It was Another Successful Week for Woodruff Athletics
By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer | garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com
As spring break approaches and the spring sports season races past its halfway point, the action is heating up on the fields, court, and track for Woodruff’s athletes. This past week was another successful one for Wolverine varsity sports. Here is a look at the week that was and how the Wolverines performed.
Softball
The Lady Wolverines’ softball team had a big week, going 3-0 and breaking out with an offensive explosion. Woodruff defeated Fountain Inn 14-4, Chesnee 10-7, and Mountain View Prep 12-5. Mary Ellis Mitchell, Taylor Lambert, and Kara West had big weeks at the plate. Mitchell hit grand slams against Fountain Inn and Chesnee and drove in nine runs in those two games. ambert was 6-9 against Fountain Inn and MVP, combined with a double and two runs driven in. Against MVP, West finished 3-4 with four RBI and four stolen bases while Alexis Mock went 4-5 with four runs scored. In the circle, sophomore Danica Simmons picked up the win against Fountain Inn and MVP with two complete game efforts. Fellow sophomore Jaylen Means got the win against Chesnee, allowing just three earned runs. Woodruff improves their record to 9-6 and 2-1 in region play.
Baseball
The Woodruff baseball team continued their run of success, going 2-1 on the week that was. Woodruff blasted Blacksburg 11-0 last Monday as Connor Kelley pitched a no-hitter. Last Wednesday, in the first of two games against 2A powerhouse Landrum, the Wolverines trailed 1-0 going into the top of the seventh inning before erupting for four runs and taking a come-from-behind 4-1 win. Last Wednesday’s victory over Landrum was the ninth win in a row for Woodruff. In the Friday game against Landrum, the Wolverines did experience their first loss in almost a month, falling to the Cardinals 6-1. Woodruff baseball enters this week with a 12-4 overall record and is 3-0 in Region 3- 3A play.
Boys Soccer
The Wolverine boys’ soccer team finished 2-0 on the week. Besides their thrilling win in a penalty kick shootout over top-5 ranked Greer Middle College, the Wolverines obliterated Mountain View Prep 8-0 last Friday night. It continues an impressive role for the Woodruff boys as they improve their record to 9-1 and 4-0 in conference play entering this week. The Wolverines have two contests this week before having a week off for spring break. They take on Chapman at home on Tuesday in a region match-up and host High Point Academy at home on Thursday.
Girls Soccer
The young Lady Wolverines finished the week 0-2, but for a squad that starts six freshmen, they played well against Greer Middle College, which is also highly ranked in girls’ soccer. Woodruff fell in that contest 6-3. The Lady Wolverines rallied from a 4-0 halftime deficit to cut the score to 4-3, but unfortunately could not get closer. On Thursday, Woodruff fell to 5A powerhouse Hillcrest in a non-region contest. The Lady Wolverines are 4-6 overall and 2-1 in region play.
Boys Tennis
The Woodruff boys’ tennis team suffered its first loss of the season last week against Chapman, but in a match that head coach Elise McGill called some of her team’s best tennis of the season against the powerhouse Panthers. Chapman won the overall match 5-1, but McGill noted that every player in the line-up for the Wolverines played with hustle and intensity. Number five singles player Jayden Lanford won his match for Woodruff.
Track and Field
The Woodruff track and field teams competed in two meets last week. On Tuesday against Chapman and Union County, both Wolverine teams finished in second place ahead of Union County. On Thursday, both teams traveled to Landrum to compete against Landrum, Blue Ridge, and Blacksburg. In that meet, the ladies finished third and the boys in second place.
In the Tuesday home meet, Woodruff boys took the top four spots in the 1,600-meter (one mile) race. Jayden Day finished first with a time of 5:28 and was followed by Josh Terczak, Aiden Lawson, and Sam Ringold. Wes Newsome won the 3,200-meter race for the Wolverines with a time of 12:27. In the team 4×400-meter relay, the Woodruff boys won that event. The Wolverines also dominated in the pole vault, with Nathan McConnell taking first place with a jump of 3.05 meters (approx. 10 feet). Daniel Haas finished first for Woodruff in the shot put with a throw of 12.84 meters (45 feet 1 inch). Quinn Barnett finished first in the javelin competition with a throw of 41.20 meters (135 feet 2 inches).
In the women’s meet, Jordan Robinson and Alexis Easterling finished one and two in the 100-meter sprint. Robinson also won the 200-meter spring race with a time of 27.01 seconds. Sydnee Cothran and Reese Abrams finished first and second in the 3,200-meter race with Cothran logging a time of 13:36. The Lady Wolverines won the team 4×800-meter relay race as well. Alyssa Dolquist and Callie Adams went first and second in the pole vault with respective marks of 2.6 and 2.3 meters. Jordan Robinson won the triple jump with a distance of 10.12 meters (33 feet 2 inches). Emma Stubbs won the shot put with a throw of 10.28 meters (33 feet 8 inches). Stubbs also won the discus throw with a distance of 32.6 meters (106 feet 11 inches). Finally, Alexis Baldwin and Stella Harrison finished in the top two spots of the javelin throw. Baldwin launched a throw of 26.47 meters (86 feet 10 inches).
Author: gmitchell85
