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By: Jay Hendrix The Batesburg-Leesville spring sports teams are off to some impressive starts and have already locked up a region championship in boys tennis. The Panther baseball team is off to a hot start this season. The Panthers have opened the season 10-3 overall and 3-3 in Region 3-AA play. The Panthers, coached by Rob Bouknight , split with highly regarded Fox Creek last week with the Panthers winning 11-4 at home. Sophomore, Braydon Hallman picked up the win in the contest as he went 5.1 innings and struck out seven while allowing just three earned runs. Hallman was also a leader at the plate going 2-3 with three RBI while junior Gavin Parrish drove in two. On the season the Panthers are led by senior Cole Price with a .420 batting average to go with three doubles, two triples, a home run and 16 RBI. Hallman is second on the team with a .385 average five doubles, a home run and also has 16 RBI. Juniors, Carter Bouknight and Tanner Watkins are both hitting at a .364 clip with Parrish right behind at .357 and he also has a home run. Hallman leads the team with a 4-1 record on the mound to go with a 1.79 ERA with opponents batting just .198. Another senior, Tucker Bolen , has been holding opponents to a .169 batting average while raking up a 3-2 record with a 2.18 ERA. Bouknight has been the go to man out of the bullpen as he has two saves on the season to go with a 1.00 ERA. The boys tennis team claimed their third straight Region 3-AA title as they swept Fox Creek to improve to 7-2 on the season. The Panthers are led by senior Hollis Ruff at the number one seed followed by Gavin Penny, Liam Truitt, Anthony Holmes Jr., Dillon Jordan, Riley Kirkland and Nate Cook . The boys soccer team is also having a hot start under first year head coach Logan Koon . The Panthers are now 8-2 overall and 5-1 in Region 3-AA. The Panthers have swept Fox Creek and Silver Bluff while splitting with Strom Thurmond. With two region games remaining with Pelion the Panthers are in position to claim a conference championship. The Panthers have been led by senior Abner Madrid who was the Region 3-AA player of the year last season. The strong senior class also features goalkeeper Felipe Juarez-Diaz , midfielder Jorge Torres and defenders Tanner Fulmer and Griffin Ledford and Brian Hinson-Hernandez . Sophomore Angel Garcia Gerardo leads the team in goals. The Panthers Track and Field have been getting better on the track as well as the teams have several athletes that will be in contention for region championships and will make noise in the state meets. The Panthers’ throwers have been solid with Keira Frye winning meets in the discus and shot put for the girls while Ja’Quan Corely and Travis Gates have also won in the same events for the boys. The boys distance runners have been special as well with Cade Long, Brayan Villasecca-Torres, Eric Gambrell and Wyatt Dismukes competing in the 800, 1,600 and 3.200 events. McKenzie Dozier is an all-around athlete who competes in the sprints as well as the long jump and while Callie McDougal has been competitive in the 100 and 400 meter hurdles. The Panther softball team is showing promise as they are led by a young core as they are 5-8 overall and 1-5 in region play. The Panthers did knock off rival Gilbert 7-4 on the road recently for their biggest win of the season to go with their 10-5 win over Silver Bluff for their lone region win. Eighth grader Kate Shealy has been a star for the Panthers as she is batting .484 to lead the team to go with a home run and nine RBI. Junior Zoey Rowe is batting .424 with eight RBI while senior Laiken Brock is batting .348 with sophomore Cailyn McCleskey batting .320 and another eighth grader, Lexie Davis batting .310. Shealy and junior Riley Bouknight have split the pitching duties equally with Shealy leading the team with 32 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched. The girls soccer team had an extremely difficult schedule to open the season but battled to a 2-2 mark in Region 3-AA play as they knocked off Silver Bluff. The Panthers have been led by sophomore Madison Herbert who has been a scoring machine for the Panthers. The Panthers are also led by senior goalkeeper Reagan Minick who has signed with USC-Lancaster . The Panthers also get solid offensive production from Arden Etheredge and Caitlyn Sirtout while Jackie Villaseca, Josey Hand, Kim Balderas, Claire Cogdill and Angela Hernande z have played well on defense. The golf team was slow getting started on the season and dropped the opener to Mid-Carolina 181-189. The Panthers defeated Ridge Spring-Monetta before dropping a match with River Bluff. The Panthers are led by a core of sophomores in Nathan Ott, Jackson Shealy, Wyatt Hendrix and junior Carson Luckadoo. Newcomers Michael Hendrix and Skyler Frick will be looked to as they push the veteran group.
By: Jay Hendrix Special to HSSR Batesburg-Leesville wrapped up the basketball season with both the boys and girls teams finishing fourth in Region 3-AA. Both teams lost in the first round of the Class AA playoffs as the boys lost at Newberry and the girls fell at Saluda. The boys basketball team placed two sophomores on the All-Region team as guard Ta’Maj Gilliam and forward JR Stewart were both selected. Gilliam, who was a preseason All-Region projection, lived up to the hype as he finished the season as the team’s leading scorer with 15.6 points per game to go with 2.4 rebounds per game and 1.3 assists and steals per game. Stewart emerged during region play as a low post threat as he averaged 8.9 ppg and was second on the team with 4.2 rpg. For the girls senior forward A’Miracle Singley was the only selection. Singley led the team in rebounding with 8.8 rpg to go with 5.2 points. The Panthers leading scorer early in the season Zoey Rowe was lost for the season midway through the year while averaging 9.3 ppg. With the weather turning warming Panther fans are turning their attention to the spring sports. The only region championship in the spring in 2023 was the boys tennis team which has won back to back region titles. The Panthers are led by a returning quintet of all-region selections led by Region 3-AA Player of the Year Hollis Ruff who was 11-1 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs. To go with Ruff, Head Coach William Ash , has Gavin Penny, Liam Truitt, Anthony Holmes Jr. and Riley Kirkland returning after earning all-region honors last season. Expectations are high for the baseball team, under Rob Bouknight in his 12th season, as they return numerous starters from last season. Seniors Cole Price and Tucker Bolen return with Price playing shortstop/second base and pitching while Bolen’s versatility will see him in several spots including second base, outfield and pitcher. Price will split shortstop duties with junior Braydon Hallman , who was all-region last season, who will also pitch and play up the middle. Senior John Sawyer will anchor first base again with junior Tanner Watkins roaming centerfield with Michael Lorick, Brody Leaphart and Tyler Kneece also seeing action in the outfield. Gavin Parrish will hold down the hot corner of third base while Preston Smith will start at catcher. Carter Bouknight will also find time at pitcher with Watkins and Kneece. In softball Amber Hartley returns for her second season as head coach and will be looking to the veteran leadership of three returning starters; Riley Bouknight, Keslyn Fink and Zoey Rowe . Bouknight is a junior who will split time between pitcher and third base while Fink, a senior, will play in the middle infield at shortstop and second base. Rowe, a junior, will play leftfield. Senior Laiken Brock will take over the starting catching duties for a team that features numerous you players as these four players are the only juniors and seniors on the roster. The boys soccer team has opened the season 4-0 by outscoring opponents 16-2. The are led by Abner Madrid who was the Region 3-AA player of the year last season as well as three other returners who were all-region last season, Felipe Juarez-Diaz, Jorge Torres and Tanner Fulmer . They are joined by Brian Hinson to create a formidable team in Head Coach Logan Koon first season. The girls soccer team is coached by the veteran Bob Roudybush who is in his second season leading the girls team. The girls are young this season but will look to improve with senior goal keeper Reagan Minick , a USC Lancaster signee, leading the way. Jordyn Cushman was the Panthers only all-region selection last season and will return as a veteran leader to go with a core of Arden Etheredge, Claire Cogdill, Madison Herbert, Kim Balderas-Martinez and Jackie Villaseca-Balderas . In golf the Panthers placed 10th in the state and return all-region selection Nathan Ott. Junior Carson Luckadoo has shown improvement to go with sophomores Jackson Shealy, Wyatt Hendrix.
