On the brink of baseball history, an SC city shines with pride through team’s long journey
The easy thing to do would be leaving Wednesday night’s championship match up between North Myrtle Beach and Catawba Ridge thinking it was simply a baseball game.
Because doing so would discount the hundreds miles logged by North Myrtle Beach’s players as they chugged across the vast 4A region en route to to their first ever shot at a title.
It doesn’t take into account the grandparents and Grand Caravans that followed the Chiefs from Bluffton to Haymarket, Va., as they ran to a 22-6 record and ended the season ranked as the state’s ninth best team, regardless of size.
The team took the first of a three game series on May 22, beating the Copperheads 5-3 on their home field in Fort Mill.
“It’s hard to explain how it’s caught fire,” said Jeff Beshears, whose grandson Luke Roupe, a 6’4” sophomore, took the mound on his home field May 24 as North Myrtle Beach look to clinch in front of their own.
That didn’t happen - Catawba Ridge took the 4-1 win keyed by a third inning, two-out double that plated two — but the enthusiasm never faltered.
Officials brought in extra bleachers to accommodate what was expected to be a record crowd at The Hank — North Myrtle Beach’s home field.
“We was at Fort Mill. Everywhere they’ve been, we’ve been. We haven’t missed a game all year,” said Steve McCormack, whose grandson Allen worked through the middle innings.
Throughout the game, the PA system blared anthems like Eminem’s “Not Afraid,” and “Staying Alive” by The Bee Gees.
In football frenzied South Carolina, Horry County’s hardballers are for now tamping down that talk.
Aynor High School’s softball team topped Dillon 8-1 last week to take the Class 3A Lower State championships and find itself in a 1-1 tie with Iva for the statewide title.
North Myrtle Beach’s loss on Wednesday snapped a six-game winning streak stretching back to April 26.
“They play good baseball. All these kids have really grown up together playing Little League, rec ball, and it’s been great to see them become young men,” Beshears said. “The community is pulling for them.”
Chiefs fans were ready with heckles and jeers for calls they felt umpires missed, and some of that even poured over to the Catawaba Ridge players.
In the top of the seventh, McCormack caught Catawba Ridge’s Britton Nash trying to steal third, getting him out easily with a casual toss.
As Nash rounded back to his dugout, a Chiefs fan yelled, “nice baserunning!”
Unfazed, Nash pointed at the scoreboard showing his team winning and joined his teammates.
The deciding game three is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Hartsville High School.
