Both Catawba Ridge and Fort Mill boys’ golf teams qualified for their respective state tournaments next week, while Nation Ford missed out by just three strokes.
Catawba Ridge finished third in the 4A Upper State golf tournament held at Fort Mill Golf Club Monday. The Copperheads shot 320 as a team in the 18-hole tournament to be one of the top eight teams in the field to qualify for the 4A state tournament, which will be held at Dolphin Head Golf Club on Hilton Head May 17-18.
AC Flora won the 4A Upper State tournament with a 291, while Greenville was second with a 301. Lancaster was three strokes behind Catawba Ridge in fourth with a 323.
“I felt like we played well,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Mickey Joslin. “The course was in great shape and it helped being our home course. I think we can definitely do better, but it’s good to know we have the ability to do well in big situations. Very proud of my guys and how they played and now we move on to states.”
Catawba Ridge was led by Nolan Will who shot a two-over par 74, which was followed by a four-over par 76 from OT Mitchell. Hunter Warren finished with an 80 and both Emerson Hill and Parrish Fox each finished tied with a 90.
In the 5A Upper State tournament at Chester Golf Club, Fort Mill finished tied for sixth with Hillcrest as they both shot a 314. Boiling Springs won the 5A Upper State tournament with a 297 as a team. Despite playing the course last week in the Region 3-5A tournament, those teams in that tournament shot higher scores this week despite better weather conditions.
“It was a different golf course today,” said Fort Mill head coach Judd Dye. “It was better weather, but it played tougher. We didn’t play our best, but the goal was to just move on.”
Fort Mill was led by Griffin Tarver, who shot a two-over par 74. Cam Baker was behind him with a 79 and Erik Zeppelin finished with an 80. Bryce Wittmer rounded out the scoring for the Jackets with an 81. Fort Mill will move on to the 5A state tournament May 17-18 at the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence.
The cutoff line for qualifying was a 316 with TL Hanna getting the eighth and last spot from the Monday tournament. Nation Ford shot a 318 to finish ninth overall.
“The 318 is our best score all year,” said Nation Ford head coach Amelio Rodriguez. “It just wasn’t good enough today. It is disappointing. It hurts.”
The Falcons were led by Gabe Schmitz with a two-over par 74 and a 77 from Ben Mills. Ben Wakefield finished with an 80 and Justin Wosje finished with an 87 for Nation Ford. Schmitz qualified as an individual and will be playing in the 5A state tournament next week representing the Falcons. Nation Ford almost had two individuals qualify for the state tournament as Mills lost in a playoff after the 18-hole tournament finished.
Soccer
The Catawba Ridge girls’ soccer team beat Eastside 1-0 in double overtime in the 4A Upper State championship Monday night as Emma Sexton scored the only goal of the game off an assist from Kyleen Bents. The Copperheads will take on James Island in the 4A state championship Saturday at 4 p.m. at Irmo High School. Catawba Ridge is now 15-1 overall on the season.
The Nation Ford girls’ soccer team lost to the JL Mann Patriots 1-0 in the 5A Upper State championship on the road in Greenville Monday night. The lone goal of the game for the Patriots came in the first half and was enough to keep the Falcons on the wrong end of things. Nation Ford finishes their season at 14-6 overall.
Softball
Fort Mill finished out their regular season schedule with a 9-2 win over Lancaster Monday to improve to 13-3 overall. Ava Balsinger went 4-4 with a home run and two RBI and Maddie Drerup went 3-4 with an RBI to lead the Jackets. Ally Hall pitched a complete game to get the win allowing just two runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out nine.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
