Saluda misses on chance to win Region 2-AA softball title by falling to Mid-Carolina 7-4

By Billy G. Baker Moncks Corner - All signs point to number one HSSR rated Hannah-Pamplico , the defending Class A softball champions in South Carolina, eventually engaging with a rematch in the state finals against Lewisville when the gold medal round starts later in May. Last year it took a third game neutral site tie-breaker at McBee High for the winner to be crowned. Hannah-Pamplico earned the school’s first ever state softball championship with an 8-4 win over Lewisville. The Lady Raiders hit four home runs in the third game with three of them being two-run homers and the victory celebration on the field registered like low level seismic activity. Anything can happen in this competitive world of high school sports but H-P and Lewisville have dominant pitching, consistent hitting throughout their line-ups and good coaching staffs. H-P has steam-rolled over their first two playoff opponents Whale Branch (17-0) and Carvers Bay (10-0) and they should little problems winning their district on May, 8. H-P is head coached by alumni Amber Knight . “Our focus right now is being all-business and staying focused on our goals,” said Coach Knight. “I will put up op our top four to six batters against anyone’s in the state. We have never worked harder and everything is all about taking care of business. “I hope we have good weather throughout the playoffs,” said Coach Knight. “Having a bunch of rain slows down your momentum. We know what is in front of us. No softball team in Class A is fortunate to have two quality pitchers like the Lady Raiders who are 18-1 on the year with their only loss to Aynor early in the year. Sophomore Kadence Poston is 9-0 in the circle with a sterling .036 ERA. Poston, who would love to play at Clemson one day, has 226 strike-outs in just 57.2 innings of work with only 14 walks. She and fellow senior pitcher Isabella Davis alternates at first base. Davis is 8-0 with 76 strike-outs in 45 innings of work. At the plate K. Poston is hitting .289 with 14 RBI’s and four home runs. Davis is at .317 with 11 RBI’s. Junior Jaden Lee is a complete shortstop for H-P both in the field and at the plate. She is batting .510 with 33 RBI’s including four doubles six triples and 5 home runs. Lee has speed with 14 stolen bases also. Next on the hit index is soph left fielder Savannah Owens at .364 with 10 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases. Soph third baseman Chloe Cooper is at .340 with 10 RBI’s. Speedy junior center fielder Peyton Poston is batting .315 with six RBI’s and she has 14 stolen bases. Meredith Stone is the sophomore catcher batting .283 with 7 RBI. Senior RF Karah Turner is hitting .271 with 11 RBI’s. The HSSR recently talked to Lewisville head coach Jerry Thomas after his team’s two play-off wins over Thornwell (15-0) and R-S-M (19-5). “Losing to Hannah-Pamplico last year ,in a very competitive three game series, does not haunt us, and we are not seeking revenge on anyone,” said Coach Thomas, who has been the Class A runner up the past two seasons after the Lady Lions won the school’s only state softball championship in daughter when his daughter was the Class A Player of the Year. “You certainly have to have a dedicated team with solid pitching, hitting and defense, but a little luck and getting a break at the right time is a huge part of winning championships also.” The team’s only senior is shortstop Saleen Rollins and she is currently batting .492 with 22 stolen bases and three home runs. “She’s our team captain,” said Coach Thomas. “She’s either broken or is about to break the school’s all-time stolen base record. I know she is well over 70 stolen bases right now.” She’s a hard worker and I promise you she experienced some hurt feelings over being in the runner-up spot the past two seasons,” said Coach Thomas. “She is focused on her main goal of leaving Lewisville with a state championship.” Sarah Owens is the Lion’s sophomore pitcher. To date she has hurled 152 strike-outs in 96.7 innings of work with a 1,68 ERA. At the plate she is hitting .431 with 31 RBI’s and two home runs. “She has worked hard at becoming a good pitcher and her goal is to continue to develop towards her focus on being a pitcher at the next level. She is more balanced and focused in the circle this year and she keeps improving all the time.” Championship teams need a good battery and junior catcher Jordyn Miller is starting for the second year behind the plate. She is batting .400 with 17 RBI’s. All-region junior Sydney Rollins is a gold glove type center fielder and after two games of the playoffs she is batting .395. Other starters of the Lewisville team include first baseman Aubrey Smith (.340/15 RBI’s), freshman RF Laney Lambert (.320/10 RBI’s), freshman LF Kylee Waggoner (.255/6 RBI’s) and Kylie Flecther holds down third base (/264/11 RBI’s). The D-H is 8 th grader Kinley Lambert (.278). Abby Barnes is a gold type second baseman who tracks down bunts very well. “Right now, we are sitting back waiting on who wins between Dixie and Wagener-Salley on Monday,” said Coach Thomas. “If we win on Wednesday (May, 8) it looks like we will be playing either Whitmire or McBee next, depending on what they do.” Class A is divided into 8 four team districts for the play-offs. At press time McBee was in the winner’s bracket in District 1. Whitmire was in the winner’s bracket in District II followed by Lewisville in District III. Dixie was in the winner’s bracket in District four to complete the upper state bracket. In the Lower State, Lake View was in the winner’s bracket in District 5 while Hannah-Pamplico had the upper hand in District 6. Johnsonville was in the winner’s bracket in District 7 and Latta was in the winner’s bracket in District 8. HSSR-SCHSL Class A Softball Ranking - (As Of 5-3-2024) 1. Hannah Pamplico 2. Lewisville 3. Latta 4. Dixie 5. Lake View 6, Whitmire 7. McBee 8. Johnsonville 9. Green Sea Floyds 10. Bamberg Ehrhardt 11. Branchville 12. East Clarendon 13. Lowcountry Leadership 14. Wagener-Salley 15. R-S-M

Tigers No. 2 in HSSR poll behind top-ranked Gray Collegiate

Aynor, Loris, Dillon each a win away from another district title

Region 3 foes Catawba Ridge, York could be upper state matchup; Hartsville, West Florence in lower state

Green Wave No. 1 in HSSR poll; Byrnes No. 2

Isabella Davis from Hannah-Pamplico High School

The Good, Bad, & Challenges Of Being On A HSSR Deadline! Moncks Corner - The second season of Spring Sports, a.k.a. the play-offs, are in high gear across South Carolina; as the HSSR goes to press (Monday, May 6), and we can all expect many highly competitive games across numerous sports that bring communities together in support of thousands of young student athletes. The HSSR extends best wishes to all teams competing. Always remember, that good sportsmanship will be honored and appreciated in all situations, no matter who is calling the balls and strikes! In the process of my goal of “original and self-directed research” over 100 hours are spent coordinating the production of the nation’s only statewide publication, devoted exclusively to prep sports in any one state during, “deadline week.” In helping prepare this one-of-a-kind 72- page publication, with a joint web site companion known as of hssr.com each month, we have a team of experienced and seasoned writers, a senior photographer with a five-star camera, and a network of contacts second to “no one else” in the Palmetto State. We also thank the high school coaches across the state who understand when they get a call at 11 p.m. on deadline nights, from yours truly, often with this opening comment, “I hope I didn’t wake you, but you never returned my phone calls the past three days, or my 8 text messages, and we go to press in seven hours!” (Reactions vary from Coach to Coach) We feel blessed at the HSSR, and honored, to be a one-of-kind combination print/web site media, devoted exclusively to promoting the positive achievements of our hard-working prep athletes in South Carolina. It has been over 38 years of “one day feeding into the next day:. (Pretty soon you have a whole lot of days making your hair grayer by the day!) Here are just some of the musings, happenings and seat-of-the-pants issues confronted by this Publisher on this deadline alone: For the first time ever a certain high-profiled softball coach in our state was asked “once again” to e-mail the stats of her highly regarded team to the HSSR for information to be used on one of the “Softball Class Feature pages in this very issue. We got the stats in a matter of hours, Thank you! This note was written in the body of the e-mail: “My stats are attached. Will these be published somewhere before playoffs are over? If so, I would prefer to not be included - I don't share stats with my players / parents until after the season;) A short while later this e mail arrived that read: “I appreciate it. If we get to the championship series then I'm good with you using it at that point).” Well, I said this was a “first time ever” because for the past 10 years this coach has always provided stats for our publication that we put up on our widely read stats page, in both the publication and on our web site at hssr.com. I have not checked, but if this team’s games are live streamed through Game Changer or Facebook, that is the best scouting report you could ever give to your opponents. By live streaming your games you could be providing “real video” for opposing coaches to record your athletes in competition allowing them to observe your players strengths and weaknesses batting, fielding and all of the above for example! I am likely to ask God at the Gates of Heaven one day, why is the publishing of players stats somehow giving opponents an advantage over their competition? With all the social media available these days (in real time also) the publishing of stats should be the least of our worries. If stats are not important to the resumes of student athletes, or to the scrap books of our hard-working student athletes, and their parents, then go-ahead and take down the score boards on our ball fields and in our gyms, and quit keeping score! (Yes, I honored the wishes of this coach but I will never request her stats again!) The SCHSL has a wonderful partnership with Max Preps and I wish more coaches would use this media to at least publish their rosters so “we” in the media can make sure we have player’s names spelled correctly. During this deadline one Max Preps soccer team site had a team roster on it, but it was missing the names of all three senior co-captains! (I told one of the parents of this team to leave my name out of the conversation after I had to call them to ask them how they spelled their last name because no roster was available at their game I had just covered). I cover all games using player’s jersey numbers and match the numbers with names later. On this deadline I also got a call back at exactly mid-night from Dillon head softball coach Stevie Grice . “You sound wide awake,” was the first thing he said when I answered the phone, still plugging away on deadline. Got in bed four hours later, and was back-up at 8 am sending text messages and e mails out to coaches all over South Carolina. Lastly, I get some of the most unusual phone calls from people during the tense moments of a deadline. Some folks confuse the HSSR with the SCHSL, and they call at the wrong times sharing their concerns. “Sir, I just want to report that the plate umpire in our game yesterday was so confused that he kept going out to the field ref to consult with him to see if he had the count right out on the batter at the plate. Do you have any idea who this umpire was and why did he get assigned to my team’s game?” After pausing for a few seconds, a stab at humor was attempted, “Mam, I have not a clue who the umpire was in your game yesterday. Nor, can I speak to his apparent confusion. However, it just so happens that the Sports Report needs a current copy of the stats from this team you follow. You mind stopping by the school and asking your favorite coach to send his stats in right away?”

