By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt —In his first season as the head girls’ basketball coach at Andrew Jackson Academy, in 2024-25, Zach Boltin coached the team to a respectable 12-12 record but early season injuries have hampered the team’s goals for improvement this season. As of December, 10 the Lady Warriors were 1-6, 0-1 and they had played four games without the services of top player 5-11 junior SF McKinnley Beard, who has been out with a quad injury. “We play a 2-3 defense and McKinnley plays in the middle of our defense, and she does an excellent job for us,” said Coach Boltin. “She is also our top rebounder, so with her out the past four games we have not been as competitive. We expect to have her back in a couple weeks hopefully. “McKinnley has been on the varsity team since the 8 th grade and she was all-region and all-state last season,” said Coach Boltin. “We will definitely be a better defensive team when she is able to come back.” At the time of her injury Beard was averaging 6.3 points, seven rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game. “This team has a lot of potential and I truly feel like we will get better when we get over our injuries and get further along into the season,” said Coach Boltin. “I feel like we can make the playoffs and win a game or two also. We just need to get our younger players more game experience. I feel like we will be a much better team down the stretch after the new year.” Currently the team is led in scoring by second year varsity performer Kinslie Carson . Carson is a junior shooting guard averaging 11 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. “Kinslie is great at driving to the basket where she gets to the free throw line a lot,” said Coach Boltin.  Bella Carigg is a junior point guard averaging 8 points, 3.2 steals and 2.4 assists a game. “Bella is our main shooter,” said Coach Boltin. “This is her third year on the varsity team and she has shown steady improvement.” A third returning starter from last season is sophomore guard Harlo Sease who is in her fourth season on the varsity despite being just a sophomore. She is currently averaging 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds a game. “Harlo has been filling in for Beard in the middle of our defense and it is not where she is use to playing on defense,” said Coach Boltin. “Her experience is a big asset to the team.” With Beard sidelined two younger players have been sharing time in the starting line-up. “We have been rotating sophomore Abby Ayer and freshman Brianna Jacques in Beard’s place, and both came into the season with no prior varsity playing experience,” said Coach Boltin. “Ayer starts a little more and Jacques is normally the first person off the bench.” Ayer is averaging 4.1 rebounds a game. The team is comprised of 9 total players. The Lady Warriors start three juniors and two sophomores. Freshman guard Kiley O’herion contributes a lot off the bench. Sophomore guard Scarlett Mixson is a returning varsity player who has also been recovering form an injury. Freshman guard Kaitlyn Johnson rounds out the roster and she plays a lot also. One challenge for the team is that they do not have a true point guard. “Bella and Harlo have assumed the role of point guard for us this season,” said Coach Boltin. “They are doing a good job learning to play a new position.” The season began on a positive note for the Lady Warriors on November, 17 with a 38-22 win over Faith Christian . In that game Carrigg and Carson each had 12 points with Beard contributing seven points and seven rebounds. Carson also has six rebounds in the win. The team will participate in two Christmas tournaments over the holidays. They will participate in the Orangeburg Prep Christmas tournament starting on December, 22 with a game against top ranked O-P. On December 29-30 the team will participate in the Colleton Prep tournament and they play CP in the first game. Prior to these two events the Lady Warriors have games scheduled at Colleton Prep on December, 18 and they are at Dorchester Academy on the 19 th . Their losses have come against Holly Hill Academy , Curtis Baptist (twice), WSAHS , Patrick Henry and Jefferson Davis Academy . Coach Boltin is assisted by Josh Barnes who is the boy’s head coach.