North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
The North Myrtle Beach varsity baseball team began a week of games last Tuesday when they traveled to Myrtle Beach and came away with a 4-2 win.
The Chiefs then took on their second “rival” team on Wednesday evening as Loris visited the Chiefs sports complex. This game went down to the wire as the Chiefs rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 9-8 win.
Loris got things going early as they scored four runs in the top of the first inning on only two hits. Gage Smith hit a double to left to open the game. The next two Loris hitters got on, one hit by a pitch, the second walked. Conner Roth drove in two runs on a single to left, and two more Lion runs scored on sloppy Chiefs play before Andrew Buffkin lined out to center to end the inning.
The Chiefs answered right back in the bottom of the first. Ewin Vasquez singled to center. Colton Kingston was hit by the pitch and Dalton Simpson drove in two runs with a double to right. The next two Chiefs batters walked, and eventually three more runners crossed the plate on wild pitches or passed balls for a 5-4 lead.
Chiefs pitchers then held Loris scoreless the second through the fourth inning. The Chiefs used a Kingston double and Simpson single to add a run in the bottom of the second inning to increase their lead to 6-4.
Loris then scored two runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings to go up 8-6. The two runs in the fifth were courtesy of a walk to Smith and a home run over the right field fence by Tanner Kennedy. The sixth inning runs were manufactured by an infield hit, some pitches in the dirt by the Chiefs and a sacrifice fly. Loris failed to score in the top of the seventh.
The Chiefs got only two hits and no runs from the third through the sixth. They came up in the bottom of the seventh and Garrett Perlstein grounded to second for the first out. Then the Loris defense came apart as two errors allowed the next two Chiefs to get on and eventually to second and third base. Austin Fein, who pitched the top of the seventh, then drilled a double to left scoring two and the score was tied. Hayes Sexton, hitless and with two strikes on him, then hit a hard line drive single over first base. Fein scored and the Chiefs went after Sexton to congratulate him on the winning hit, and a 9-8 come-from-behind victory for the Chiefs.
On Friday, March 15, the Chiefs hosted the Marlboro County Bulldogs for a region game and came away with a 9-2 victory. While Marlboro County got off to a slow start with one hit in the first three innings, the Chiefs started their evening with five runs in the first.
The inning started with walks to Ewin Vasquez, Colton Kingston and Dalton Simpson. Garrett Pearlstein then drove in two runs with a double deep to center field. Austin Fine also doubled to left for two more runs. Fine went to third after a flyout to center by Cordero and scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Billy Barlow. The Chiefs were up 5-0 after one inning.
The Chiefs went down in order in the second but added one run in the third inning to extend their lead to 6-0. Vasquez opened the bottom of the fourth with a single to center field. He stole second. Kingston went to first on a fielder’s choice with both runners advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Simpson. Pearlstein drove in two runs with a double to center and Simpson scored the third run of the inning on a sac fly by Fine.
Marlboro County scored their only two runs of the game in the fourth inning on two hits, one on a double by McDonald, the other on a fielder’s choice. The Bulldogs had only three hits and no runs over the last three innings, while the Chiefs two big innings were enough for the 9-2 conference victory.
Last Saturday the Chiefs traveled to Shallotte for a rematch with the Trojans. West Brunswick won the game 10-8. They scored three in the first, two in the third and fourth innings and three runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Chiefs got one run in the first inning, five in the fifth and two more in the sixth, but were held scoreless in the seventh.
The Chiefs are 2-0 in region play and traveled to Wilson for a region game on Tuesday evening. They also go on the road for non-region games at Aynor and Loris March 20 and 21, before a home region game against Darlington this Friday at 6:30 p.m. They also have another region contest next Tuesday, March 26 against Hartsville at the NMB High School sports complex. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
