High school roundup: Northwestern’s John Gilreath chucks no-hitter

Like any pitcher tossing a no-hitter, Northwestern’s John Gilreath got plenty of defensive help from his Trojan buddies Wednesday night in a 13-0 win over Spartanburg.

Jeff Taylor caught a ball in the right field gap on the edge of his glove, the snow cone catch even sweeter considering it saved a no-no. And first baseman Andrew Shipman barged through a fence on his side of the field to make another out. Catcher Brandon Ashley made the final big play, backing up a ball thrown away at first to hose the runner, who made a greedy turn toward second base before trying to dive back to first base.

Gilreath, a left-handed junior committed to South Carolina, struck out five. Three errors prevented a perfect game, but Gilreath and the state’s No. 1-ranked Trojans had no problems brushing aside the Vikings in five innings. Two of the errors came in the first frame of the home opener but Northwestern got out of the inning with a double play ball.

“Just mowing them down after that,” Ashley said.

“Filling up the zone, just hitting your spots,” Gilreath said.

“That was the biggest thing, was hitting the spots,” Ashley added.

Both agreed that bright new lights at the Trojan baseball field may have helped. Not that Gilreath noticed after the first inning. After each inning he’d talk to coaches before heading down to the bullpen where he slipped on his sweatshirt and watched Northwestern’s batters in silence. After Ashley’s final out, Trojans piled on top of their ace to celebrate.

“John puts in the work pitching,” Ashley said. “He goes about his job and gets it done.”

BASEBALL

Lancaster 12, Indian Land 11

Lancaster edged Indian Land 12-11 in a non-region game at Lancaster Wednesday night.

Sergio Vasquez drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Lancaster the victory.

Vasquez, Logan Phillips, Jamias Shropshire, J.P. Cunningham, Evan Hardin, and C.J. Brown each had two hits for Lancaster, which outhit Indian Land 16-10.

Daniel Gueldner and Matt Murray led Indian Land with three hits each. Murray drove four runs for Indian Land.

SOFTBALL

Northwestern 6, Blythewood 1

Bre Chambers tossed a four-hitter and Northwestern topped Blythewood 6-1 in a non-region game at Blythewood Thursday night.

Chambers struck out seven and did not walk a batter. Chambers and Maggie Section each had two hits to lead Northwestern at the plate.

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Bre Chambers and Jessica Lamb; K. Parker and S. Hall. WP- Chambers. LP - Parker. 2B - Bre Chambers (N), K. Parker (B).

Leading hitters: Northwestern - Maggee Section 2-2, RBI, Bre Chambers 2-3, RBI, Izzy Shellnut 1-3, 2 RBI; Blythewood - K. Parker 2-3, RBI.

Records: Northwestern 2-1, Blythewood 1-1

Lewisville 15, Whitmire 1

Lewisville pounded out 18 hits and routed Whitmire 15-1 in a non-region game called after five innings at Whitmire Wednesday afternoon.

Chloe Thomas picked up the win. She worked five innings, striking out seven and allowing only one hit.

Lewisville is 2-0 on the season.

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Whitmire;000;10;-;1;3;5

WP- Chloe Thomas. LP - R. Kendrick. 2B - Codi Horne, Emily Morton (L). 3B - Stacie Rollins, Ivy McCall (L).

Leading hitters: Lewisville - Codi Horne 1-2, Alexis Odum 1-2, Chloe Thomas 3-4, 2 RBI, Emily Morton 4-4, 3 RBI, Abby Thomas 3-3, RBI, Tori Ernandez 3-4, 2 RBI, Ivy McCall 1-2, RBI; Whitmire - K. Jenkins 1-2, T. Peay 2-2, RBI.

Byrnes 7, Clover 3

Byrnes got 11 hits and toppled Clover 7-3 in a non-region game at Byrnes Wednesday night.

Tiffany Domingue led Clover with two hits, including a home run, and drove in one run. Candace Callaway added a double and two RBI.

Kayla Ogle took the loss as Clover dropped to 1-1 on the year.

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BOYS’ SOCCER

Rock Hill 2, St. Joseph’s 1

Rock Hill scored a goal in each half and edged St. Joseph’s 2-1 in a non-region match at St. Joseph’s Wednesday night.

Rock Hill is 6-1-3 on the year.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Fort Mill 2, Cox Mill 1

Fort Mill scored two goals in the final 10 minutes and edged Cox Mill 2-1 in the Queen City Classic at Providence Day Thursday afternoon.

Fort Mill is 7-1 on the year.

BOYS’ TENNIS

Fort Mill 4, Lancaster 3

Fort Mill won two singles and two doubles matches and edged Lancaster 4-3 in a non-region match at Fort Mill Wednesday afternoon.

Singles

No. 1 - Apoorva Mehta (FM) def. Isaac Thomas 6-0, 6-1; No. 2 - Connor Palmeri (L) def. Matt Sandford 2-6, 6-2, 10-6; No. 3 - Avery Hinkle (L) def. Josh Hall 2-6, 6-4, 10-5; No. 4 - Conner Parman (L) def. Jacob Frye 3-6, 7-5 (5), 11-9; No. 5 - Zach Dodson (FM) def. Zack Onisick 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles

No. 1 - A. Mehta/Z. Dodson (FM) def. Thomas/Palmeri 6-2, 6-0; No. 2 - Ty Mullis/Wade Havnaer (FM) def. Jake Hudson/Jacob Sapp 6-2, 6-1.

BOYS’ GOLF

Nation Ford 169, York 181, Clover 186

Nation Ford won a three-way non-region match over York and Clover at Spring Lake Country Club in York on Thursday afternoon.

Landon Joye of York turned in a 37 to earn medalist honors for the match.

Nation Ford - Grant Bridges 41, John Moss 42, Reed Strawman 43, Daniel King 43.

York - Landon Joye, 37, Tyler Ellis 43, Bryson. Benfield 47, Josh Austin 54.

Clover - Austin Walker 43, Chris Whitesides 45, Alyssa Campbell 49, Elliot Zinzer 49.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 3:47 PM with the headline "High school roundup: Northwestern’s John Gilreath chucks no-hitter."