By: Jay Hendrix Special to the HSSR The Batesburg-Leesville basketball season is coming to a close and the 2023-24 season has been challenging as both teams have competed under new coaches. The boys are led by William Ash in his first year as a head coach while Ashley Enwright leads the girls program after serving as head coach at Palmetto and Crescent . The boys opened the non-conference slate with success as they went 5-4 prior to Christmas with wins over rivals Saluda and Gilbert . However, the Region 3-AA slate has been challenging for the Panthers as they have slipped to 8-9 overall and 1-4 in Region 3-AA play. The Panthers lone win in region play came against Pelion which puts the Panthers in fourth place with a chance for the Class AA playoffs. The Panthers are a young group and have been led by a host of sophomores. Ta’Maj Gilliam has been the Panthers leading scorer numerous times while JR Stewart , son of former All-State big man LaQuantis Stewart , has grown into a force in the low post, leading the team in rebounding. Two more sophomores Amadre Wooden and KD Whitt have also been instrumental for the Panthers along with junior Jamerius Clark and senior Amare Odom . On the girls side the Panthers finally picked up their first win as they too knocked off Pelion in conference play. The Panthers also defeated Horse Creek Academy last week to improve to 2-15 overall and 1-4 in Region 3-AA play and in contention for the playoffs as they are in fourth place in the five team region. The Lady Panthers are extremely young with two of their most senior players being out with injuries. Destiny Cyrus was the top returner from last season and has been out all season and Zoey Rowe suffered an injury in early January and has yet to return with just three games remaining in the season. A’Miracle Singley , who also saw playing time last season, has stepped up to help lead the team with her low post play. Singley leads the team in rebounding and last week led the Panthers with 13 in the win over Horse Creek Academy . Kadejah Blocker, Jamayah Maddox, Maddison Chavis and Jazmyn Kirkland have all shown tremendous improvement throughout the season. On January 5 th the basketball programs celebrated the history of the current gymnasium with a reunion for former players and coaches. Nine of the 11 living former coaches were in attendance as well as over 100 former players who were recognized between the girls and boys games. All returnees received a piece of the hardwood floor, which had been removed during a recent renovation, while the coaches received a larger piece showing their years as coach. The current gym opened in the fall of 1976 and has served as the home to B-L basketball teams for 48 years. During that span B-L won the 1988 Class AA state championship in boys basketball while also claiming the Class AA upper state championships in boys basketball in 1983 and 1987 as well as girls basketball in 1985 and 1988. The 2023-24 season marks the final season in the gym as a new gymnasium rises on the campus and will be the new home to Panthers basketball this fall. The current gym will remain a part of the program as a practice gym and PE gym and will also host a few tournament games on occasion but no more regular season games. The In realignment news the Panthers, with an enrollment of 481, will remain in Class AA . The Panthers will be in Region 2-AA with Strom Thurmond, Saluda, Pelion, Ninety Six, and new charter school American Leadership Academy out of Lexington .
Gray Collegiate, Oceanside Collegiate 1-2 In HSSR AA Pre-Season Ranking With Abbeville & Marion In The Hunt Also By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner — Year-end and year-out the AA football classification is perhaps the most competitive classification in the state of South Carolina and the 2023 season will be no different. The HSSR is honesly not trying to fuel anti “Charter School” issues by having sister schools Gray Collegiate (8-4) and Oceanside Collegiate (12-2) ranked 1 and 3 in AA in the pre-season. We are just simply following the information available to us. Rounding out the top five in the HSSR AA pre-season ranking is second ranked Abbeville , Marion is 4 th and consolidated Hampton County (Estill and Wade Hampton have merged) rounds out the top five in a very competitive AA field. The HSSR went face-to-face with Gray head coach Adam Holmes gazing out at the brand- new turf stadium on the school campus, being used for the first time by the soccer team in the upper state championship game on May, 8 th . Coach Holmes said that he and his staff were working out 65 varsity and junior varsity candidates during Spring drills at the time. “We are super excited to have our own facility now and we worked out on it earlier this afternoon before the soccer match,” said Coach Holmes, a Manning High graduate who went on to play football at South Carolina . “We only had five seniors on our team last year, so we do not really lose a lot.” One key player for Gray in 2022 was junior QB Riley Staton (6-2, 185) who passed for 2,126 yards and 24 touchdowns. Staton transferred to Gaffney after the season and he did not participate in Spring drills with the War Eagles. However, Gray will return six other players who were either AA all-state or all-region in 2022 that saw the War Eagles lose to Saluda 23-16 in the second round of the playoffs. Among the six next level prospects returning are senior OL J.T. Sowell (6-4,265) who is pledged to Appalachian State and he has been a four-year