Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report:  5-15-13

Local sports:

CHS:

• Golf: After shooting an 8 over par 80 on Monday at the AAA state golf tournament, Hunter Nichols fired a 3 under par, bogey free round, 69 and finished in a tie for third. For his effort,  Nichols also earned All-State honors… Congratulations to him!
• Softball Camps… Please see the information below and in the Between the lines area at www.wlbg.com for information about softball camps conducted by CHS softball Coach Nickie Templeton being held at the Clinton YMCA around the 1^st of June or just after… Registration deadline is May 29^th.

LDHS:

•  Softball Awards… Last night The Lady Raider softball team had their annual awards banquet at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center… It was there announced that Elizabeth Carman and Maria Williamson were named to the All-Region I-AAAA Softball Team… Williamson also captured the team’s MVP award while Carman the team Offensive Award… Allison Foreback picked up the Most Improved while Annsley Nelson got the Hustle Award and Jordan Henderson the Defensive Award… The Lady Raiders only senior Amber Aylesworth picked up a 6 Year Letter Award and the Captains Award… Retiring Coach Frank Alexander was also honored for his years of service with the Lady Raiders…  There were numerous other awards and to see a complete list of these awards click on the following: 2013 Laurens Softball Awards  Just below you will also find a short slideshow of some photos taken at the banquet… Congratulations to the winners and the entire team!

College Baseball Notes:

• Clemson 8 – USC Upstate 7… Freshman Kevin Bradley hit a three-run, walkoff homer with one out in the ninth inning to lift #14 Clemson to an 8-7 [Read more...]

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report: 5-14-13

Welcome this is your Real Radio 860 WLBG sports for Tuesday and it’s brought to you by Presbyterian College Athletics… Last weekend the Blue Hose baseball team had their last home games of the season as they hosted Longwood… The Blue Hose dropped the first two games of the series by scores 6-2 and 9-7… The Blue Hose came back and took the series finale by a score of 4-0… The team will finish out its regular season with 4 games this week… They finish Big South play with a 3 game series at Gardner-Webb that starts this Thursday… Meanwhile the will face the Gamecocks of South Carolina tonight in Columbia and that game can be heard at GoBlueHose.com and also it will be on Fox Sports South and the 1^st pitch is scheduled for 7:00pm.

Local sports:

CHS: Spring Sports All Region 3-AAA Selections: Recently CHS released the names of those athletes who were selected to the All-Region Region 3-AAA Teams in the various spring sports… They were:

• Girl’s Track – Aaliyah Boyd
• Boys Track – Kenyon Brown, Dee Jennings & Chandler Sprouse
• Boys Soccer – Madison Simpson &  Dexter Simmons
• Baseball –  Matthew Craven & Dalton Foster
• Softball –  Jessica Wood & Allison Oxner
• Boys Tennis –  Austin MacMillan, Alec Powell, Jay Peay &  Isaac MacMillan
• Boys Tennis Region III 3A Player of the Year – Austin MacMillan
• Boys Tennis Region III 3A Coach Of The Year – Clovis Simmons
• Golf – Hunter Nichols

College Notes:

• Baseball Rankings: In NCAA Division I the USA Today Coaches Poll has Vanderbilt #1 with a 45-6 record… North Carolina is 2^nd with an identical [Read more...]

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report: 5-13-13

Local sports:

CHS:

• Track: Congratulations to CHS sophomore Dee Jennings for finishing 4^th in the 110 meter hurdles in the State AAA Championship meet this past weekend at Lower Richland High School.  

LDHS:

•  Track: The LDHS track team also had members participating in the State AAAA Championship meet this past weekend also… In the 400 meter dash, Laurens junior Eligaha Case finished 6^th… Case was also part of the 4×400 meter relay team that finished 5^th… The other members of the team were Tevin Barksdale, A’Derius Freeman and Kalim Taylor… An interesting note in the 4×400 meter relays… the top 2 teams (Beaufort & Spring Valley) both beat the old state record with Beaufort setting a new record of 3:16.35… That means they were up against some stiff competition… Congratulations to members of both teams track teams who competed!

