High school sports, April 29: No-hitter lifts Battery Creek in softball playoffs

Alexis Ortiz spun a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Battery Creek scored seven runs without a hit in the fifth inning, cruising to an 11-0 victory over Wade Hampton in Thursday’s Class 2-A softball playoff opener.

Ortiz went five innings and faced just one batter over the minimum, issuing a fourth-inning walk. The Dolphins, winners of 17 of their past 18 games, next face Andrews in a noon Saturday home game.

Battery Creek needed just three hits to put the game out of reach, taking advantage of seven walks and nine hit batters. Kyleigh Peeples accounted for two of the Dolphins’ hits, including a solo homer in the third inning. Emily Crosby added a single.

Bluffton 7, West Florence 3: Taylor Gleason’s two-run homer in the first inning staked the Bobcats to an early lead as they captured their Class 4-A playoff opener.

Kylee Gleason and Lilli Otten also drove home runs for Bluffton, which added five runs in the fifth with the help of three West Florence errors and a passed ball. The Bobcats advanced to a Saturday game against the Stratford-River Bluff winner, with their opener postponed until Friday.

Silver Bluff 19, Whale Branch 2: Nya Simmons and Chyla Simmons drove home runs as the Warriors dropped into the loser’s bracket of the Class 2-A tournament.

Whale Branch trailed only 4-1 through four innings until Silver Bluff put seven runs on the board in the fifth. The Warriors host Waccamaw in an elimination game Saturday.

BASEBALL

Hilton Head Prep 7, Hilton Head Christian 3: Reese Irwin scattered three hits over 4 2/3 innings and homered in a three-run sixth as the Dolphins won a showdown for the SCISA 2A Region IV crown.

E.J. Churchich added a double and drove home a run for Prep, which won despite mustering just four hits. The Dolphins also stole six bases, three by Gavin Hurlbut.

John Blackshire and J.D. Monts each had two hits to pace Hilton Head Christian.

Barnwell 12, Whale Branch 0: Irvin Mulligan singled twice for two of the Warriors’ three hits as Whale Branch fell to the loser’s bracket of the Class 2-A tournament.

Thomas Felver also singled for the Warriors, who travel to Andrews for a Saturday elimination game.

Edisto 10, Battery Creek 5: Edisto used a five-run third inning to take command, sending the Dolphins to a Class 2-A elimination game Saturday against Lee Central.

BOYS’ TENNIS

Hilton Head Christian 4, Bluffton 2: Cameron Clark, Alex Likins, Davis Phillips and Charles Michael tallied straight-sets victories in singles as the Eagles won their regular-season finale.

Ryan Chafer and the doubles team of Dom Rodriguez and Stone Aerni picked up wins for Bluffton, which opens its Class 4-A playoff run next week vs. South Florence.

BOYS’ SOCCER

Beaufort Academy 4, Hilton Head Christian 0: Thomas Roddey scored twice and David Mathai earned the shutout in goal as BA won for the 14th time in 15 games.

Ryan Muniz scored a goal and assisted on another, while Jacob Dalton’s goal completed the BA scoring.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Hilton Head Christian 5, Beaufort Academy 2: Emily Bailey scored twice as the Eagles clinched a spot in the SCISA playoffs. Josie Frazier, Sydney DeSimone and Allison Meeder added a goal apiece.

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "High school sports, April 29: No-hitter lifts Battery Creek in softball playoffs."