Lake View baseball, softball enjoy success in 2023
Lake View – With a 23-3 overall record, the Lake View High baseball team captured the Class A Lower State title and was set to play Southside Christian in the Class A best-of-three state championship series. Game one of the series was scheduled for May 20.
Veteran coach Kip Herlong says his team managed to maintain a level of consistency that is needed to make a deep run in the postseason.
“We hit a few bumps along the way but this group truly did come to work everyday and really tried to get better,” said Herlong, who has reached 595 career wins at Lake View. “We kept telling them all season that we had things to work on, things we needed to do better. They just responded to coaching with the right attitude. We changed some roles as we went along and each player accepted his role.”
The championship series is a rematch of the 2021 state finals where Lake View defeated Southside Christian.
“We have several kids that were on that team two years ago and so does Southside Christian so we know each other pretty well,” Herlong said. “It should be a good series.”
Just after spring break, the Wild Gators lost back-to-back games for the only time season, dropping close games to Fairmont (NC) and to Latta. Whatever lessons needed to be learned, the players gor the message and have been undefeated since, including a 6-0 march through the district and Lower State brackets of the playoffs.
“I’ve been really pleased with their focus here at the end of the season,” Herlong said. “This group has had a good season but I know they want more.”
Senior Zack Hunt was recently named the Class A pitcher of the year by the South Carolina baseball coaches association. Hunt posted a 0.93 earned run average with 66 strikeouts and six wins on the mound.
Joining Hunt on the Class A all-state team was shortstop Kason Herlong, who batted .421 with 22 stolen bases. Hunt is hitting .556 with five homers and 28 RBI.
Tucker Bass has also been a key offensive threat, hitting .389 with 20 RBI and six stolen bases. Senior Chris McGill is hitting .292 with 23 RBI and Luke Price is hitting .253 with 17 RBI. Noah Cribb has 14 RBI and a .333 batting average.
McGill (0.94 era), Herlong (3.78 era), Price (4.37 era), Cribb (3.95 era) and Chase Price (1.75 era) have been solid contributors on the mound this season.
Young Lake View softball makes positive strides in 2023
The Lake View softball program has a strong tradition of competing for region, Lower State, and state championships.
Despite a very young roster, coach Brandy Huggins had yet another successful season. The Wild Gators won 16 games and were one of the final three teams left in the Class A Lower State bracket.
“We were extremely young this year with most of the girls having no varsity experience,” Huggins reports. “To be one of the final three teams in the Lower State for 1A softball is something to be very proud of, especially when those three teams being from our region.
“With graduating a lot from our 2022 team, we knew it was going to take a lot of hard work to be able to make the playoffs from a region like ours. The girls came to practice everyday and worked extremely hard to get better. We improved with each game. We will lose two seniors and bring the rest of them back next year.”
Leading the way this spring were juniors Emma King (shortstop) and Raven Locklear (pitcher). King led the team in hitting, sporting a .559 batting average. She also hit 11 triples and had 16 RBI to go with 18 stolen bases and 36 runs scored.
Locklear batted .418 with a team-high 37 RBI and six homeruns. In the circle, she won 14 games with a 2.08 earned run average and 156 strikeouts.
“Emma and Raven were great leaders on and off the field this year and we hope they will continue the same for their senior year,” Huggins said.
Sophomore first baseman Hollie Scott missed about half the season with injury but returned as a strong hitter late in the season. Scott hit .479 with 12 RBI.
The lone senior starter, catcher LaKayla Chavis, hit .314 and had 11 RBI.
By the time the season ended, the defensive lineup consisted of Locklear inside the circle and senior LaKayla Chavis behind the dish. Scott played first and seventh-grader Hanna Coburn played second.
The left side of the infield saw junior Emma King at short and freshman Kaleigh Blackmon at third.
Eighth-grader Chloe Cox started in right and eighth-grader Zy’Kiara Waters manning centerfield. Sophomore Kaylnn Turner started in right and eighth-grader Maddison Strickland was the DP.
Rounding out the 2023 squad were senior Shaniya Graham, junior Jaleah Ford, freshmen Nevaeh Price and Ally Joye, eighth-grader Riley Jo Barfield, and seventh-graders Sarah Price and Carleigh Matthews.
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