Roger Lee/Journal Scene

Beaufort base runner Chris Waters barely got in under this tag from Summerville’s Jeffery Kindard.

Roger Lee/Journal Scene

Diamond Wave center fielder Jamel Paige throws to double up a runner at first.

Roger Lee/Journal Scene

After diving for the ball, Diamond Wave center fielder Jamel Paige holds his glove up for the umpire.

Roger Lee/Journal Scene

Diamond Wave third baseman Brian Peagler tries to catch a runner off the bag.

The Diamond Wave seniors were hoping to remain in second place in the league with a win Monday but Beaufort hurler Chase Gould wouldn’t have it.

Gould only allowed four hits in seven innings while striking out eight batters to lead the Osprey to a 9-3 win in Summerville. Beaufort improved to 6-1 in the league standings while Summerville fell to 3-4 and into third place. But Wave skipper John Hayes says the race is just heating up.

“We have a lot of ball left to play,” he said. “We have five games just this week. This game was winnable but we just haven’t shown that extra gear that once we shift into will allow us to put games away.”

After giving up a run in the top of the first, the Wave bounced back in the bottom of the frame. Jamel Paige got things going with a walk and then stole second and third. Matt Chapman drove him in with a groundout. Gabe Craven followed with a single, but was left stranded when Gould struck out the next batter.

Summerville took the lead in the second. Starting pitcher Trey Young reached on a single and was then plated with a base hit from Kyle Crowder. However, Gould only allowed one more hit before being relieved in the eighth and the Osprey had a big offensive inning in the middle of the game.

In the top of the fifth, Renier Huysamen reached on a single, moved over on a hit by Weldon Smith and then came home to tie the game on a hit by Weber Pike. The Osprey then added runs off a ground out, a single by Matt Witt and a Summerville error for a 5-2 lead.

Errors and walks were costly for the Wave in the late innings and Summerville couldn’t get anything going with the exception of a solo homerun by Andre Collum in the bottom of the eighth. That was the only hit Beaufort reliever Hurn Berto surrendered in the final two innings.

The top four teams in the league will make the state playoffs so Summerville is very much still in the hunt.

“All the rain has hurt our momentum, but it has hurt other teams as well,” he said. “We are going to learn about this team’s dedication in the next couple of weeks because we have a ton of games coming up. We have a good squad, but we have to cut out the mistakes.”

However, Hayes says the playoffs aren’t what the program is all about anyway.

“Really, my job is to help these players improve,” he said. “We have a couple of players in college right now so we want them to stay active; we have a couple of others who I think should move on to the next level so we want to help them along; and all these young players, we want to help them improve so they can help out their high school teams.”

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.

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