Prep Talk

All-Region VIII-AA baseball honors

Brandon Young’s big junior season included plenty of accolades.

The Aynor infielder can add the Region VIII-AA player of the year honors to his list. He earned the nod from region coaches after hitting .478 with 29 runs, 11 RBI and five home runs.

Young, who split time between first base, shortstop and second base for the Blue Jackets, was also named to the Class AA All-State team last week.

All-Region VIII-AA girls soccer honors

Waccamaw midfielder Jessica Preedom was named the All-Region VIII-AA girls soccer player of the year after scoring 28 goals and adding eight assists in 19 games for the Warriors this season. The freshman also helped the team to the Class AA Lower State semifinal, and she was one of eight Waccamaw players to earn all-region honors.

Aynor’s Melissa Holland was named the Region VIII-AA coach of the year.

The region coaches did not specify first-team, second-team, etc. Rather, the selected players were named in one group list.

Newest SCHSL proposal moves Socastee to Class AAAA

The growth at Socastee High School is going to shift the landscape of the local sports scene again.

Rumored for more than a year to be headed for the state’s largest classification, the most-recent enrollment figures have the Braves doing just that beginning in 2014. Socastee will join other Grand Strand schools Carolina Forest and Conway in Class AAAA, and their proximity makes all three likely region foes beginning for the next two-year block. Specific region realignment won’t be determined until this summer.

Schools have until June 1 to dispute the newest average daily membership figures or submit hardship waivers to prevent possible moves.

However, it appears what was long expected to happen at Socastee will occur.

All-Region VII-AAA baseball teams

St. James senior and College of Charleston commitment Anders DeShields was announced as the Region VII-AAA baseball player of the year Thursday. St. James' Robbie Centracchio was also named the region's coach of the year.

DeShields, who helped lead the Sharks to the region title and a berth in the district championship series, batted .394 with 15 RBI for St. James this season. His bigger impact, however, was on the mound. There, he was 6-1 with a 1.24 ERA with 55 strikeouts. It completed a torrid run he had in a little less than two full seasons with the team after transferring from Byrnes as a junior.

DeShields was joined on the all-region first team by Sharks teammates Trent Revis and Skylar Hays. Other members of the first team include Myrtle Beach's Brandon Dorsey and Wilson Wicker; Socastee's Hunter Renfrow, Dylan Thompson and Buck Bacot; and Georgetown's Seth Wall and Riley Jordan.

Updated high school playoff schedule (through Friday's games)

The spring sports season is officially winding down for most area schools. Coaches are packing up gear, preparing for banquets and starting to reminisce about the seasons that were.

That is, for all but the few who are still playing.

On Saturday, boys tennis will officially end its team seasons (the state individual finals will take place next week), and boys soccer will cut its list of teams in each class down to four. Meanwhile, over in Columbia, several area athletes will be competing in the state track and field meets at Lower Richland High School.

Event finals for the various classes start at 9 a.m. Saturday morning and run throughout the day.

Updated high school playoff schedule (through Thursday's games)

Not since the days of Ashley Czechner dominating the state's softball scene has Waccamaw been this close to playing for a state title.

The Warriors, with a new crop of players, have peaked at exactly the right time. Coach Scott Streiffert's team has won its first five playoff games by a combined score of 48-8. Tonight, though, the Warriors will be more than thrilled with a 1-0 victory over Dillon.

One win - out of a possible two games - will push Waccamaw to the Class AA state finals, which begin Monday. But the Warriors know all to well that overlooking Dillon would be costly. These teams have played four times this year already. The Wildcats won the first and third games (that latter of which was a one-game playoff to determine postseason seeding), while Waccamaw won the second regular season meeting and last Friday's Lower State tournament opener.

The lone remaining Grand Strand baseball teams are also working toward advancing at least one more time. Loris is heading to Bishop England. There, the Lions will have to win two games tonight in order to move on to the Class AA finals. Socastee will play at James Island this evening in what is essentially the Lower State semifinal. The winner of that game heads to Airport Monday for the Lower State finals.