Laurens Academy:

• Softball: The Lady Crusader softball team was in action this past weekend in the opening rounds of the SCISA state playoffs down in the Lexington area… On Friday they opened up with a 4-0 win over Andrew Jackson… Following the first round victory they took on #2 seed Clarendon Hall and came up on the short end of a 14-8 score… The Lady Crusaders trailed 8-2 in the 4^th inning and their offense began to come alive after that but Clarendon Hall matched them the balance of the game… This gave the Lady Crusaders a 1-1 record in the double elimination tournament going into Saturday’s games… The Lady Crusaders rebounded on Saturday morning taking a 10-4 victory over St John’s… It then fell on the Lady Crusaders to take on the #1 seeded team in the form of Colleton Prep… The Lady War Hawks proved to be too much for the Lady Crusaders as they eliminated them by taking a 10-0 win… The Lady Crusaders have only 1 senior on this year’s team so they poised to make a run again next year… Congratulation to Coach Muir and the Region Champion Lady Crusader softball team for a fine season!

Pro Baseball:

Atlanta Braves: The Braves completed their 4 game series with the Giants out in California…  You may remember that the Braves took a 6-3 win over the Giants on Thursday night… So how did the rest of the series go?

• Friday: Giants 8 – Braves 2… The Braves managed only 3 hits in the game and Brian McCann had one of them a 2 run homer in the 5^th inning… Tim Hudson took the loss.
• Saturday: Giants 10 – Braves 1… The Braves had 7 hits in the game but could not get the clutch hit at the right time… The Giants produced their 10 runs on 14 hits off 6 different Brave pitchers.
• Sunday: Giants 5 – Braves 1… The Braves offensive woes continued yesterday as the Giants took a 5-1 win over the Bravos to win the current series 3-1… The Braves again managed only 4 hits and Braves’ pitcher Kris Medlin picked u his 1^st loss of the season… After the Braves fast start, they are now 21-16 on the season and they will end their current road trip with a 3 game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Greenville Drive: The Drive started a 4 game home stand with the Augusta Green jackets last Thursday night… Let’s catch up on how that went:

• Thursday: Augusta 6 – Greenville 3… This marked the 8^th consecutive loss by the Drive.
• Friday: Greenville 10 – Augusta 6…. The Drive fell behind 3-1 after the 1^st inning but battled back to break the 8 game losing streaks… Three Drive homeruns were one of the main factors for the win.
• Saturday: Greenville 6 – Augusta 5… The Drive made it 2 in a row over the Green Jackets with a 1 out walk-off homerun by Davis Chester.
• Sunday: Augusta 10 – Greenville 6… The Green Jackets earned a split of the current series with the Drive as they took a 10-6 win over the Drive last night… The Drive fall to 12-24 on the season and will start a 3 game series with the Ashville Tourist tonight up in Ashville.

FYI / Community Interest:

• Spring football practice is taking place at LDHS on May 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15. The Raiders will be working on installing their new triple-option offense under the direction of Coach Lawson and his new offensive coordinator Coach Jay Brannon. The annual Spring Game and Powder Puff game will be May 16. See the posting in the Between the Lines section at wlbg.com for more details.

• Coupon Book For Sale… As you may or may not know, the athletic budget at the local high schools provided by the district often does not cover all the items needed to run an athletic team and coaches often have to look for other sources of income to make ends meet. The LDHS football program is no exception to that dilemma… This coming year they must replace or refurbish all helmets due to the 10 year rule, new uniforms are needed and the coach’s sideline communication system used to confer with the assistant coaches in or around the press box must be replaced… All this takes money not in the normal budget… To help pay for these the football team is selling a coupon book for $20 that has over 50 coupons to various local businesses.. One coupon in the book offers a free oil change and tire rotation from a local dealership that is alone worth well over $20… Coach Lawson will have these at all the home athletic events this spring and you can also get one by calling his office # 683-3360 and leaving a message… They also have them in them available in the main office at LDHS… If you get the chance, purchase one, I did.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to reports scores, please contact me via email at: sports@wlbg.com or text me at 864-981-3470.

