— Several members of the Carolina Mudcats were treated at a hospital early Tuesday when a bus taking the team to Myrtle Beach, S.C., crashed on a road in Columbus County, county officials said.

According to Kay Worley, the county's emergency services director, the wreck happened at about 3:45 a.m. on Clarendon Chadbourn Road near the North Carolina-South Carolina border.

Trooper M.E. Campbell with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, said the bus ran off the road into a ditch and flipped. Driver Janice Coffman, 52, of Vinton, Va., was charged with exceeding a safe speed.

Thirty-three people were on the bus at the time of the wreck, and seven players and a team trainer were taken to a hospital in Whiteville following the wreck. A spokesman for Columbus Regional Healthcare System said all eight were treated and released.

"Everyone has been released. No broken bones," said Joe Kremer, the team's general manager. "For something like that, we're about as lucky as you can be."

Kremer said some players could miss games, but none of the injuries was serious.

Pitcher Tyler Brosius, a former quarterback for North Carolina State University, suffered a concussion. Another player suffered a dislocated finger.

Mudcats Director of Communications Greg Young Jr. said he was awake just before the crash happened.

"All of a sudden, the driver started to yell. She knew it was coming up. I looked up and saw the corner coming," he said. "The next thing I knew was we were skidding, essentially. The bus just tipped over on its side. Everyone that was on the driver's side ended up falling across the aisle into the passenger side."

Pitcher Joe Odom said he was asleep when the bus ran off the road.

"The first thing that kind of woke me up was when we went off the road, and then it was all kind of quick," he said. "I remember kind of coming to, and my back was on the actual ground, which was the window and now it's the floor."

Another pitcher, Lucas Simms, said the scene on the bus was hectic.

"About 20 seconds after I walked out of the bathroom, I was standing on some seats, and the next thing I know, I was thrown to the side, and we stop moving," he said. "Just constant chaos broke out."

Pitcher Justin Jackson said he feels as if his best friend, Phillip Byrd, who was killed in a plane crash in Atlanta last Friday, was watching over him and his teammates.

"I just know Phillip was there looking over us. Without a shadow of a doubt, he was there," Jackson said. "I mean, we drive off the side of the road going full speed and slide that far, and we have a couple concussions and a dislocated finger and that's it. I know that God's got us and my little guardian angel Phillip was there for us."

Virginia-based Abbott Trailways owns the bus that crashed, but a review of federal records shows the company has a good safety record. It recently received one of the highest ratings possible from the government.

Kremer said Abbott provides charter buses for about two dozen minor league teams.

"They travel three-quarters of our league, most of the Eastern League, a lot of the AAA (teams) and South Atlantic League," he said. "This is something they do on a regular basis. You know, they have a good track record. Unfortunately, this wasn't such a good evening."

The Mudcats, a Class-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, left Salem, Va., Monday evening after defeating the Red Sox 3-1 at LewisGale Field.

The team spent a few hours at the Columbus County emergency management center until a bus could come from Myrtle Beach to take them to their hotel there. Tuesday night's game against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans was postponed, and a date for the make-up game hasn't been decided.