Updated high school playoff schedule (through Wednesday's games)

The list of Grand Strand teams still alive for state titles took a bit of a hit Wednesday evening, but plenty more still have high hopes.

Thursday night, the three Region VII-AAA boys soccer programs - Socastee, Myrtle Beach and St. James will play second-round playoff games, and given the opponents, another trio of victories from these three teams would further prove exactly how strong this region has been all season.

Socastee will play James Island at 6:30 at home. It will pit the Braves, No. 2 in the most-recent statewide rankings, against the team currently ranked No. 12. Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head are Nos. 6 and 3, respectively, in the statewide AAA rankings. And No. 11 St. James will head to No. 5 Brookland-Cacye.

In other words, those three games represent a Who's Who of Lower State boys programs.

Updated high school playoff schedule (through Tuesday's games)

We're down to four baseball and softball teams still alive in their respective postseasons, and tonight could be the end of of the road for three of them.

Socastee baseball and softball and Loris baseball are facing elimination tonight in the Lower State playoffs. Their goal is to win tonight and make it to the next stage of the bracket. For Loris baseball, a victory this evening would move the Lions in the Class AA Lower State finals, to be played Friday at Bishop England.

For the two Socastee teams, it would move them to the de facto Lower State semifinals. All three squads have had already tremendous seasons, but they're not ready for them to be over just yet.

Also in the mix tonight is six girls soccer teams who for the most part all had impressive showings Monday in the first round of the playoffs. The four Region VII-AAA teams - which won their first-round games by a combined score of 31-0 - move into the advanced stages of the bracket. The competition level is about to jump considerably.

All-Region VII-AAA girls soccer teams announced

Myrtle Beach senior Mary Beth Hervig was named the Region VII-AAA Girls Soccer Player of the Year, the region coaches announced Tuesday.

Hervig helped lead the Seahawks to a No. 2 playoff seed and an impressive 10-0 victory over Crestwood in the opening round. She was one of five Seahawks named to the first teams. Joining her were Cassidy Posma, Tori Zeltner, Angela Hervig and Temperance Russell.

North Myrtle Beach had three players named to the first team, including goalie Katie Carr, defender Emily MacNear and forward Ashley Robinson. Socastee had two selections – midfielder Margaret Scalise and defender Breana Russell – while St. James’ Jenny Breeden capped off the list.

Socastee’s Alkis Leftis was named the Region VII-AAA Coach of the Year.

All-Region VII-AAA boys soccer teams announced

Not to anyone's surprise, Myrtle Beach senior and Presbyterian College signee Mason Lewis has been named the Region VII-AAA Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Lewis piled up had 22 goals and 15 assists during the regular season for the Seahawks. Tonight, he'll lead his team into the postseason with a home game against Lakewood. He was one of four Myrtle Beach players named to the All-Region VII-AAA first teams, being joined by Zach McMillan, Nolan Butler and Arly Barr.

Additionally, Socastee - which beat out the Seahawks for the region title and a No. 1 playoff seed - also put four players on the first team. Braves players Connor Norton-Baker, Will Caswell, Dimitri Leftis and Matt Trimby were all named to the first team. Third-place St. James had two players selected (Connor Sloan, Chris Rice), with Wilson's Jacques Matthee taking the final spot.

Socastee's Memo Suarez was named the Region VII-AAA Coach of the Year.

Updated high school playoff schedule (through Monday's games)

Boys soccer will join the playoff fray this evening, with seven area teams making their initial appearance in their respective postseason.

And without a doubt, the Grand Strand teams from Region VII-AAA are ones to watch. Socastee won the region title, but keep in mind that Myrtle Beach was ranked No. 1 in Class AAA for more than five weeks and St. James spent nearly the entire season ranked in the top 15.

All three teams have the potential to make a deep playoff run, given the right match-ups.

