“This is a very dedicated group that worked hard all year."

The HSSR named Sharks junior quarterback Aiden Manavian (5-11, 185) our Mr. Football. This is the first time a junior earned the honor in our 40-year history.

Larry Gamble HSSR, Photo Editor Orangeburg - The SCHSL Class A Championship game featured Lamar and Bamberg-Ehrhardt dueling in the rain at SC State University's Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. Lamar put points on the board first, but the Red Raiders proved to have the drive to go the distance in their 35-21 victory.

The battle of top ten teams, #3 ranked Bamberg-Erhardt hosting last year's Class AA lower state champions #7 Barnwell.

Lake View's Jalen Clark.

Head Coach Corey Crosby says about his staff, "all been with me for a while and I wouldn’t be where I am at without them.”

 By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Bamberg – On the diamond the Bamberg-Ehrhardt Red Raiders ended up in their usual place as both the baseball and softball teams won the region 4A title and advance into district play meanwhile the Women’s track and field team ended Whale Branch’s three year hold on the class A state title by defeating Dixie 96-92. The class A meet came down to the final event of the meet the 4x400 relay. The Red Raiders trailed the Hornets 92-90 when the gun sounded and when the race ended they finished in third for a bronze medal but more importantly it gave them six points for the 96-92 win. See page 23 for more on the Red Raiders state championship. The baseball team played a tough schedule with two state champions among their games in Batesburg-Leesville (AA) and Orangeburg Prep (SCISA AAA). They were awarded the top seed in the district eight tournament drawing a first round bye. They beat rival Branchville 3-2 in 10 innings to advance to the district final where they lost to Johnsonville 5-2. Senior Weston Stokes was the leader of the team. He was named to the class A all-state team for the second consecutive year and all region for the third consecutive year. He was the ace of the staff and teamed with senior catcher Brent Amaker to form one of the best duos in class A. “We were a young team heading into the year but to have two seniors like Weston and Brent we knew leadership was not going to an issue,” said head coach Gene Schwarting. Coach said, “We started slow but got better as the season went on and the young guys gained valuable experience. I’m excited for the future.” The Red Raiders will return the bulk of their pitching staff in Dakota Black, Cooper Sandifer, Tripp Brewer, Chase Collins, Nasir Singleton, and Davis Ehrhardt. This team will be on of the favorites in the lower state next season. The Ladies of the Diamond had a good year under long-time head coach Robert Williams winning the region championship and getting the top seed in the district eight tournament. They won their first two games to advance to the finals. The faced class A power Lake View. The Wild Gators were able to win both games to win the district eight title. The Red Raiders were led by junior pitcher Maddie Hutto. She was named to the class A all-state team by the SCCAWS. She is the 13 th ranked junior by the HSSR. She throws in the mid- 60’s.