Charleston – Playing in a conference that includes two of the state’s powerhouses, wins can be hard to come by for the Ashley Hall soccer team. Add in a difficult slate of non-region games against bigger public schools, and the Panthers certainly have to scratch and claw for whatever success comes their way. The 2024 regular season is complete and Ashley Hall’s record of 7-10 does not look that bad in its totality. Coach Christian Alcantara has seen his team improve and develop throughout the spring with only three seniors in the starting lineup. The only goal remaining for this season is to earn a spot in the SCISA AAAA state playoffs. Getting a postseason win would cap off the season. “This group has a solid balance of skill, athleticism, and experience and we expect that to help us reach the second round of playoffs this year,” the coach reports. Four of Ashley Hall’s losses came to state powers Pinewood Prep and Porter-Gaud, losing twice to each program. The region foes played each other for the state title last season and Pinewood Prep has won the last two state titles. The Panthers also lost to three SCHSL Class AAAAA programs, falling to Spartanburg, Stratford and Cane Bay, and suffered another loss to AAAA public school Bluffton during the regular season. The three starting senior leaders this spring are forward Martha Rivers, defensive back Anna Strickland, and goalkeeper Abby White. Joining Rivers up front as offensive threats are junior Kate Coker and sophomore Catherine Clark. Anchoring the midfield area are juniors Iris Steigman and Dia Timko, along with freshman newcomer Molly Mettler. Joining Strickland as a leader in the back are three eighth-graders – Gray Phillips, Annie Morrison and Wells Phillips. Timko and Catherine Perkins also perform key roles as defenders. Lynden Taylor and Eliza Willis are two newcomers that have been able to contribute this spring.

Holly Hill – While playing a schedule consisting mostly of bigger schools, the early season record for the Holly Hill Academy baseball team was nothing to brag about. However, things have turned around considerably for the 2024 Raiders and a strong finish has them contending for the SCISA Class A state title. The Raiders opened the playoffs with a two-game sweep of Laurens Academy in a best-of-three series. The wins pushed the overall record to 10-6 and the Raiders have advanced to the semi-final round, which begins on May 6. “We played a pretty tough schedule, several AA schools, and some of those are playing still,” head coach Andy Green said. “I was never worried about the record. I just wanted us to get better each week and be playing our best baseball at the right time. I like to the fact that we seem to be peaking at the right time.” The sweep of Laurens Academy pushed Holly Hill Academy’s winning streak to six games. That included a win over AA Dorchester Academy, a team in the mix for the AA state title. Green says his team is not one that hits homers out of the park but has been efficient at manufacturing runs. The pitching, he says, only needs a few runs to give the Raiders a chance to win. Anchoring the pitching staff are juniors Ashton Soles and Mason Connor, a transfer from nearby Branchville High School. Soles has been one of the top hurlers for the last three seasons while Connor has come in and provided several quality starts. Senior Mason Rudd would be a third option on the bump but Green prefers to use Rudd at his best position, catcher. Rudd is the lone senior among the starting lineup this spring. Freshman Tyler Green is starting at first base and provides offense in the middle of the lineup. Junior Mason McGriff is starting at second base while Connor is the regular shortstop and a sterling defensive performer. Junior Jody Gilliam is starting at third and has been a solid performer after not playing baseball for a few years. Junior Jonathan Boyd leads the team offensively with a .480 batting average while patrolling left field. Soles plays center when not pitching with Braden Mizzell filling in when Soles is on the mound. Freshman Parker Kizer starts in right field. Should the Raiders advance to the state championship series the likely opponent will be perennial contender Richard Winn. “I like our chances with the way we are playing and with our mindset right now,” Green said.