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report:  5-10-13

Welcome this is your Real Radio 860 WLBG sports for Friday and it’s brought to you by Presbyterian College Athletics… The Blue Hose baseball took on #1 ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville on Wednesday night were down 5-0 going into the 9^th inning when they managed to score 2 runs but could get no closer as the Commodores took a 5-2 win… The Blue Hose have their final home series starting today at 3 pm against Longwood… If you get the chance, go out and take in some good baseball over at PC.

Local sports:

CHS:

• Tennis: Chapin 6 – Clinton 0…. The Red Devil boys tennis team hosted Chapin in the Upper State Championship yesterday and for only the 3^rd time this season the Red Devils came up on the short end of the score as Chapin took a 6-0 win over Clinton… Jay Peay and Isaach Macmillan both lost in 3^rd set tiebreakers… Click on the following for match details: 2013-5-9__CHS-0_Chapin-6_POF-Upper_State   Chapin (18-3) moves on to face either Hilton Head or Socastee in the AAA Finals on Saturday… The Region-3-AAA Champion Red Devils finish their season with a 14-3 record… Congratulations to Coach Simmons and the team on a fine season!! 

Laurens Academy: Someone once wrote all good things must come to an end… Unfortunately that applies to the Laurens Academy’s string of SCISA baseball championships as the Knights of W.W. King took 2 games from the Crusaders last night out at the Crusaders’ home field to break their consecutive championships at six…. The Crsaders only needed to win 1 game last night to advance to state finals but it just was not to be.

• Baseball Game 1: King 4 – Crusaders 3… In the first game the Knights took a 4-3 win behind the pitching of Blake Sauls…. The Crusaders trailed 4-1 going into the 7^th inning and scored 2 runs but could get no more as their rally fell short… The Crusaders would often get runners in scoring position but just could not get the key hit needed to bring them home and their defense made more errors than normal on the night… Click on the following for the game box score and statistics: 2013-5-9-A_LABB-3_King-4   Click on the following for the game scorecard: 2013-5-9-A_LABB-3_King-4_scorecard
• Baseball Game 1: King 4 – Crusaders 3… In the second and deciding game of the 3 game series, the Knights again took a 4-3 win over the Crusaders… In this game the Crusaders carried a 3-0 lead into the top of the 7^th inning but the Knights scored 4 runs to take the lead before the Crusaders could register an out on them… When the Crusaders came to bat in the bottom of the 7^th the Knights were able to get them out in order to take the win and advance to the championship series next week… again the Crusaders’ problems centered around lack of clutch hitting and higher than normal number of errors… Click on the following for the game box score and statistics: 2013-5-9-B_LABB-3_King-4   Click on the following for the [Read more...]

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report: 5-9-13

Local sports:

CHS:

• Golf: The CHS golf team finished 13 in the upper-state tournament held earlier this week… While the team did not qualify to move on the state finals, Hunter Nichols did.. He will be paying next Monday and Tuesday down in the Conway area at the Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina…. Good luck to him next week!
• Tennis: CHS 4 – Daniel 2…. It took the Red Devil tennis team 2 days to do it (rain you know) but they defeated Daniel 4-2 to advance on in the 3-A  playoffs… In singles action, Austin & Isaach Macmillan, Jay Peay and Robert Powell picked up the 4 wins for Clinton… Click on the following for complete match details: 2013-5-8__CHS-4_Daniel-2_POF-2 … The Red Devils play round 3 today at home as they host Chapin for the upper state title… Action slated to start at 4:30… Come on out and support these young men!! 

LDHS:

• Tennis: Coach Gordon Stallard has announced the following awards for the 2013 Raider boys’ tennis team: Most Improved – Colin John, Raider Award – Hunter Holtzclaw and All-Region – Chris Mather… Congratulation to these young men!