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt —After playing for a SCISA AA boy’s state title in 2024-25 the Andrew Jackson Academy Warriors team have been hit by injuries and graduation losses, so this could be a rare rebuilding season for veteran head coach Josh Barnes as he enters his 15 th season as head coach in the program.  “Our basketball team has done well but our current record does not show the progress of this team,” said head coach Josh Barnes, “Playing without Hall ( Sease ) the past few games has been most challenging on the rebounding side of things. “We have challenged others to step up to fill that void and they have responded of late,” said Coach Barnes. “ Elijuh Davis and Ollie Barnes both had 16 rebounds each in Saturday’s (December, 13) double over-time loss to Patrick Henry . Eli Mathys stepped up with double digit rebounds as well. “Hall also leaves a void as a secondary ball handler for the team,” said Coach Barnes. “Will Barnes, an 8 th grader stepped up earlier to help fill this void. Tanner Chassereau has logged in key minutes as well to help fill voids. “I am always proud to see kids filling in other roles other than their usual standard roles,” said Coach Barnes. “It shows growth and maturity of your student athletes when they can step into new roles and help the team and that is one of my primary focuses as a coach. “Davis has provided as inside presence for the team also,” said Coach Barnes. “He is focused on improving every day. I feel that Hall having his unfortunate injury forced us into a fire and caused some to get burned but in the end the team will be stronger for it. We look forward to having Hall back as he is one of our most experienced players who has been through everything with me. “Either my brother, or myself have coached Hall since the 5 th grade and we understand what talent Hall brings to the court,” said Coach Barnes. “One constant has been Ollie Barnes. He is willing to do whatever is asked of him and he rolls with the punches. He is a high character guy on and off the court. He is dependable in all aspects of the game. “My goal is for the team to be completely healthy by January,” said Coach Barnes. “Hall has been out and Ollie has played though an injury that took him off the court this past week,” said Coach Barnes. “Getting those two back to full strength will help us compete in our region. A “Also, Landon Godina , a key transfer starter, has helped the team with high percentage shooting and quality ball handling,” said Coach Barnes. Junior combo guard Ollie Barnes is having an outstanding season as he leads the team in scoring (18.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists a game). Barnes has been on the team since the 8 th grade. Sease (6-3, 175) is the team’s second leading scorer to date averaging 14.6 points, 14.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals a game). Sease has been a varsity player since the 8 th grade. Other starters include junior forward Eli Mathys who is averaging two points and 6.6 rebounds a game. Senior guard Landon Godina is a starter who is averaging 6.5 points and 2.5 rebounds a game. The 5 th starter is junior power forward Elizuh Davis (6-4, 175) and he is averaging 8.7 points and 9 rebounds a game. The remaining four contributors on the team include senior forward Tanner Chassereau , junior guard Dylan Mahoney , 8 th grade point guard Will Barnes , and senior forward Tres Mixson . The team started the 2025-26 season 2-0 with wins over Faith Christian (60-58) and Curtis Baptist (75-69). However, the Warriors then lost four games in a row before getting back in the win column with a win over Jefferson Davis Academy (72-22) on December 8. As of December 13, the team had a 3-7 record. Without Sease in the line-up they lost a highly competitive double overtime loss at home to Patrick Henry (66-61) on the 13 th . Against Patrick Henry, Davis stepped up with 24 points and 16 rebounds while Ollie Barnes had 19 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and four steals. Mathys contributed six points and 13 rebounds against Patrick Henry. The Warriors will next play at Colleton Prep on December 18 before playing the next day at Dorchester Academy . They start playing in a Christmas Tournament hosted by Orangeburg Prep starting on December 22 with games TBA.

