Get in touch
555-555-5555
mymail@mailservice.com

Hilton Head Christian looking for another big year

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • Jul 30, 2023

HHCA has only one newcomer to staff of head coaches

     Bluffton – Even though Hilton Head Christian Academy didn’t win as many state

championships in the 2022-23 school year as it had the previous year, athletic director Jason

Grunkemeyer is still excited about the overall program’s direction heading into the ’23-24 school year.


     "We are very excited for another season of athletics at HHCA,” said Grunkemeyer, who will be

starting his second year as the school’s athletic director. “We have had some great momentum over the

past couple years with several of our programs having great success and we anticipate another

successful year.”


     Instead of three state championships, Hilton Head Christian only claimed two. To no one’s

surprise, Hilton Head Christian won its fifth consecutive SCISA state championship in girls

basketball. The first four came at the AA level under head coach Kenny Conroy. The most recent

championship came at the AAA level, which is where Hilton Head Christian was placed after

reclassification. Also, the Lady Eagles won the title under new head coach Bobby Thompson, who

took over when Conroy stepped down.


     The other state championship came from the boys golf team. The Eagles, who were coached by

Mike Spangler, edged longtime rival Hilton Head Prep by two strokes to win the AAA

championship.


     Both Thompson and Spangler will be back as head coaches this year. In fact, the only change

among head coaches will be in boys and girls tennis. Brad Osborne will be the HHCA tennis coach

after heading up the girls and boys tennis program at Heritage Academy the last two years. The Heritage

girls won the Class A championship in 2022 and the Heritage boys took home the championship crown

this past spring. 


     Ron Reduzzi will be back for his sixth season in charge of football. The Eagles went 7-4 last

season in AAA after having consecutive perfect seasons while winning the AA crown. Peduzzi will be

assisted by Matt Smith, John Houpt, Ryan White, Shatone Powers, Matthew Ballard, Michael

McMullin and Luke Guess.


     Hilton Head Christian will be starting a junior varsity football program led by Gerrick Taylor.

Dave Adams, a longtime head coach in the Hilton Head area with both South Carolina High School

League and SCISA schools, is the new middle school head coach.


     Grunkemeyer will be in his third season as the boys basketball head coach. He led the Eagles to

their first 20-win season in over a decade, guiding them to a 24-5 record. They lost to Hilton Head Prep in

the AAA state championship game.


     JW Wilkerson is back for his third year as the baseball coach. The Eagles went 14-14 overall

and 1-2 in the state playoffs. Drew Dale is back as the volleyball coach after leading HHCA to a 26-17-1

record and to the championship match in its part of the bracket in the state tournament.


      Aaron Mau is the boys and girls cross country head coach, Parker Collins will coach the girls

golf team, Melanie Hilton is in charge of the boys and girls swim teams, J.R. Moise is the boys soccer

head coach, and Ashley Bezilla is the cheer head coach.


     The HHCA boys swim team finished second in the Division II state meet.


     “We are fortunate to have some really quality coaches that put in a ton of time to benefit our

students and I feel really blessed to have such a great staff,” Grunkemeyer said..

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 19 May, 2024
Nation Ford's Mia Royall sets new state record in 1,600 run
By Neill Kirkpatrick Special Contributor 19 May, 2024
Philip Simmons claim boys AAA crown
By Neill Kirkpatrick Special Contributor 18 May, 2024
SCS wins fourth straight while Warrior girls 3-peat
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 18 May, 2024
Vikings use strong finish in field events to pull away
By Roger Lee Special Contributor 17 May, 2024
Green Wave accused of violating pitch-count rule in win over Ashley Ridge leading to forfeit
By Billy G. Baker Publisher 17 May, 2024
Summerville loses on forfeit over pitch-count rule violation
By Billy Baker 17 May, 2024
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner — In a Lower State AAAAA softball play-off game continued from a second inning rain-out the night before, (May, 15), between Berkeley (19-9) and Chapin (22-8) , the home standing Stags won a pitcher’s duel 2-0 to advance to play Summerville on May, 17. The Stags have a tall order on their plate needing to defeat the top-ranked Green Wave twice in order to advance. The state championship series is scheduled to begin on Monday at the upper state champion s home field. Game two will revert back to the lower state’s team home field on Wednesday. If a third game tie-breaker is needed it will be played at neutral site on Friday (May, 24). After the win Berkley head coach Kelly Dillon shared some thoughts with the HSSR. “In my tenure at Berkeley this is our third trip to the Lower state finals and I am so proud of my team and the adversity they have overcome this season,” said Coach Dillon. “We have had some adversity with the weather and we lost one of our key players to an injury recently ( Savannah Scott ) and we have remained tough and focused on our goals anyway. “We played small ball in the bottom of the 6th because when you need just one run to win you play to win,” said Coach Dillon. “I am very thankful; for a great bunting team. Every time I have asked for it to be put down, they have put it down so I am very proud to our commitment to the cause.” ( Courtlyn Cox delivered a perfect bunt that advanced the runner into scoring position in the bottom of the 6 th inning.) “We know we have a challenge going over to Summerville on Friday needing to win two games and you never know what might happen,” said Coach Dillon. “We are hungry and we are on a mission and we are playing moment to moment so we hope to at our best on Friday.” Chapin head coach Cal Sayger is wrapping up his 7 th season at Chapin. ”we have been fighting the weather all during the play-offs,” said Coach Sayger. “We just made too many mistakes in this game tonight. We have the program on sound footing. We have won back-to-back region titles and I very proud of the commitment all of our players have made to the success tour program.” Coach Sayger is saying good bye to four seniors. They include pitcher Aspen Mayers , Ella Maychiva k, third baseman Andree Dircks , and outfielder Alexia Evans . “These girls have been in the program since the e8th grade a d they will be missed,” said Coach Sayger. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6 th inning. The Stags Rileigh Ballentine led off with a single to center field. Courtlyn Cox’s Sac bunt moved Ballentine over to second base. She moved over to third, on a passed ball, while Brooklyn Moon was batting. Moon singled in Ballentine for the first run of the game. Ansley Riddle then doubled, barely missing a home run against the fence in deep center field. This hit put runners at second and third with one-out. An RBI ground-out by Camden Valicek scored Moon to give Berkeley all the runs they would need to win the game. Berkeley pitcher Reese Watson worked all seven innings, allowing only four hits. Watson’s six strike-outs in the game now gives her 201 on the season in 120 innings pitched with an ERA of 1.20.
By Roger Lee 17 May, 2024
Pinewood Prep claims the 2024 SCISA 3A Boys Soccer Championship
By Roger Lee 17 May, 2024
Pinewood Prep claimed the 2024 SCISA 4A Girls Soccer Championship. 
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 17 May, 2024
Game 2 on Friday at 6 p.m. at West Florence
More Posts
Share by: