after five frames by the 10-run rule.

On Friday, the Demons stepped out of conference play and dealt 5A Sumter an 8-5 loss as Frankie Ward’s charges won for the 12th straight time entering tonight’s key 5-4A set with A.C. Flora with the first of two games slated for tonight in Forest Acres before moving to L-E on Thursday.

Babic’s two bombs help Knights snap skid: Stepping out of Region 5-AA play for a two-game series with Lewisville, the North Central baseball team snapped an eight-game skid on Friday by topping visiting Lewisville, 6-4, at the Dungeon. On Tuesday, NC dropped an 11-1 decision to the Lions Tuesday night in Richburg in a game stopped in the sixth inning by the 10-run rule.

The split gave Brandon Faulkenberry’s charges a 9-9 season record. NC is 4-4 in 5-AAA action.

In Friday’s win, the Knights grabbed a 2-0 lead by scoring twice in the home half of the first. A three-run third put NC on top for keeps at 5-1. The Knights tacked on a sixth run in the fourth inning before the Lions scored one in the fifth and two more in the seventh to close the gap to two runs.

Freshman Colt Babic drove in five NC runs which included a two-run and a three-run home runs in the first and third frames, respectively. Zachary Tucker singled in the sixth run for the Knights.

NC collected nine hits on the evening including two each from Dylan Smith and Babic.

Patton Hood worked six innings with six strikeouts to get the win while Smith came on to work the seventh.

On Tuesday, the hosts scored five times in the bottom of the first to grab a 5-0 lead before adding a run in the third to go on top, 6-0.

The Knights scored a run in the fourth when an Ashton Brazell single drove in Patton Hood with the visitors’ lone run.

Lewisville (11-6) scored one in the fifth and closed this one early by pushing across a pair of runs in the sixth.

The Knights had two hits in the loss with Brazell having both of those while also stealing a base.

Dylan Smith received the mound start before being followed to the mound by Joe Neil and Cassidy Horton.

Bulldog netters throttle Governor’s School: A week of for spring break did nothing to slow down the Camden High tennis team which improved to 10-0 on the season with a 5-1 win over the Governor’s School in a match played in Hartsville last Tuesday.

The defending AAA state champions won four singles matches starting with senior David Pope taking a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Evan Phillips at first singles. Junior Hank Greenway breezed past James Welfare at third singles, winning by identical 6-1 scores while senior Wilson Nash upended Amolik Sinha at fourth singles, 6-0, 6-0, with junior fifth singles player Will Grumbach blanking D.J. Floyd, 6-0, 6-0.

The CHS second doubles tandem of Robert Jenkins and Harris Younghans stopped Isaac Srulevich and Sai Nagalla, 6-1, 6-0.

Sanchez’s hat trick leads Demons past Westwood: Senior striker Eldin Sanchez scored three goals to lead the Lugoff-Elgin soccer team to a 6-1 win over Westwood in a match played at Lugoff-Elgin Stadium.

The victory gave Bill Bacon’s squad a 5-2 mark in Region 5-4A and a 9-5 overall record.

In addition to his three goals, Sanchez added an assist for a seven-point night. Daniel Figueroa, Djou djoe Eloi and Braddock Gardner each tallied a goal in the win while Aidan King, Christ Villatoro, Micah Bills, Eli Branham and Ethan Steve each lent assists.

Nick Lopez and Connor Rapp split time in goal for the winners with each netminder turning back three shots.

On Friday, in a game designated as Senior Night, the Demons improved to 6-2 in 5-4A action with a 4-2 victory over visiting Richland Northeast.

L-E carried a 2-1 advantage into the locker room at intermission before outscoring the Cavaliers by the same score in the second 40 minutes.

Sanchez enjoyed another big match as he notched a pair of goals while junior Dominick Robinson and senior Connor Thompson also found the back of the RNE nets. Aidan King doles out a pair of assists. Connor Rapp made four saves in goal while Nick Lopez turned back a pair for the winners.

Improving Knights take second in tri-match: The scores just keep getting lower for the North Central High golf team.

Last Tuesday, the Knights posted a season-best 186 score as Mitch Lowder’s troops finished second behind host Andrew Jackson’s 145 total in a match played over the Kershaw Golf Course. Great Falls was third with a 206 team total.