starter up-front. Speedy senior WR Zai Offord (5-10, 170) has several offers also. “Zai is a most electric player on the field with the ball in his hands,” said Coach Holmes. Any time you have your quarterback back after an outstanding junior season, teams are usually a leg up in offensive preparation. Thus, third ranked Oceanside Collegiate is fortunate to have the services of senior Edward Reidenbach (6-1, 190) who completed 131-of- 187 passes thrown for 2,012 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. Reidenbach was also a true dual threat, rushing for an additional 595 yards adding 19 rushing TD’s to the stat sheet. While the Landsharks better QB’s in AA, the 13 talented and graduated seniors they had on the team a year ago, accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the rushing yardage. On defense, the seniors made nearly 65 per cent of the tackles, as many of these players performed double duty as two-way starters. Oceanside will return five players from the state championship roster on offense and they have seven starters back on defense. Last year the team also had 10 juniors, 24 sophomores, and 8 freshmen on the championship roster. Oceanside returns three senior OL in the persons of guard Owen Millard , RT Ben Britton (6-3, 250), and guard Phen Johnson (6-2, 265). Highly regarded left tackle Monroe Freeling is now at Georgia where he is expected to see early playing time for the Bulldogs. Trey Brown (5-11, 220) will be a senior returning tight end. Graduated RB Vaughn Blue has taken his 1,266 yards and 9 TD’s of last season to (missed five games due to injury) Appalachian State. The top returning RB is senior William Virgilo (6-1, 170) who gained 167 yards last season with three TD’s. The top WR back is Brown who had 24 catches for 237 yards and two TD’s last season. On defense, the top returning tacklers are Britton, two-way lineman who had 77 tackles and 17 TFL last year along with junior LB Max Moorman who had 68 tackles and 5.5 TFL last season. Other defensive starters back include sophomore DL Michael Jones , junior DL AJ Johnston , Brown and Moorman two way at the LB slots, and junior DB Grayson Freeling and senior DB C.J. Moskos . In 2022, the HSSR made the trek to McCormick for a sideline “up-close” look when Abbeville , ranked number two in the HSSR pre-season ranking, started the season in mid-August defeating the Chiefs 40-3. Veteran head coach Jamie Nickles came into the season with 198 wins and it would the 5 th game of the year before he earned the milestone. After what Abbeville accomplished last season, overcoming the lost of their most talented player for the majority of the season ( Antonio Harrison ) due to injury, and then dominating a very talented Oceanside Collegiate team in the AA state finals with 275 yards of rushing offense that produced 35 points, pollsters will just have to understand that this tradition rich program can start off the season at 2-2 and still be in the hunt for a championship every season. This fact was verified last year. The Panthers was the top scoring offense in AA in 2022 with 663 points while giving up 198 points on defense, tying for 6 th best scoring defense with Andrews . The best scoring defense in AA last year was Central who allowed just 145 points all season but the Eagles finished with a 6-5 record. After the McCormick win, Coach Nickles shared these thoughts: “I consider Harrison among the top 15 skilled athletes in the state and we are hoping to have him back by mid-October,” said the coach. (Harrison had an ACL injury playing AAU basketball in the Spring and his injury since shock waves through the Abbeville community). “I thought we started slow but that is not unusual for our first game of the year,” said Coach Nickles. “On defense I felt like we were solid all night.” In the first game of the season McCormick stacked the box to stop the run and senior QB Zay Rayford completed four passes for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Highly regarded (then) sophomore fullback Jha’Louis Hadden (6-0,213) rushed for 50 yards against McCormick scoring a TD on a 29-yard run and he later scored on a 21-yard pass reception. After head coaching in his 8 th state title since taking over the program 13 years ago, Coach Nickles said this after his team’s gold medal win, “Nobody is in Abbeville right now, everybody’s out here,” said Coach Nickles. “This is emotional for me because these kids believed in us back in August when we were losing games, and that is not easy to deal with, but they kept believing in what we were doing, and our coaches do such a great job of coaching.” Abbeville’s state championship season was fueled by the play of 23 dialed in senior’s last season. The Panthers had 9 juniors, 17 sophomores, and one freshman on the state game roster last year. They also have one of the best feeder programs in the state and wearing that “A” on your helmet challenges you to give your all each and every game. The Panthers return three starters on offense and four starters on defense. Altavious Patterson and Hadden both return as potent junior RB’s. Hadden rushed for around 835 yards and scored 12 TD’s a year ago while Patterson averaged 8.9 yards a carry in gaining around 675 yards and scoring 12 TD’s. Jay Hill will also return as a senior WR. The Woodland defense will be led by junior Migule Rhodes (5-9,165) and Lavont Furray in the secondary. Jerrell Sullivan is a sophomore newcomer that will contribute at free safety. Sophomore Jaemin Pinckney (6-2, 