Editor’s Note: Blythewood battled to stay alive against Byrnes High School in the District 4 tournament on Wednesday. Scores were not available prior to The Voice’s press deadline. Byrnes got the 7-4 win and eliminated Blythewood from playoffs. They finish the season 17-6. See more in the May 16 issue of The Voice.
GREENVILLE – Blythewood softball opened play in the SCHSL 5A State Tournament on the road last Wednesday, and they returned to Blythewood victorious.
The Bengals defeated Hillcrest in a 9-5 thriller, scoring four of their nine runs in extra innings.
Blythewood got on the board in the top of the first after Josie Smythe singled to score two runs. An Ashley Duncan fielder’s choice scored a third run, then an RBI single from Gabby Cook put the Bengals up 4-0.
Hillcrest scored one in the bottom of the first and added two more in the third and fourth innings.
Blythewood went up 5-3 in the top of the sixth with a single from Molly Wolf, which scored Keeley Hughes, who drew a leadoff walk.
Hillcrest tied the game at five in the bottom of the seventh after a Blythewood error.
Hughes singled to lead off the eighth inning. Hughes advanced to third when the Hillcrest catcher made a fielding error off of a Gabby Cook bunt. With runners on first and third, Raygan Segars singled on a bunt to the pitcher.
Neilah Browne singled to left to score one and reload the bases. With two outs, Maya Van Zyl drew a walk to score Segars. Smythe singled on a hard ground ball to score Browne and go up 9-5.
Hillcrest got runners on first and second in the bottom of the frame, but Blythewood’s Lily Zell ended the inning with a strikeout, her ninth of the game.
Blythewood faced Byrnes on Friday in the second round. The Rebels jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. They held the Bengals scoreless through seven while adding four of their own runs in the fourth and sealed the game with two more in the fifth. Blythewood lost 9-0.
The loss to Byrnes dropped Blythewood into the elimination bracket, where they faced Hillcrest again on Tuesday. Another thriller, but this time Blythewood didn’t need extra innings to take the win over Hillcrest.
The Bengals put up three runs in the first, second, and third innings and outlasted Hillcrest with a 9-8 final.
The win pitted them against Byrnes again on Wednesday. The winner of the double-elimination District 4 tournament moves into the Upper State bracket. Upper State play begins May 10. 5A State Finals will be a three-game series beginning May 20.
BLYTHEWOOD – 4-0-0-0-0-1-0-4 – 9, 11, 4
HILLCREST – 1-0-1-1-0-0-2-0 – 5, 9, 1
WP: Zell
BHS: Smythe 2-4, 3 RBI. Browne 2-4, RBI. Ford 2-5. Hughes 2-3, 2B. Cook 1-4, RBI. Segars 1-4. Wolf 1-4, RBI. Van Zyl RBI. Duncan RBI.
BLYTHEWOOD – 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 – 0, 6, 3
BYRNES – 3-0-0-4-2-0-X – 9, 9, 0
WP: Wiant
BHS: Van Zyl 1-3. Hughes 2-2. Segars 3-3.
BLYTHEWOOD – 3-3-3-0-0-0-0 – 9, 10, 1
HILLCREST – 1-1-2-0-4-0-0 – 8, 10, 1
WP: Zell
BHS: Ford 3-4, 2B(2), RBI. Van Zyl 2-3, 2B, 4 RBI.. Hughes 1-3, 3 RBI. Smythe 1-4, RBI Browne 2-4. Cook 1-4.
