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Vikings still off to 9-4 start despite lots of inexperience
Latta — Junior Maddie Berry has been a key member of the Latta High varsity softball team since the 7 th grade, and she has already committed to play at the next level at Wofford College when she graduates in 2025. Berry was nominated for the March “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month by her school’s athletic administration and she embroideries all the characteristics of a true student athlete. She was also a member of the Latta volleyball team this past season. This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. So far this season, Berry is 4-1 in the circle, where her 61-62 mph fastball dominates most batters. She has recorded 87 strike-outs in 43.3 innings of work. Her ERA is a staggering low .641. Of the 172 batters she has faced, only 16 hits were made. At the plate, Berry is batting .419 with 12 RBI’s including 12 doubles She is a true two-way performer on the softball diamond. “I chose Wofford College because the coaches there are very family oriented and they agreed that I could come home, on any Sunday, to attend church with my family and that is very important to me,” said Berry. “My faith is very important to me.” Berry is maintaining a GPA of 4.03 and she is near the top of the junior class at her school academically. Berry plans to major in Biology at Wofford College with the goal of becoming a Physical Therapist after graduation. Berry plans on enrolling in Phycology, one of numerous dual credit courses offered by the “NETC” to high school students in Chesterfield, Marlboro, and Dillon Counties. “I feel like enrolling in the online course of Psychology through “NETC” will help better prepare me for college,” said Berry. “The more prepared I become now, the further along I will be prepared for college. Being a student athlete in college is very time consuming, so the more dual credit courses I can get in high school the better.” Berry said that she loves playing softball because its teachers her how to work with others, and she has also made a lot of friends through the sport. “I love pitching the most, but honestly, I love all aspects of softball.” “My goal as a junior to help build up my team and to win as many games as we can,” said Berry. “If we do not win a state championship this season it will be my number one goal as a senior next season.”
Latta —Senior Eli Jones participates in three varsity sports at Latta High , but he most proud of his 111 tackles, as a linebacker with the Vikings football team this past season, that helped earn him a football scholarship to Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C. Jones earned “Region Player of the Year” honors in football. In basketball, his 3.1 steals a game helped earn him “Region Defensive Player of the Year” honors. In baseball, he is a speedy center fielder currently hitting at .353 with four RBI’s. Jones has been a very active student athlete at his high school since his sophomore year. For all his hard work, Jones has been selected as the March “NETC” Male Student Athlete of the Month . This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. “On behalf of Latta High I would like to thank the “NETC” for honoring Eli Jones and Maddie Berry as their Student Athletes of the Month,” said Latta High athletic director Robbie Brown. “They are both outstanding student athletes who understand the importance of maintaining a balance between academics and athletics.” Jones says he loves playing linebacker on the football team because he loves hitting people. “At the next level I want to become the best athlete I can be,” said Jones. “I will do whatever it takes to help my team win. It’s my goal to understand my job, and do my job. I feel like I am very coachable.” In the class room, Jones maintains a 3.8 GPA on a 4.0 scale. “Academics are really important to me because my education will help set the standards for my life beyond sports,” said Jones. “A lot of kids struggle these days understanding the balance they need towards both academics and athletics. When I come home from games at night I get straight to my school work. “I understand the need for time management and how important it is to put in the work, both in sports, and in the class room,” said Jones. “I take a lot of proud in being both a good athlete and a good student. You have to be willing to put in the time.” Many online courses offered through the “NETC” include: Spanish II, Anatomy & Physiology, Public Speaking, Biological Sciences II, English Composition I, Introduction Into Computers, Biological Sciences I, American History, Probably & Statistics, Micro Engineering, Human Growth & Development, American Govt., Music Appreciation, Phycology, including Art History. Jone’s favorite online course is Phycology. He plans to major in nursing at Methodist College.
