By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer | garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com
With the end of the regular season fast approaching in the next two weeks, the Woodruff High School spring sports teams were back on the fields, courts, course, and track after a much-needed spring break respite. Across the board, the Wolverines performed well, with each team advancing closer to a postseason berth. Here is a look back at the week that was for Woodruff Wolverine spring sports.
Baseball Stars in Series Win over Mountain View Prep
The Woodruff baseball team won its three-game series over Mountain View Prep, defeating the Stars 7-1 in game one and 3-2 in the third contest. While the Stars did win game two, the series win helped the Wolverines stay firmly in the top two spots in the region. Ashton Mock picked up the win during the Monday game, with junior shortstop Kayden Barnaby knocking two doubles at the plate. On Friday, senior Connor Hitchcock tossed six sterling innings of one-run ball to get the win, with Connor Kelley earning the save. Woodruff is 15-7 on the season and 6-3 in conference play, headed into their final region series against struggling Union County.
Softball Takes Two
The Lady Wolverines’ softball team won both of its games last week, taking down Broome in a thriller, 4-2, in a region match-up before blistering 5A J.L. Mann 16-1 on Friday. Sophomore Danica Simmons earned the win with a complete game effort against Broome, with Alexis Mock and Kara West having big nights at the plate. Against the Centurions, young left fielder Harrison Rhodes also came up big with two unbelievable catches to help turn away the Centurions. Against Mann, it was all offense, all the time. Jaylen Means pitched a gem, allowing just one unearned run, but the bats did a ton of damage. Means helped herself, going 2-2 with a double. Mock, Ruthie Sheffield, and Mary Ellis Mitchell each had two hits, and Taylor Lambert belted a long home run and drove in three. Rhodes added a triple and drove in four runs. Woodruff finished with 16 hits, and every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit. Six of the nine players in the batting order had two or more. The Lady Wolverines improved to 12-5 with the win and are 4-1 in region play.
Boys Tennis Finishing Strong
The Woodruff boys’ tennis team fell to region frontrunner Chapman last week, but is close to wrapping up a solid second-place conference finish after shutting out Mountain View Prep, 6-0. The Wolverines are 7-3 on the season and 5-2 in region play and are amid their best season in several years. Expect the team to make some noise in the upcoming postseason.
Boys Soccer Headed Towards Region Tiebreaker Game
The boys’ soccer team started last week by utterly demolishing Broome by a 12-1 score, one of the widest margins of victory in the history of the program. And on Friday, the Wolverines once again did battle with Greer Middle College whom they previously defeated on penalty kicks after regulation and two overtimes failed to decide an outcome. This time, the game was a virtual repeat of the preview meeting, with both powerhouses once again going into a second overtime. This time it was the Blazers who came out on top, scoring in the second extra period to win 2-1. That sets up a likely tiebreaker game at a neutral site in the coming weeks to decide the region champion. Woodruff enters this week with games against Mountain View Prep and Chapman, both whom they previously defeated handily, and are 12-2 on the season and 6-1 in conference play.
Girls Soccer Wins a Thriller
The young Lady Wolverines’ soccer team won a thriller last Tuesday, defeating Broome 1-0. Nallely Perez scored the only goal of the game for the varsity squad in the win. The team also played one non-region game over spring break, blanking Laurens 7-0. Woodruff did fall to Greer Middle College 3-0 on Friday, but played well in a rematch with the Blazers. The Lady Wolverines are currently third in the region standings but have all but locked up a spot in the 3A playoffs.
Track and Field Performs Well in Spartanburg County Meet
The Woodruff track and field teams competed in the Spartanburg County Invitational meet against every other school in the county, with multiple Wolverines finishing in the top 15 of several events, a strong performance against hundreds of competitors.
On the boys’ side, Landon Johnson finished 11th in the 200-meter dash finals, which Malachi Thompson finished 14th. Skylar Barker finished 11th in the 400-meter. In the high jump finals, Aiden Gibson finished fifth overall with a terrific jump of 1.83 meters. In the long jump, Rhylan Renfrow and Jaylen Lyles finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Kieran Goodman and Barker finished 11th and 12th in the triple jump. In the pole vault, the Wolverines’ highest finisher was Nathan McConnell, who came in second overall with a personal best vault of 3.51 meters. Paul Davis finished 13th in the discus throw while Quinn Barnett and Dyonne Hall went 10th and 11th in javelin. Daniel Haas, Max Knight, and Dawson Clevenger each finished in the top 15 of the shot put.
On the girls’ side, several Lady Wolverines also fared well against a talented field of competitors. Kyoni Elomore finished fifth in the high jump finals with a mark of 1.42 meters, while Larson Abrams tied for 10th in the event. Jordan Robinson finished fifth in the triple jump with a score of 10.62 meters. In the pole vault, Alyssa Dolquist finished second with a jump of 2.9 meters, and Sobie Duncan placed eighth with a 2.29-meter vault. Emma Stubbs’ throw of 30.05 meters placed her sixth overall in the discus event. In javelin, Alexis Baldwin placed seventh overall with a throw of 28.35 meters, and Stubbs also finished eighth in the shot put with a launch of 9.78 meters.
Golf
In their most recent match, the Woodruff golf team fell in a close contest to Mid Carolina in a one-on-one contest with only the Wolverines and Rebels competing. Woodruff shot 189 as a team and were led by Addison Davis with a solid score of 43. Hunter West (47) and T.J. Morris (49) also shot under 50. Rounding out the Wolverines’ lineup were Lake Smith with a 50 and Jackson McCarley with a 52. The Wolverines have two matches this week.
Author: gmitchell85
