Cheek no-hitter sparks Gamecocks to senior night sweep

Anthony S. Puca Sports Editor
Posted 6/17/20

It was high school senior night on Tuesday at the Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Babe Ruth Field in Lewisburg as the Beavers took on the Gamecocks in a 16-18 year-old division doubleheader.

Carson Cheek stole the show in game one, tossing a no-hitter in a close 3-0 win for the Gamecocks.

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Cheek no-hitter sparks Gamecocks to senior night sweep

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It was high school senior night on Tuesday at the Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Babe Ruth Field in Lewisburg as the Beavers took on the Gamecocks in a 16-18 year-old division doubleheader.

Carson Cheek stole the show in game one, tossing a no-hitter in a close 3-0 win for the Gamecocks.

Cheek struck out 10, walked one, and hit one Beavers’ batter in the contest.

The Beavers only had three runners reach base in the game with Cannon Cervantes reaching on a first inning error, Thomas J. Beardsley was beaned by Cheek in the third inning, and Luke Terry worked a fourth inning walk.

Spence Oliver turned in a solid game on the mound for the Beavers as he went the distance, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six and issuing three bases on balls.

Marshall County High School senior Preston Shelton had big double header Tuesday night for the Gamecocks, going 5-for-8 at the dish with 3 RBIs and the Columbia State Community College signee picked up the win on the mound in game two.

In the first game, the Gamecocks opened the scoring in the tight knit contest in the bottom of the second inning when Austin Grubbs walked and stole second base before coming around to score on a Logan Courtemanche base hit that was compounded by an outfield bobble that allowed Grubbs to score standing up.

Oliver worked his way out of a two-on, two-out jam in the bottom of the third inning with back-to-back strikeouts to end the stanza.

The Beavers threatened to score in the top of the fourth when Terry drew a one-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and moved to third on a stolen base.

Cheek came up with a big strikeout for the second out and Terry was left stranded at third base when Kyrklin Wunderlin scooped up a ground ball and threw to Braden Bowyer at first base for the third out.

Bowyer stroked a one-out single to right in the bottom of the fourth inning, but was erased on a 4-6-3 inning ending double play by the Beavers.

Cheek set down the Beavers 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth and the Gamecocks rallied with two outs in the home half of the inning when Logan McKnight drew a base on balls and stole second base.

Peyton Graves singled to left field and stole second base to put runners on second and third when Shelton delivered his third hit of the game with a two-run single to center field.

After Shelton’s hit, the game ended on the predetermined hour and half time limit.

Shelton picked up the win on the mound for the Gamecocks in the second game of the twin bill, giving up three runs on three hits and striking out five and walking one in 3.1 innings of work.

The Gamecocks scored a pair of unearned runs in both the first and third innings off Beavers’ starting pitcher Connor Lewis before the Beavers came up with three runs on just one hit in the bottom of the fourth to make it a one-run game.

The Gamecocks added three more runs in the top of the fifth inning on back-to-back-to-back RBI singles by JW Beasley, Grubbs, and Bowyer before Martin Methodist College signee Walker Whaley came in from the bullpen to get the final two outs.

The Beavers rallied in their last at bat in the bottom of the fifth as Dawson Brumit singled, Naomi Hopper walked, and Colton Barber reached on an error to score Brumit to make it 7-4.

Hopper came home on a wild pitch to make it 7-5 and Courtemanche came to the mound for the Gamecocks and put out the fire, retiring the next three batters in a row to complete the sweep and pick up the save.

Game One

Beavers 000 00-0 0 2

Gamecocks 010 02-3 7 1

Beavers: No Hits.

BB: Luke Terry.

ROE: Cannon Cervantes

HBP: Thomas J Beardsley

SB: Cervantes 2, Beardsley, Terry.

Team LOB: 3

Fielding

E: Cervantes, Dawson Brumit.

DP: Walker Whaley 2, Colton Barber, Brumit 2.

LP: Spence Oliver (5IP, 7H, 3R, 2ER, 6K, 3BB).

Gamecocks: Preston Shelton 3-for-3, Peyton Graves 2-for-3, Braden Bowyer 1-for-2, Logan Courtemanche 1-for-2.

BB: Austin Grubbs, Kyrklin Wunderlin, Logan McKnight.

RS: Graves, Grubbs, McKnight.

2B: Shelton.

RBI: Shelton 2, Courtemanche.

ROE: Cheek.

GIDP: Courtemanche.

SB: Shelton, Grubbs, Graves, Wunderlin, McKnight.

PIK: Wunderlin.

Totals

Team LOB: 4

Fielding

E: Wunderlin.

WP: Carson Cheek (5IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 10K, 1BB).

Game Two

Gamecocks 202 03-7 10 3

Beavers 000 32-5 4 3

Gamecocks: Preston Shelton 2-for-3, Austin Grubbs 2-for-3, Logan McKnight 2-for-3, Peyton Graves 1-for-3, Carson Cheek 1-for-2, JW Beasley 1-for-2, Braden Bowyer 1-for-2.

BB: Cheek, Beasley, Kyrklin Wunderlin.

RS: Graves 2, Shelton 2, Cheek, Beasley, McKnight.

2B: Logan McKnight

RBI: Bowyer 2, Shelton, Grubbs, Beasley.

ROE: Shelton, Graves.

HBP: Bowyer.

SB: Shelton.

Team LOB: 8

Fielding

E: Bowyer 2, Shelton.

DP: Graves, Bowyer.

WP: Preston Shelton (3.1IP, 3H, 3R, 1ER, 5K, 1BB).

Relief: Peyton Graves (0.2IP, 1H, 2R, 1ER, 0K, 4BB).

Save: Logan Courtemanche (1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1K, 0BB).

Beavers: Luke Terry 1-for-2, Caleb McElhaney 1-for-2, Dawson Brumit 1-for-2, Spence Oliver 1-for-2.

BB: Cannon Cervantes, Walker Whaley, Thomas J. Beardsley, Naomi Hopper, Connor Lewis.

RS: Cervantes, Brumit, Hopper, Oliver, Bryson Whaley.

RBI: McElhaney.

SAC: Barber.

ROE: Terry, Barber.

HBP: Whaley.

GIDP: Beardsley,

SB: Brumit 2, Oliver, Lewis.

PIK: Terry.

Totals

Team LOB: 4

Fielding

E: McElhaney, Hopper, Brumit.

LP: Connor Lewis (2.1IP, 4H. 4R, 0ER, 3K, 2BB).

Relief: Hayden Duke (2IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 3K, 0BB).

Relief: Walker Whaley (.2IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2K, 1BB).