Laurens Academy:

• Baseball: L.A. 14 – King 2… After starting their game with WW King yesterday and having to stop it because of rain, then load the bus and go to King to finish the game today, Coach Halbert was wondered if his team would lose its momentum because of the delay… His worries were unfounded as the Crusaders took a 14-2 win over the Knights in 5 innings… Leading 1-0 with the bases loaded and 2 outs when they stepped off the bus, Josh Urwick stroked the 4^th pitch he saw to centerfield for a 2 run single making the score 3-0 and the Crusaders never looked back… The Knights got  a single run in in the 2^nd inning but the Crusaders responded with 2 in their half of the inning to make it 5-1… The Knights got their last run in the 3^rd but later the [Read more...]

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report:  5-8-13

Local sports:

LDHS:

• Baseball- All-Region Team… Recently it was announced that 4 members of this year’s Raider baseball team made the Region I-AAAA All-Region Team… They are: Tanner Adair – pitcher, Shannon Smith – outfield, DiMarkus Sanders – outfield and Cody Smiley – third base…. Also Coach Nelson announced that senior outfielder DiMarkus Sanders was also picked to play in this year’s SC Baseball Coaches All-Star Game in mid June. … Congratulations to these young men!

Laurens Academy:

• Softball: Lady Crusaders 11 – Ben Lipton 0…. The Lady Crusader softball team completed their regular season last night with an 11-0 win over Ben Lipton down in the Columbia area… sorry but no further details at this time if I get them I will post them up…. The playoff brackets for SCIS Class A softball should come out today and I will try to fill you in on the where the Lady Crusaders are in the brackets tomorrow.
• Baseball… The Crusaders and the Knights of WW King got the first game of the upper state playoffs started last night but could not finish it as the heavy rain made the field unplayable in the bottom of the 1^st inning… The Knight’s field is said to be in better shape than the Crusader filed as they have not had as much rain so the game will be picked up tomorrow in the bottom of the 1^st inning at WW King… Start time is scheduled for 6:00pm and the Crusaders will be the home team leading 1-0 with 2 outs and the bases loaded when the game resumes… The second game is now scheduled for Thursday at Laurens Academy with the Knights being the home team… First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 pm and if a third game is needed it will also be Thursday with the Crusaders being the home team… If you can’t make it down to King tomorrow don’t worry as we are planning on brining you all the action live here on Real Radio 860 WLBG and of course streaming it live on the internet at www.wlbg.com. 

College Baseball Notes:

• PC baseball team travels to Nashville to take on the #1 ranked Commodores… You can catch the audio of the game at www.GoBluehose.com… Hope [Read more...]

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report: 5-7-13

Welcome this is your Real Radio 860 WLBG sports for Tuesday and it’s brought to you Presbyterian College Athletics… The PC baseball team came up on the short end of the score in all 3 games at NC State last weekend and the opposition does not get any easier as they travel to Nashville tomorrow to take on the #1 or 2 (depending on whose poll you look at) Commodores of Vanderbilt… Game time is 7:30… You can follow it at GoBluehose.com… The #8 seeded PC softball team will open Big South tournament action on Thursday morning at 9:00am as they take on #9 seeded Charleston Southern.. Again follow the action at GoBlueHose.com… Good luck to both teams!

Local sports:

CHS:

• Tennis:  Clinton 6 – Emerald 1…. The Red Devil tennis team was finally able to get their first round playoff match in yesterday afternoon after all the rain delays and it the time off apparently did nor hurt them too much as they defeated Emerald 6-1… Alec & Robert Powell, Jay Peay and Isaach MacMillan all had wins in singles action… Austin MacMillan and Alec Powell teamed up to take a win as the #1 doubles team and the #2 doubles team composed of Jacob Tiller & Joe Scarborough did likewise…Click on the following for more complete match details: 2013-5-6__CHS-6_Emerald-1_POF-1   Because of the rain delays the team will have to right back in action today as they travel up to Clemson to take on Daniel at 5 pm…  For those wanting to follow the team up, the physical address is 102 Neetles Park Rd. Clemson, SC.
• Track: Last Saturday some members of the Red Devil track team participated in the state qualifying meet at Lower Richland High School… The only Red Devil who qualified to move on to the state meet this coming Saturday was Dee Jennings who qualified in the 110 meter hurdles… Congratulations to him and the other members of the team! 