By Billy Baker Publisher Ehrhardt— Following the state championship run by the Andrew Jackson Academy baseball team head coach Jason Mathys shared some of his thoughts about the team’s vast improvement this season with The High Schol Sports Report. “The MVP of the team was our senior leader Jack Walling,” said Coach Mathys. “He threw strikes on the mound and his base running speed were factors for him getting better, plus he was out top hitter.” “Our two 8 th graders made huge contributions to the team ( Channing Terry was our top pitcher in region and Kaiden Kinard was one of our top offensive players) We are losing four starters but five are returning Once we got in the play-off, we showed a lot of guts and kept fighting and coming from behind and I am very proud of the entire team,” said Coach Mathys. Walling hit .471 with 32 RBI’s including 15 doubles and two home runs. Hayden McClung hit /436 with 17 RBI’s and Kinard was at .424 with 23 RBI’s. In the pitching department Terry had 49 K’s in 47.2 inning pitched with an ERA of 2.64. Walling had 38 K’s in 31 innings of work. Landon Johnson pitched 24.1 innings with 47 K’s. Here are some key moments for AJA in their narrow 6-5 loss to Lee Academy in game one of the SCISA AA baseball finals. In the bottom of the 4 th , AJA pushed across a run. Johnson reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Eli Mathys to make it 5-1. In the top of the 5 th Lee Academy added a very important insurance run that ended up being the difference in the game. Rodgers reached on a hit-by-pitch, stole second, and scored on a throwing error to make it 6-1. In the bottom of the 5 th AJA plated two runs to trail 6-3. Kaiden Kinard struck-out, but the catcher dropped the ball and he was able to reach first safely ahead of the throw. Kinard then stole second and scored on Jack Walling’s single. Walling stole second and third and scored on a fielder’s choice RBI by Channing Terry to cut the deficit to 6-3. In the bottom of the 6 th inning, it was a picture of good and bad for the Warriors. Brad Hightower and Mathys led off with back-to-back singles, and then Hall Sease drew a walk to load the bases with no-outs. Hayden McClung singled in Hightower to make it 6-4 and then Kinard then drew a bases loaded RBI walk to bring in Mathy’s and a heads up play by Sease made it 6-5 when he ran in right behind Mathy’s on a throwing error.

 By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt — Andy Palmer has become the new athletic director and head football coach for Andrew Jackson Academy and the 34-year coaching veteran says he is very appreciative for the school and community embracing him and his family with open arms. Coach Palmer previously served as the head football coach at Holly Hill Academy where his teams were very successful. Prior to that he was with Orangeburg Prep and Edisto High schools. “I am just now getting my feet on the ground at Andrew Jackson Academy,” said Coach Palmer. “My family lives only live 9 miles from Andrew Jackson Academy, in Bamberg, so we live in the same community as the school. “I am still evaluating the 25 or so players we have had at weight room work-outs since early June,” said Coach Palmer. “I was still working at Holly Hill Academy until the end of May. With our baseball team at Andrew Jackson competing for a state title it hurt our opportunity to have a full-scale Spring work-out schedule. “I also feel good about being the athletic director, and being in the same building every day with the student athletes,” he said. “This will give us a chance to communicate often and build relationships with our athletes. “We have good coaches in place in all of our sports, and the majority of our teams made the play-offs this past season, with the boys’ basketball team ( Josh Barnes ) competing for a state championship also,” said Coach Palmer. “As athletic director I want all visiting teams to our school to feel a very competitive and championship type atmosphere when they compete against us. “I want all our student athletes to know that I have their back and I will do everything I can to ensure they have good facilities to compete on,” said Coach Palmer. Some of the players returning to Andrew Jackson Academy football include Hall Sease , who played quarterback last year, but he could also see time at wide receiver also. Ollie Barnes has worked hard in the weight room over the summer and will likely play running back. Tanner Chassereau is a varsity candidate in the offensive and defensive line along with returning player Cooper Hiers who was an outside linebacker a year ago. Brad Hightower returns and he is a running back/linebacker candidate. Grayson Hay with see time at tight-end and outside linebacker while Connor Mount will likely start at center and flip some to the defensive line. Everett Ulmer is a retuning skilled athlete. Eli Mathys has been to most of the weight room work-outs in June and he is a tight end candidate. Landon Johnson is a quarterback returnee and Walker Terry started in the offensive line last year. Junior Elizuh Davis is back and he started at tight-end/defensive end last year. “We are getting alate start and I am still evaluating and getting to know the players we will have on the team this season,” said Coach Palmer. “While we are a little behind, we will get things pointed in the right direction. We always do.” Coach Palmer is currently assisted by Cade Wiles , who was a player on one of his Orangeburg Prep teams a few years ago. He has also asked Gene Sease, a former championship head coach at Andrew Jackson Academy to be an assistant for this season. The Warriors first three games this season will be at home against Faith Chrisitan on August, 15 and then at Dorchester Academy the following week. On August, 29 the team will host Orangeburg Prep .

