COLUMBIA – In a weekend defined by speed and milestones, Blythewood High School’s track and field program made a statement at the 31st annual All-American Track and Field Classic. Competing in a field of 72 elite teams from as far away as Delaware and Barbados, the Bengals’ girls team emerged as overall champions.
The All-American Classic is recognized nationally as a ‘gold standard’ meet that serves as a recruiting hub for Division I coaches. Standing atop the podium, Blythewood’s girls became the first South Carolina school to claim the overall title since 2019. The Bengals tallied 51.25 points to outshine 71 other schools, including runner-up Mallard Creek (NC), which finished with 42 points.
Both the girls’ and boys’ 4×400-meter relay teams from Blythewood not only finished in first place at the meet, both squads set new state records.
In the girls relay, the quartet of Olivia Taylor, Alexandra Francique, Hayley Hightower, and Peyton Hightower took first place with a time of 3:45.71, almost six full seconds ahead of second place St James Academy’s time of 3:51.31. This performance marks the fastest time ever recorded by a South Carolina high school girls’ 4×400-meter relay team.
BLYTHEWOOD – For the first time in a little while, the Blythewood baseball team put up a big number early in a game.
The Bengals put up six runs in the first inning, three more in the second, and held on to beat Sumter 10-4 in the team’s first game since a 4-0 showing over Spring Break.
“I feel like we’ve been down seven out of our last 10 games, and somehow we figured out a way to come back and win one,” head coach Travis Poole said.
Blythewood starting pitcher Johnny Collins, who struck out nine and one-hit the Gamecocks through 4 2/3 innings, pitched a scoreless first inning.
“He had a good start but he did not look sharp at all,” Poole said, noting four hit batters and a walk. “He hit too many, he walked too many, he gave too many free bases.”
Poole, while glad to see his team break out the offense early, also noted the team’s two errors in the second inning that cost the Bengals two runs.
“We talked about that a lot,” he said. “Anytime you allow a team free bases, you allow a team to get back in it.”
The Blythewood offense, however, got enough runs across to avoid a meltdown. The Bengals (18-2, 9-0 Region 4-5A) took their first at-bat of the game and kept on swinging.
Sergio Melendez led off with a single. After Navy Strickland struck out, Amare Counts, Brandon Bolton and Johnny Collins hit three straight singles, which gave Blythewood a 2-0 lead.
After those scores Andrew Blackwell drew a walk and Chance Johnson’s single drove in Jack Campbell and Kwan Tambrella, courtesy runners for Collins and Bolton.
Caleb Blackwell flied out, but Cooper Penfield drew a walk and Melendez, batting for the second time in the inning, hit a line-drive single to centerfield and scored Johnson and Andrew Blackwell.
That hit spelled the end for Sumter starting pitcher Marion Davis. Brode Stanfield got Strickland to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
The Gamecocks (8-8-1, 6-1) picked up two runs in the second, after Collins hit leadoff batter Morgan Love and Bodie Bowden and D.J. Collier reached base on infield errors. Jacori Jackson hit a one-out single to score Bowden and Love.
“The key thing is, when you get somebody down you want to put ‘em away. That’s the only thing I’m a little disappointed about us tonight,” Poole said. “You jump on a team 6-0, especially a good team like that, you’ve got to put them away, and I just think we took it for granted and eased through the game.”
Collins stopped the rally by striking out Larry Johnson and Joseph Chapman to retire the side.
The Bengals took a 9-2 lead with one out and the bases loaded on walks in the second when Counts scored from third base on on a passed ball as Chance Johnson batted. Johnson then cleared the bases with a 2-run double.
Caleb Blackwell struck out and Cooper Penfield grounded out to end the inning, but Blythewood held a 7-run lead.
Sumter scored a run in the fifth and another in the sixth inning.
The Bengals scored their 10th run in the bottom of the firth, when Penfield tripled and scored Caleb Blackwell, who led off the inning reaching base on an error. Melendez then flied out to M McDaniel in left field, and McDaniel fired the ball to third baseman Brady Ardis, and Ardis relayed the ball to Gavin Rivers behind the plate, who tagged Penfield out to complete the double play. Counts lined out to end the fifth.
Chase Rollings relieved Collins with two out in the fifth, and Bowman Rummel was on the mound to start the sixth inning. The three pitchers combined to 6-hit Sumter and strike out 10.
Poole knows the team has to keep on working on timely hitting and keeping opponents from getting on base with walks, hit batters, and errors. In the midst of a 15-game winning streak, Poole emphasizes his team’s strengths
“The resilience of the kids, I think I’ve told everyone about them,” he said. “They play hard, they practice hard, and they pull for each other no matter who’s on the field. Sometimes that’s a good sign of a team that has a chance to win a game, when the chemistry is good.”
Blythewood baseball travels to Sumter Thursday then plays host to Lexington for a nonregion matchup Friday.
Blythewood – 0-6-0-0-0-0-0 – 6-7-2
Greenbrier – 0-0-0-0-0-0-0– 0-1-0
WP: Bowman Rummel, 7 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 6K.
B – Johnny Collins 3-4, 2B. Brandon Bolton 2 RBI. Navy Strickland 2 RBI. Amare Counts 3B.
Blythewood – 0-0-5-1-0-1-0 – 7-6-1
Hanahan – 0-0-1-0-0-5-0 – 6-9-2
WP: Andrew Blackwell, 4 IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 5K.
B – Johnny Collins HR, 3 RBI. Navy Strickland 2-5. Chance Johnson 2-4. Sergio Melendez 2B.
H – Hudson Sprovero 2-3, 2B. Wyatt Muirheid 2-2, 2B. Tripp Gallus 2-5. Richard Atencio 2B.
Sumter – 0-2-0-0-1-1-0 – 4-6-1
Blythewood – 6-3-0-0-1-0-X – 10-10-2
WP: Johnny Collins, 4 2/3 IP, 1H, 3R, 1ER, 1BB, 9K.
S – Larry Johnson 3B. Morgan Love 2-3.
B – Sergio Melendez 2-4, 2 RBI. Johnny Collins 2-3. Chance Johnson 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI. Cooper Penfield 3B.