LDHS:

•  Track: Last Saturday, some members of  the boys and girls track teams traveled to Spring Valley for the state qualifying meet…  The girls’ team did not have anyone who finished high enough to move on to the championship meet… However, not so with the boys… Eligha Case qualified in the 400 meter dash and the 4×400 meter relay team composed of Tevin Barksdale, A’Derius Freeman, Kalim Taylor & Eligha Case… The state finals meet will be at Lower Richland this coming Saturday… Congratulations to these athletes.
• Moore Signs: Yesterday afternoon, Laurens senior MaryAnna Moore signed a letter of intent to play basketball for Clinton Junior College in Rock [Read more...]

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report: 5-6-13

Welcome this is your Real Radio 860 WLBG sports for Monday and it’s brought to you Laurens School District 55 where they want to remind you that PASS testing will begin tomorrow and runs through Friday of this week… Please encourage your child to do their best and be sure they get plenty of rest each night… Do all you can to make sure they arrive at school in a good frame of mind and minimize stress on them this week.

Local sports:

Clinton:

• Tennis: The Red Devil tennis team did not get to play their 1^st round playoff game last week due to all the rain… The match against the Emerald Vikings is now scheduled for 5:00 pm today at the Red Devil tennis courts …. Weather permitting.
• Golf:  The CHS golf team is scheduled to participate in the Upper State Golf Tournament at Brookstone weather permitting
• Dixie Youth Baseball… Weather and field conditions permitting, Sports Radio 1410 WPCC is scheduled to bring some Dixie Youth action this afternoon. 

LDHS:

•  Spring football practice continues today.

Laurens Academy:

• Softball: Lady Crusaders 18 – Anderson Christian 0…  Last Friday afternoon the Lady Crusader softball team clinched the region championship with an 18-0 win over Anderson Christian in 3 innings… The Lady Crusaders scored only 1 run in the first inning and 17 in the second inning in a game that was called after 2½ innings due to the 15 run rule after 3 innings that SCISA uses… The Crusaders manufactured those 18 runs on just 5 hits as they were aided by Anderson issuing 11 walks, 3 hit batters and committing 2 errors almost all of which came in the 2^nd inning when the Crusaders sent 23 batters to the plate… Carmen McGee picked up the win giving up only 2 hits while striking out 5 and walking none… Click on the following for more game statistics: 2013-5-3_SB_LA-18_Anderson-0   Click on the following for a game scorecard: 2013-5-3_SB_LA-18_Anderson-0_scorecard   The Lady Crusaders are scheduled to close out their regular season tomorrow at Ben Lipton … weather permitting
• Baseball: The Crusader baseball team was scheduled to begin the upper-state playoff series today at 6:00 with a home game against W.W. King… However all the rain has forced them to postpone the series opener until tomorrow at the earliest… For those of you Crusader fans who will not be able to attend tomorrow’s game I have some good news… We plan on bringing it to you here on Real Radio 860 WLBG and streaming live on the internet at www.wlbg.com. 

Pro Baseball:

Atlanta Braves:

• On Friday the Braves losing streak went to 3 games as the N.Y. Mets defeated them 7-5 in 10 innings…
• The Saturday game suffered the same fate as many outdoor activities this weekend- it was rained out..
• Then yesterday the Braves ended their losing streak with a 9-4 win over the Mets… The Braves scored 5 runs in the 3^rd inning and coasted to the win… Freddie Freeman and Reed Johnson drove in 3 runs each in the win… Tim Hudson picked up his 4^th win of the season… The Braves now start a long road trip with their 1^st stop in Cincinnati to start a 3 game series with the Reds tonight.