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt —Despite being out-hit 6 to 2, the visiting Lee Academy Cavaliers took advantage of several errors to defeat Andrew Jackson Academy 6-5 in game one of the SCISA AA state finals on May, 13 th . The two teams will meet again at 7:30 p.m. today at Lee Academy (Bishopville) and if the Cavs win it will be their first state baseball title since 2019 when they were head coached by David Rankin who is now at Carolina Academy . Lee Academy is now head coached by Danny Price , who was an HSSR All-State selection in 1991 when he graduated from Lee Academy and he also played in the HSSR- SCISA Challenge all-star game after graduation. Lee Academy is expected to throw left-handed pitcher Braydon Davis today. He is 6-0 with 57 K’s in 40-1 innings of work. AJA is expected to throw Channing Terry who is 2-0 with 45 K’s in 42.2 innings of work. After the game on Tuesday, Coach Price told the HSSR, “Other than the 6 th inning I felt like we played fairly well on both sides of the ball,” said Coach Price. “All season long we have pitched Fyre earlier in the week and then our lefty (Braydon Davis) pitches the next game and that is what we plan to do at home on Wednesday. “I was an assistant with David Rankin when we last won a state title back in 2019 when my sone was on the team,” said Coach Price. “We hope to play well at home tomorrow and win a state championship.” AJA head coach Jason Mathys told the HSSR after the game, “Other than that one bad inning I felt like Landon (Johnson) pitched well enough for us to have won the game,” he said. “The errors hurt for sure. We have scored a lot of runs on our aggressive base running this season and our speed on the base paths have been one of our strengths on the season. However, it caught up with us in the 6 th inning. Those two outs in the bottom of the 6 th hurt our chances for sure. “We will pitch Channing Terry at Lee on Wednesday and we hope he pounds the strike zone,” said Coach Mathy’s. “We must also cut out these errors also.” Against AJA, Lee Academy scored one run in the first inning after Noah Brazell reached on an error, stole second and moved to third base on a ground-out by Brayden Davis . Brazell scored on a single by Andrew Bowers . In the top of the 4 th inning the Cavaliers plated four runs to go ahead 5-0 as they sent 10 batters to the plate against starting pitcher Landon Johnson . After Landon Olson and Tyler Gilbert began the inning with back-to-back walks. A two-base throwing error scored Olson and Gilbert on a mis-handled bunt put down by Tucker Rodgers to make it 3-0. The next two batters struck-out. Then Carson Davis singled in Rogers to make it 4-0. After two back-to back walks to Brazell and Braydon Davis a single by Bowers made it 5-0. In the bottom of the 4 th , AJA pushed across a run. Johnson reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Eli Mathys to make it 5-1. In the top of the 5 th Lee Academy added a very important insurance run that ended up being the difference in the game. Rodgers reached on a hit-by-pitch, stole second, and scored on a throwing error to make it 6-1. In the bottom of the 5 th AJA plated two runs to trail 6-3. Kaiden Kinard struck-out, but the catcher dropped the ball and he was able to reach first safely ahead of the throw. Kinard then stole second and scored on Jack Walling’s single. Walling stole second and third and scored on a fielder’s choice RBI by Channing Terry to cut the deficit to 6-3. In the bottom of the 6 th inning, it was a picture of good and bad for the Warriors. Brad Hightower and Mathys led off with back-to-back singles, and then Hall Sease drew a walk to load the bases with no-outs. Hayden McClung singled in Hightower to make it 6-4 and then Kinard then drew a bases loaded Rbi walk to bring in Mathy’s and a heads up play by Sease made it 6-5 when he ran in right behind Mathy’s on a throwing error. Then two AJA runners got hung-up between second and third and first and second (on the same play) and both were tagged out by an alert Cavalier defense resulting in two- outs when the situation could have been a score of 6-5 with runners on second and third with no-out. The next AJA batter grounded into the third out and the 6-5 score help up for a Lee Academy victory.

Game 1 of the SCISA Class A Baseball Championship series, Andrew Jackson Academy at home facing Lee Academy . Enjoy this sample of images, click the link here for the full gallery.

The SCISA Baseball playoffs are in the final semi finals and here are the updated brackets. 

Head coach Jason Mathys with senior captains Jack Walling an Hayden McClung 

Andrew Jackson Academy Clinches Region Baseball Title With Win Over Beaufort Academy By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt —With their 10-0 win over Beaufort Academy at home on April, 10 the Andrew Jackson Academy Warriors baseball team earned a region championship while improving their record to 11-5, 4-0 on the season. Head coach Jason Mathys has seen vast improvement in the AJA baseball team that had not won a region game in the past two seasons, coming into the 2025 season. AJA did win a SCISA Class A baseball state title in 2022, with a win over Richard Winn in the finals when Mathys was an assistant coach. The play of a pair of 8 th graders, Channing Terry and Kaiden Kinard has helped the team have a successful 2025 season, along with the consistent play of senior leader Jack Walling. Channing Terry has worked 30 innings on the mound and he has 33 K’s with an ERA of 2.10 At the plate he has batted .321 with four RBI’s. Kinard, a first baseman, bats in the two-hole and he is currently hitting .467 with 19 RBI’s including five doubles and two triples.  Walling, a shortstop batting third, has been a very consistent hitter over the past three seasons and he leads the Warriors in hitting at .468 including 23 RBI’s, 9 doubles and a home run. “Walling can get hits when no one else can,” said Coach Mathys. “He is a very dedicated baseball player.” Walling has also seen 24 innings of mound duty with 27 K’s to his credit. Another key player has been senior lead-off batter Hayden McClung who started out the season as a catcher, but has recently moved to center field. McClung is batting.442 with 13 RBI’s. “Hayden is not afraid to play anywhere we need him,” said Coach Mathys. “He can play about anywhere on a baseball field. “He even came in the last inning to pitch against Beaufort Academy earlier in the season with our team up by one run when we had made three straight errors to help them load the bases. He had not pitched in three years and he got the batter to pop up for the third out, and get us out of a jam.” Junior Walker Terry is the DH who is hitting .292 with 13 RBI’s in the clean-up slot. Terry has also contributed on the mound with 15 K’s in 17 innings of work. Hall Sease is a solid glove at second base. Sophomore outfielder Eli Mathys bats in the 6 th hole, and he has 8 RBI’s along with one double. Hunter Tucker is a freshman who starts at catcher when Channing Terry pitches. Freshman Jaxson Brandt is having a very good season as an infielder and he is currently batting 333. Landon Johnson bats in the 5 th spot and in 11 innings on the mound he has 24 K’s. Other key reserves include senior pitcher/outfielder Hunter Zorn, senior spot starter Tim Willimas who has seen action in both left and right field, along with base running specialist Grayson Hays. Junior third baseman Conner Mount Brad Hightower round out the 16- member team. “One of my concerns is that we only have two non-region games left against Patrick Henry and Dorchester Academy in the regular season, and then we also have a very late Spring break that starts on April, 21,” said Coach Mathys. “I am concerned about how much quality practice time we can get in with our school on Spring break and many of our players, and their families, already having made Spring break plans before the season started. “We will have some voluntary practices but getting ready for the play-offs is a concern of mine,” said Coach Mathys. Coach Mathis is assisted by Kevin Kinard and Kip Terry .