Pee Dee Academy hosts softball tournament

BY CHRIS LANE

Sports Correspondent

There comes a point in every team’s season, or maybe even in their history, where they have to make a bold statement. For Pee Dee Academy, that was last week. A baseball and softball program that have yet to claim top prize, faced off in some big match-ups that could build a bridge to bigger things, or put a huge knock on their psyche and morale.

The baseball team took the first cuts of the week against an up and coming King’s Academy squad. The Knights, who play many underclassmen in the field, are very young and just did not have the overall talent to hang with the blue and gold for long.

 Kevin Thomas took the mound for the Golden Eagles in the first game and went about dismantling the opponent's batters one by one. Meanwhile, the Pee Dee offense was led by Cody Gibson, Jamie Estes and Charlie Fincannon, who all got big hits in the 10-0 victory.

The second game of the double-header was more of the same. Dennis Moore picked up the 4-0 shutout win in this one for Pee Dee. Moore also got the bats going with a shot to right field for his second home run of the year.

The big test, however, was Friday as the Golden Eagles traveled to Marlboro. Last year, the last playoff spot came down to these two foes with Pee Dee coming through on the last at-bat. In this contest, such dramatics were not needed.

Moore was again on the hill and, again, he was dominant, giving up only 4 hits while striking out 4 in six innings. He would also blast a two-run bomb in the third inning for his third homer of the year.

Following with the bats were Jimmy Sanders and Brett Hester, who both had 2-for-4 days at the dish.

“This was a big test for us and we came through. The line-up was hitting from top to bottom for probably the first time this year,” coach Hugh Collins stated after the win. “I hope that we can build on this win and really start to play well. Our conference is wide open and it is about time for PDA to wear the belt.”

 This upcoming week, the Golden Eagles will play two big region games at home, hosting Marlboro on Thursday and Byrnes on Tuesday, April. 22.

Wes Daniels’ softball team is the defending region champions, but this past weekend, they took their play outside of conference to host a 4-team tournament with Lake View High School, Mullins High School and Carolina Academy from Lake City.

Game one saw the Golden Eagles and the Auctioneers battle it out for county rights. Pee Dee jumped on top of their visitors quickly. Caroline Shelley’s two-run double was the big blow in a first inning that resulted in three runs for the early lead.

In the third, they blew the game wide open, scoring seven times. Two walks, two Mullins errors and consecutive RBI singles from Summer Collins and Kelsey Dozier put it out of reach. Pee Dee would win the county battle, 12-3, with Christen Bucy picking up the win while allowing only 4 hits.

 The second game of the day put the Golden Eagles against the Wild Gators of Lake View. Summer Collins pitched masterfully in this one. Shelley again came up with the big hit, a two-run double in the third that had the home team up 3-1 after three and a half complete.

But, in the bottom of the fourth, the Pee Dee defense got shaky. Three singles by Lake View were aided by two errors and it allowed the Gators to take a 4-3 lead.

 The final would be 5-3 Lake View in a game that the Golden Eagles played brilliantly, but simply let get away.

Their final game of the round-robin competition put Pee Dee versus an old rival in Carolina Academy. These two have had their share of memorable duels on the diamond, but the Golden Eagles took care of business in this one with a 7-2 thrashing of the Bobcats.

 The game was a 2-2 tie in the fourth before the Eagle Train got rolling. Summer Collins got on base, then Jessi Black and Jeffre Rogers followed with back-to-back singles, then Alex Pittman got an RBI while drawing a walk with the bases loaded. Alex Powers then sent the ball to shortstop, where an error allowed two more to come in for a 5-2 Pee Dee lead.

 In the fifth, Rogers two-run double scored Collins and Black for the final margin.  Bucy got the win in this game, allowing only three hits and no earned runs while striking out a pair.

Play continued with the Golden Eagles and Auctioneers on the field for a second go-round. But, Mother Nature took over and had seen all the softball she wanted to on this day. The skies opened and the tournament ended after a rain shower and with Pee Dee ahead 5-0 in the third.

The softball team's record is now 14-4 and 2-0 in region play after a 9-2 win over Marlboro this past week. The team will pick up play Thursday against Marlboro at home, then will travel to North Myrtle Beach on Monday, April. 21 and host Byrnes on Tuesday, April 22.