Latta girls finish second in region, reach second round of playoffs
Lady Vikings off to 4-2 start in region
Cobb, Jones earn Region 6-Class A football awards, Marsh volleyball Region Player of the Year
Vikings finish regular season 14-9, awaiting playoff fate
Silver Foxes keep high-powered offense out of the end zone until late in the game
Vikings top Mullins 40-12, East Clarendon 55-18 to open season
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon — There were four very competitive games contested in the Pee Dee Jamboree of Champions hosted by Dillon High on August, 11 as 8 area teams battled for two quarters in mild weather conditions. In the first game Latta defeated Chesterfield 21-6. In game two Darlington defeated Lake View 13-0, and in game three Hartsville literally ran past Scotland County , NC 27-14 in the contest that produced the most points. In the night-cap, host Dillon defeated Cheraw 14-3. Comments From SC Coaches After Each Scrimmage: Coach Brandon Iseman - Latta : “This game was a good bounce- back for us after we struggled, on Tuesday,” said Coach Iseman. “I felt like the kids responded well tonight and I feel good about what they did. “We have a big senior group and a strong junior group also so we are looking forward to the season. We start the season off against Mullins this upcoming week.” Notes: Linebacker Amir Rogers had the pick-six for the Vikings. The top returning seniors include Kartrell Townsend , Labron Cobb , Jamarion Jones , Dorian Griffin , and Eli Jones . Latta should improve on their 6-5 season last year. Coach Jonathan Eason - Chesterfield : “I found out tonight this team will not quit,” said Coach Eason. “There were times in the game it looked like things were going really bad but we kept fighting back. We had a chance to make it a 21-14 game right at the end and if we did not give up the pick six it would have been a whole different game also. “Right now, we have three seniors and around 14 freshmen and sophomores starting so it is a young team and we should keep getting better every week. Our three seniors are running back Will Gordon , nose guard Kadrick Johnson , and Devin Carnes . Another senior who has moved in is corner back Amarion Hardaway .” Chesterfield will start the season this week with a game against Lee Central . Some top juniors for the Rams include Qua Clark , Gabe Liles , Timothy Starr , and Xavier Rivers . Coach Jamie Johnson - Darlington (First year head coach at Darlington) : “We played a storied program in Lake View tonight and anytime you can come out ahead of them it is like a confidence builder for us,” said Coach Johnson. I felt like our quarterback ( Jaylen Augustus ) made several very athletic plays and we need for him to have a build year. Keenan Dubose caught both touchdown passes and he was moved to receiver from quarterback and he had a good scrimmage tonight also,” Other top seniors for Darlington include receivers Markis Wells and Davari Wilson along with OL Josh Johnson . “Our players have bought into our new system and what we are trying to get established and they do not want to be the laughing stock of the state anymore. I think we are gaining confidence and we need to stay focused as we start the season against Central of Pageland this week.” Coach Daryl King-Lake View: “We lost around 14 seniors from last year's team and we have returned 100 per cent to a wish bone offense, for the first time in five or six seasons, so we are still learning our timing assignments and we are young in a lot of places,” said Coach King. “We only have a couple practices to get better before we open up the season at Marion on Thursday night this week.” The Wild gators return all-region performers Tamil Bellmon at RB and Tyrell Foxworth at LB. Junior Kason Herlong is the starting QB and late in the scrimmage he completed several nice passes to junior TE prospect Daniel Ray (6-5, 200). Coach Jeff Calabrese-Hartsville: “Our offensive line opened some holes for our running backs tonight,” said Coach Calabrese. Center Slayton Stokes (6-4, 325), left guard Deric Brown (6-1, 270), left tackle Evan Young (6-0,200) along with Chris Price and right tackle Jazir Reardon (6-0,240) did a super job tonight.” The Red Foxes had close to 200 yards rushing in the two quarters they played. Four or five backs took turns gaining big yards led by Carmello McDaniel (5-9,180) and Hakeen Watters (5-6,175). QB McKenzie Douglas (6-3, 195) is back after passing for 1,284 yards and rushing for 684 as a junior. He completed a couple nice underneath passes in the scrimmage. “We are also excited to have Douglas back also. McDaniel is a four-year starter for us at RB. Bryson Jacobs is a good leader for us on the defensive front also.” Hartsville will start the season against Conway this week. Coach Andy Poole - Cheraw (starting his 8 th season as head coach): “We return 8 starters on each side of the football so we are expecting a successful season,” said Coach Poole. “ Dwight Harrington is an all-region kid back at receiver and Darius Garvin is an all-region returner at corner. “We started around 16 sophomores last year and they are all back as juniors, so you expect to improve while still being young,” said Coach Poole. “We are a year older and much stronger and faster. We are excited about this crowd for sure.” The team’s leader is back in QB Aiden Nolan (6-2, 200) who has dual threat talent with a strong arm. Cheraw will start the season in week one against rival Marlboro County . Coach Kelvin Roller - Dillon (The Wildcats are 22-2 under Roller in his first two seasons): Dillon was missing five starters in the scrimmage, with two players suspended. Coach Roller said all five should be suited up for the team’s week one game at Lamar to start the season. Dillon scored both TDs on long runs by speedy soph RB Dominick Felton (5-9,170) running behind an OL led by the state’s number one 2024 player Josiah Thompson (6-7, 290) who is committed to SC. “I think we are in great shape but tonight we did not play our best,” said Coach Roller. “We were sloppy on offense and this is what practice in for, and what the pre-season is for. I told them that Rome was built in a day and if you went out there in the pre-season and you were a well-oiled machine what fun would the process of getting better be like? We hope to improve with each practice and each game. We all hope to go out and play really well every time we suit up but it just did not happen for us tonight. “I did think we played really well on defense,” said Coach Roller. “I think sometimes not looking all that well can be beneficial in the long run.” The defense will be led by veteran senior LB Sirmod McCallum (5-11, 190). RB/DB Jamarion Fling (5-10, 175) and sophomore QB Josiah Oxendine (6-1, 190) are key non-senior players along with Zay Robertson a WR/DB. This year’s Dillon’s team has 15 players starting (at least) their third season under Coach Roller. Thompson has started since his freshman year. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos .
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Recognizing the achievements of young athletes in South Carolina since 1986.