FYI / Community Interest:

• Spring football practice is taking place at LDHS on May 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15. The Raiders will be working on installing their new triple-option offense under the direction of Coach Lawson and his new offensive coordinator Coach Jay Brannon. The annual Spring Game and Powder Puff game will be May 16. See the posting in the Between the Lines section at wlbg.com for more details.

• Donations Needed: If you have any good used exercise bikes or elliptical machines they have a need for them at LDHS.. They also can olympic weights and dumbbells for the weight room.  If anybody in the community has any of these items that are “collecting dust” and in your way and would be willing to donate them, they can use them. They will of course come out and pick them up. If you have any of these items contact call LDHS at 682-3151 and tell them what you have and they will pass the message on to Adam Howell, strength & conditioning coach.
• Coupon Book For Sale… As you may or may not know, the athletic budget at the local high schools provided by the district often does not cover all the items needed to run an athletic team and coaches often have to look for other sources of income to make ends meet. The LDHS football program is no exception to that dilemma… This coming year they must replace or refurbish all helmets due to the 10 year rule, new uniforms are needed and the coach’s sideline communication system used to confer with the assistant coaches in or around the press box must be replaced… All this takes money not in the normal budget… To help pay for these the football team is selling a coupon book for $20 that has over 50 coupons to various local businesses.. One coupon in the book offers a free oil change and tire rotation from a local dealership that is alone worth well over $20… Coach Lawson will have these at all the home athletic events this spring and you can also get one by calling his office # 683-3360 and leaving a message… They also have them in them available in the main office at LDHS… If you get the chance, purchase one, I did.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to reports scores, please contact me via email at: sports@wlbg.com or text me at 864-981-3470.

Real Radio 860 WLBG Sports Report:  5-3-13

Welcome this is your Real Radio 860 WLBG sports for Friday and it’s brought to you Presbyterian College Athletics… Exams have finished and the PC athletic teams get back in action this weekend… The baseball team will be at NC State and the softball team will travel to Charleston Southern for their final regular season series… You can keep track of these and other PC athletic events at www.GoBlueHose.com.

Local sports:

CHS:

• Tennis: The Red Devil boys 1^st round tennis playoff match with the Emerald Vikings that was scheduled for yesterday will be played on Monday at 4:30 at the Red Devil Courts. 
• Track: Good luck to the Red Devil track athletes who will be headed to the state qualifying meet this weekend… For a list of those athletes, see my Sports Report for Monday (3-29-13) this week. 

LDHS:

•  Region Golf Tournament… The Region I-AAAA golf tournament was held earlier this week over in Anderson… T.L. Hanna finished 1^st shooting a 592… Hanna’s Graham Farmer was tournament medalist with a 140… Easley finished 2^nd – 604, Hillcrest 3^rd – 622 and Greenwood 4^th – 634… These teams will move on to state qualifier next week… Laurens finished 6^th shooting a 666… Ryan Wright had the low score for the Raiders as he shot a 157…  Other Raider scores were: Justin Thomason 159, Jonathan Finley 169, Nick Brown 181 and Erick Dominic 193… Click on the following for complete match details: 2013_1_4A_GOLF_RESULTS
• Want to wish the Raider track team members who will be heading down to Spring Valley to participate in the state qualifying track meet tomorrow Good Luck.. See my sports report for yesterday to see which athletes will be making the trip down to Columbia tomorrow.

Laurens Academy:

• Softball: The Lady Crusaders will be having their last home regular season game today at 5:00 as the host Anderson.
• Softball 5-1-13: Yesterday I told you that the Lady Crusaders defeated King Academy on Wednesday 10-1 but that I did not have much information other than the score… Thanks to Coach Muir I now have some… Click on the following for the box score and other statistics: 2013-5-1_SB_LA-10_King-1  Click on the following for the game scorecard: 2013-5-1_SB_LA-10_King-1_scorecard  [Read more...]