Evan Eubanks led the way for NC with a 44 while teammate West Connell carded a 46.

Last Thursday, North Central took second in a three-team match played over the Pine Creek Golf Course in Camden. Cheraw won the event with a 185 team score followed by the Knights (197) and Camden Military Academy with a 229.

Eubanks was the low scorer for NC with a 43 while teammate Dalton Rone carded a 49.

CHS soccer takes pair from Darlington: Playing matches at home and on the road, the Camden High soccer teams outscored Region 6-AAA foe Darlington by a combined 17-1 score last Tuesday.

In a match played inside Zemp Stadium, the Lady Bulldogs used four goals and a pair of assists from senior forward Mia Robinson to blank the Lady Falcons, 9-0.

In addition to Robinson, Laney Blanks had a pair of goals and an assist while Avery Younghans assisted on a trio of goals.

Also scoring goals for Paul Ahern’s Lady Bulldogs were Skiler Mathis, Ella Roberts and Sullivan McKoy. Angela Dal Cappelo added an assist to the total.

The Camden boys also took down Darlington with an 8-1 victory in the Pee Dee behind Osmin Aguilar and Luis Reyes who each scored two goals while adding an assist apiece.

Also finding the back of the Falcon nets for Jerry Joes’ charges were Conner Jones, Miles Redfearn, Ivan Martinez and James Metheny.

The CHS junior varsity also won its match over Darlington with a 5-0 shutout.

CHS golfers stop West Florence: James Reames shot a nine-hole 36 as the Camden High golf team defeated visiting West Florence, 158-170, last Tuesday in a match played over the Camden Country Club.

That same day, Noah Roberts carded a 41 to lead the Bulldog junior varsity past Marlboro County, 176-216.

Spartans post impressive numbers at meets: School records in three different events were smashed by Camden Military Academy athletes following Wednesday’s track and field meet at Orangeburg Prep.

The Spartans’ 4x800-meter relay team of Kyle Marinko, Prayas Shrestha, Mason Tirone and Christian Snell won their event in a CMA-record clocking of 9:23.66. DeWitt Cure’s discus throw of 123-06 won the event while smashing the school standard while Aaron Ness’s throw in the javelin of 93-09 was good for first place and a school record.

Caleb Terrell finished second in the 200-meter run with a time of 24.52 seconds while Snell’s time of 2:14.19 was good for second in the 800-meter run. Additionally, Tirone ran a 5:12.23 in the 1,600-meter run to take third and qualify for the state meet while Kyle Marinko’s fourth-place finish in the 800-meter run as all four athletes punched their tickets into the SCISA state meet.

School records have fallen by the wayside in several events at CMA including the following:

4 x 800-meter relay: Kyle Marinko, Prayas Shrestha, Mason Tirone, Christian Snell (9:23.66); 1,600-meter run: Christian Snell (4:54.95); 3,200-meter run: Christian Snell (10:41.12); discus Dewitt Cure (123-06) and javelin Aaron Ness (93-09).

CMA has qualified for the SCISA state meet in the following events:

4 x 100-meter relay: Michael McCosh, Jayven Watkins, Tyler Shongo, Caleb Terrell (48.14); 4 x 400-meter relay: Cohen DeCort, Tavin Sawyer, Jeremiah Palmer, Andrew Barbee (3:56.87); 4 x 800-meter relay: Kyle Marinko, Prayas Shrestha, Mason Tirone, Cohen DeCort (9:41.54); 200-meter run: Caleb Terrell (24.52); 800-meter run: Mason Tirone (2:16.97), Christian Snell (2:14.19), Kyle Marinko (2:16.93); 1,600-meter run: Christian Snell (4:54.95), Cohen DeCort (5:14.29), Mason Tirone (5:12.23); 3,200-meter run: Mason Tirone (11:17.03), Prayas Shrestha (11:39.04), Christian Snell (10:41.12); Long jump: Cason Pickett (18-01); Discus: Dewitt Cure (123-06); Triple jump: Michael Hunt (18-01), Troy Routh (18-01); High jump: Troy Routh