Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008 1:44 PM
Updated Tuesday, March 25, 2008 1:46 PM

 

Green Wave edges out Panthers

Two Summerville teams slugged it out in the first round of the Hanahan Invitational Tournament Monday.

The Green Wave varsity baseball team edged out Pinewood Prep by an 8-6 margin at Hanahan High School. Both teams showed they meant business early in the rare meeting between the 4-A public league Summerville school and the Panthers, a 3-A SCISA school. Fueling the competitive spirit of the contest was the fact that several players who last season wore the green and gold of the Wave now dress in the blue and white of the Panthers.

"We've played Pinewood before in tournaments, but it had been a few years," Wave coach Burt Bazzle said. "Tonight definitely had a different flavor to it. They have some hitters and made a game of it. It was exciting."

Some former Wave players helped Pinewood jump out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After Chris Morgan singled, Laquan Gilliard came up to bat and received his first of two base on balls when he was hit by a pitch. Alex Doucet followed with a double that plated Morgan. Taylor Wall  then stepped to the plate and drove in Gilliard with a grounder.

Summerville answered in the bottom of the frame. Branden Millhouse led off with a walk, which Zach Dibble followed with a double. Pat Dolan then plated Millhouse with a sacrifice fly. Aaron Bouronich reached on a single that drove in Dibble to tie the game. Bruce Haynes came in as a courtesy runner for the pitcher and later scored on an error for a 3-2 Wave lead entering the second.

Summerville added two runs in the third. After smashing his second double of the game, Dibble scored on a baulk. Then Grant Williamson drove in Haynes with a base hit for a three-point Wave lead.

PInewood answered in its next at bat. The Panthers loaded the bases on an error, a walk and a hit by Austin Heflin. Gilliard then reached on an error and drove in Jarius Schumann. Doucet followed with a two-run single that plated Heflin and another base runner to tie the score. After Wall  singled, Chris Askins walked, which plated Gilliard and gave Pinewood a 6-5 lead.

Summerville tied the game at 6-all in the bottom of the frame when Dibble drove in Tyler Veronee. The Wave then took the lead for good came in the bottom of the sixth. Dolan reached on a base hit and then scored off a Wheeler double for the game winner. Summerville's final run was scored by Haynes on a tag.

"I'm happy with our hitting, but I'm not happy that we had that one inning where we gave them too many outs and let them get back in the game," Bazzle said.

Summerville improved to 5-3 on the season with the win while Pinewood dropped to 7-5.

Sophomore Tyler Fletcher went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Wave. Dibble, Dolan and Bouronich were all 2-for-4. Dibble reached base three times and scored two runs while Bouronich reached four times. They both had an RBI. Dolan relieved Bouronich in the top of the fifth and allowed no hits while striking out three batters and walking five.

For Pinewood, Doucet was 2-for-4 at bat with a double, a walk and three RBIs. Heflin, Gilliard and Schumann all reached base three times.

Fort D

The Fort Dorchester varsity opened the tournament Monday with an 11-1 victory over St. Edmund out of Brooklyn, N.Y. Freshman Ryan Villareal had the hot stick for the Patriots (3-6), having three hits including a double and a grand-slam homerun. He had eight RBIs on the evening.

Ryan Hall was 2-for-3 for the Fort and Alex Christmas was 2-for-2. Hall picked up his first win on the mound this season, surrendering only one hit in the game.

"We are a very young team this year," Fort coach Jack Radcliffe said. "But, we are working hard in practice and getting better. I think this is definitely the team of the future and we aren't out of the region race just yet."