170) is another strong candidate at free safety. Jaylen Samson will be a sophomore strong safety/nickel back. Jarvis Guest (6-0,210) is a junior returnee at one outside linebacker slot. The Panther defense returns senior DL Jae Harris along with junior DL Gage Evans . Senior LB Nikelyn Bowie returns along with junior LB Demarcus Leach . Only seven teams in AA had double digit wins in 2022. Abbeville had the best over-all record at 13-2. Barnwell won 12 games in a row before playing very flat on the road at Andrew Jackson (11-3) to conclude the season 12-1. Former Warhorse head coach Dwayne Garrick has moved over to head coach at Aiken High this season. Former RSM head coach Brian Smith is now in charge of the Barnwell football program. The 11 th ranked Warhorses will be led by junior QB Cameron Austin (6-1,180) who is a two- sport prospect in both football and baseball. The Warhorses are likely to rely on the pass more as 2,000-plus rusher Tyler Smith is now at SC State . Austin, who has a strong accurate arm, completed 50 of 88 passes for 878 yards and 13 TD’s last season. Other starters back on offense include WR’s Jaquan Peeples and Logan Sturkie along with highly regarded OL prospect Slaton Ragsdale . On defense, only three starters return for Barnwell. They are LB’s Lex Thomas and Clayton Zissett along with DB Jordan Peeples . PK Lane Evans also returns for Barnwell. The Warhorses will be fielding one of their youngest teams in quite some time this season but they are expected to improve with every game. Saluda , loaded with senior leadership last season, finished with an 11-3 record. Oceanside Collegiate finished 12-2 but it be a while before the Land Sharks forget the 35-20 loss to the Panthers at Benedict College last season. Fairfield Central and Andrews each had 9 wins last season. Gray Collegiate , which could be a contender once again this season finished 8-4 over-all, but 6-0 in their region, and the War Eagles are excited about playing home games in their new stadium this season. The HSSR is also high on the deep playoff run potential of Woodland High coached by Eddie Ford . “We had a good group to work with in grades 9-12,” said Coach Ford who will be starting year five at Woodland this August. “Finding a quarterback to replace Sudarian Harrison (headed to Virginia) was one of our major focus points during our work-outs. I feel like we accomplished a lot over the two-week period.” Kam Pringle (6-7, 330) is a big- time four star OL who has committed to South Carolina and he will open up holes for talented RB’s . Joining Pringle in the offensive trenches are junior LG Antonio Ford (5-11, 320), and RG Xavier Green (6-3, 303). The top QB candidate coming out of Spring drills is soph Jaden Cato (6-0,180) who is moving up from junior varsity. “He is more of a runner but he has a decent arm,” said Coach Ford. “Our other candidate at quarterback is senior Tyree Edwards who has been a wide receiver. If Edwards does not become the quarterback, we know we will have an excellent receiver.” The RB position should be one of the strengths of the team. Senior Jayden Gardner was an all-region performer a year ago when he rushed for 700 yards and had 500 yards in receptions. Cane Bay RB transfer T. J. Wright (5-10, 205) has joined the Wolverines after he rushed 1,200 yards last season. Marion , at number four, is head coached by Brian Hennecy (31-13), and he has a team that could win it all in 2023. The Foxes return seven players on offense and 9 players on defense plus their combo kicker Cameron Felder returns. Over the summer Marion WR/DB Quay’sheed Scott (6-0,186, 4.3) committed to Kentucky after running 4.3 forty at every camp he went to. Scott has been compared to Deebo Samuel , former USC playmaker who is an all-pro with the 49’ers in the NFL. Also, WR/DB Tyshawn Sanders (5-11, 166) committed to Appalachian State over the summer. Coach Hennecy says coming into the season Marion is strong at all skill positions and in the secondary. He reports his team is still working on the kicking game and building team depth. Over the summer QB Gabriel Cusack (6-0,200) and WR/DE Jamorius Wilson (6-3, 200) also received a lot of recruiting attention from colleges. Marion will start the season on August, 17 against Lake View. Rounding out the AA top 5 is consolidated Hampton County and several next level players have come over from Estill that shut down to merge with Wade Hampton to form the new country wide public school this year. Last season, QB Xavier Garvin (6-0,165) and DL Ka'von Chisolm were HSSR all-state players at Estill. Chisolm has camped at FSU and is a top prospect in the defensive front. The team will also be supported by RB Zion Dobson . Head coach Rob Hanna says the strength of his team is at skill positions with good play makers. He says developing depth in both lines is a challenge coming into August drills. Hampton County will start the season away at Colleton County on August, 18. In Class AA there is parity and balance this year. The race for the gold is wide open! HSSR Class AA Pre-Season Ranking (As of July, 23) 1. Gray Collegiate 2. Abbeville 3. Oceanside Collegiate 4. Marion 5. Hampton County 6. Woodland 7. Fairfield Central 8. Silver Bluff 9. Andrew Jackson 10. Strom Thurmond 11. Barnwell 12. Saluda 13. Buford 14. Andrews 15. Keenan 16. Kingstree 17. Timberland 18. Central 19. Batesburg-Leesville 20. Lake Marion
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Recognizing the achievements of young athletes in South Carolina since 1986.