"We have a tougher path, but sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns," Myrtle Beach coach Jason Himmelsbach said. "We did it two years ago. If we had a young team, I’d be worried. But with 11 seniors, I feel pretty good."

Socastee and Myrtle Beach will open at home, while St. James will head to Crestwood.

Updated playoff baseball, softball schedules (through Saturday's) games)

Five Grand Strand baseball and softball teams are still alive for state titles. Socastee and Loris baseball and Socastee, Waccamaw and Green Sea-Floyds softball will either start or continue their respective Lower State tournament appearances Monday or Tuesday.

The Waccamaw softball team will have to wait until tomorrow after the Silver Bluff field sustained plenty of extra water during this weekend's storms across the state. Should the Warriors win that game, they will advance to Friday's Class AA Lower State final.

Loris baseball will also reach its Lower State final with a victory Monday evening, while the Socastee baseball and softball teams are playing their first game in this round of the playoffs.

Green Sea-Floyds softball - which lost Saturday to Johnsonville to open the Lower State tournament - must win out in order to avoid elimination.

We'll update any potential delays as necessary.

Updated playoff baseball, softball schedules (through Thursday games)

Seven area teams will vie for a shot in their respected Lower State tournament this evening, while a pair of teams are doing last-minute prep for their appearance in Lower State.

Dillon's prom is Saturday night, so the Wildcats' opponents - Grand Strand representatives Loris baseball and Waccamaw softball - agreed to play them tonight instead.

Friday also had a chance to turn into one heck of an evening for both Socastee and St. James. St. James spawned off of Socastee less than a decade ago. Yet tonight, both school have both their baseball and softball teams playing for district titles. The Sharks will have a slightly more uphill path, as they will be on the road. Socastee's two clubs, meanwhile, will have two opportunities to win one game in order to advance.

Georgetown softball is also looking to get back to the Lower State tournament - a place they've been plenty in the last handful of years - and Carvers Bay and Green Sea-Floyds softball are the last teams competing for the Class A, District VI title. The winner of that game will open the Lower State tournament at home on Saturday against Johnsonville.

Updated playoff baseball, softball schedules (through Wednesday's games)

The Grand Strand lost a number of it's baseball and softball teams Wednesday night, but there are still 14 squads in the mix for district championships.

Some of those will be decided tonight. On the softball side, Andrews will head to Waccamaw, while two of the Warriors region foes - Aynor and Dillon - will play for the third time this season for another berth in the Class AA Lower State tournament.

In baseball, one of the two biggest surprise teams of the Class AA playoffs, Loris, will attempt to advance to Lower States. The Lions and Upper State Andrew Jackson at the lone No. 4 seeds to be hosting district finals.

Updated playoff baseball, softball schedules (through Tuesday games)

Tuesday night presented some interesting results for area baseball and softball teams. More importantly, the hopes of a state title remained alive for 22 of the 23 Grand Strand squads that qualified for the postseason.

In baseball: Myrtle Beach punched in a bunch of runs in a 9-5 win over Hanahan. St. James baseball fell to Brookland-Cayce 6-5 in nine innings. And Conway kept its season going with a quality win on the road at Richland Northesast.

In softball: St. James made an emotional day for coach Adam Jones end on a high note. Hours after attending the funeral of his grandfather in Charlotte, Jones drove to Moncks Corner and watched as the Sharks defeated Berkeley on a three-run, seventh-inning home run from Hannah Price. Myrtle Beach also won on the road, as the Seahawks defeated James Island.

Those, and many other games, brings us to Wednesday. The Carolina Forest softball team is hoping to be the first area squad to qualify for the Lower State tournament. The Panthers will play Bluffton with two chances to win one game in order to advance. Conway baseball will be playing at South Aiken, needing two wins to advance to the Class AAAA Lower State tournament. The Tigers' contests will be broadcast on htcconnect.com.

Following a large number of rainouts Monday and Tuesday, teams are hoping for better luck tonight.