Columbia – As the regular season progressed, Bamberg-Ehrhardt girls track coach Travis Wilson felt more and more confident about the chances of his team competing for a 2025 state championship. Wilson’s team peaked at the right time, winning the Class A state championship on May 15. It was the first state title in school history and came after two years of being a top five finisher in the state meet. “Been a long time coming but we just continued to build towards being a champion,” said Wilson, who is in his 14 th season as coach. “It took a total team effort. We had girls really step up and some performed better than they had all season. It takes that kind of effort to win a state title.” Bamberg-Ehrhardt edged out runner-up Dixie in the final team standings, finishing with 96 points to Dixie’s 92 points. Dixie did more of its damage in the distance events, led by Ansley Prescott’s individual wins in the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter runs. “I knew Dixie would be the team to beat because of their strength in the distance events,” Wilson said. “I told the girls all I could ask for was their best effort and we would see how it all ended up. We were able to get key points in a few events. Every point counts.” Bamberg-Ehrhardt had three individual state champions. Carmyn Folk won the 400 meter hurdles. Ezariah Williams won the discus and Briaunjunal McMillan was the javelin state champion. Depth, however was the key to the team victory, Williams gathered key points in the shot put (second), and Keshauna McMillan was third in the shot put. Folk finished fourth in the long jump while Jayna Sanders finished fourth in the 800. Daisha Etheridge was fourth in the 100 hurdles. “The goal was to finish in the top 10 in as many events as we could and see how it all ended up,” Wilson said. “Just do your best. Depth is so important. I was nervous going into the meet because I knew we had a chance if everyone did what we needed. It was a real blessing to see them compete at the highest level and be so committed to helping the team.” Wilson also credited the work of his assistant coaches for the win. Those include Rell Haynes, Marcus Cann, Shaniya McMillan and Z Sellers. Calhoun County won the Class A boys title, also using depth to earn key points. The Saints finished with 108 points. Abbeville finished as the runner-up with 77 points. The championship was the first for Calhoun County but coach Wayne Farmer has coached 10 state title teams. “This team continued to be consistent all season,” Farmer said. “For me, as a coach, I really enjoy the process and the grind that it takes. It’s very satisfying to see the kids perform at their best and earn the opportunity to celebrate. It was a total team effort. I’m so proud of these kids. They truly learned how to be champions and what it takes to become champions.” Leading the way for the Saints were individual state champions Kamari Kelly (800), Amerr Guinyard (triple jump ), Jamari Canty (shot put) and Elijah Glover (javelin). Clark Prochaska was second in the pole vault while Kelly was second in the 400. Guinyard was third in the javelin and Jayden Parker was second in the shot put. “They stepped up and we got some points that we may not have expected,” Farmer said. Lamar sprinter Xavier Jackson won two gold in the 100 and 200 meter events. Abbeville’s Karson Norman was second in the 100 and third in the 200. Class A individual results Girls 400 relay – Baptist Hill; Boys 400 relay – Ridgeland; Girls 3200 relay – Dixie; Boys 3200 relay – Calhoun County; Girls pole vault – Ivy Stroble, St. John’s; Girls long jump – Jade Exley, Ridgeland; Boys long jump – Jamarion Kirkland, Blackville-Hilda; Girls 100 hurdles – Janiya Fludd, Baptist Hill ; Boys 110 hurdles – Nykeis Btown, Abbeville; Girls 100 meter dash – Breyanna Williams, Blackville-Hilda; Boys javelin – Elijah Glover, Calhoun County; Boys shot put – Jamari Cantey, Calhoun County; Boys 100 meter dash – Xavier 0Jackson, Lamar; Girls discus - Ezariah Williams, Bamberg-Ehrhardt; Girls 1600 – Ansley Prescott, Dixie; Boys 1600 – Abram Suggs, Green Sea Floyds; Boys pole vault – Jayden Press, Governor’s School; Girls 400 – Breyanna Williams, Blackville-Hilda; Boys 400 – Karson Norman. Abbeville; Girls 400 hurdles - Carmyn Folk; Bamberg-Ehrhardt; Boys 400 hurdles – Nykeis Brown, Abbeville; Boys high jump – Xavier Jackson, Lamar; Girls 800 – Ansley Prescott; Dixie; Boys 800 – Kamari Kelly, Calhoun County; Girls high jump – Kandyce Mathis, St. John’s; Girls 3200 – Ansley Prescott, Dixie; Boys 3200 – Abram Suggs, Green Sea Floyds; Girls 1600 relay – Carver’s Bay; Girls Triple jump – Tanisha Myers, Green Sea Floyds; Boys triple jump – Amerr Guinyard, Calhoun County; Girls shot put – Mykeryah Holmes, Lee Central; Boys discus - Antaevion Donald, Dixie; Girls javelin – Briaunjenal McMillan, Bamberg-Ehrhardt; Girls 200 – Breyanna Williams, Blackville-Hilda; Boys 200 – Xavier Jackson, Lamar.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Bamberg —The Class AA HSSR third ranked Barnwell Warhorses and the Class A Bamberg - Ehrhardt Raider baseball teams have both already won region titles, and they will both host four-team district play-offs in early May, so they met in a play-off tune-up game on Tuesday night with Barnwell winning 12-1. The two teams also met on April, 9 with Barnwell prevailing 3-0 in that game. Barnwell senior ace pitcher Cameron Austin, a five time all-region and four-time all-state honoree , improved his record to 5-2 on the season working five innings against the Raiders. Austin had six K’s and allowed only four hits. On the season, Austin has worked 39.1 innings with 58 K’s with a 1.23 ERA. The top hitters for Barnwell in the win were outfielder Tommy Reid with two hits, while Austin collected three RBI’s and scored two runs. Three players, Hayden Pierce, senior catcher Kaleb McCormack, and third baseman Trey Boleman , each had one hit and one RBI respectively . Carl Hines added a hit also. Bamberg was hampered by giving up 10 walks and four errors during the game. The Raiders were led at the plate by left-fielder Weston Stokes who went 2-of- three. He also saw late action on the mound. The team’s other two hits came from second baseman Dakota Black and center fielder Brent Amaker . The starting pitcher for B-E was Cooper Sandifer who worked 4.2 innings, giving up three hits with six K’s. After the game, Barnwell head coach Cody McCollum shared some thoughts with the HSSR. “We always have a good chance of winning with Cameron on the mound, especially when he is throwing strikes, and the guys are playing good defense behind him; and we are swinging the bats well,” said Coach McCollum, who played baseball at Barnwell where he graduated in 2012. “They walked a lot of guys tonight and that helped us too. “Winning the region was something I talked about with the boys at the beginning of the season because I felt like this team was good enough to go undefeated in the region,” said Coach McCollum. “We fell a little short last year, losing a region game to Edisto, and that stuck in the back of our heads, and this year our expectation was to go 10-0 in the region. “Our other internal goal is to win at least 20 games before the playoffs start and we are 18-4 right now, with four games left,” said Coach McCollum. “We need to win at least two more. We play Batesburg - Leesville tomorrow, (April, 23), South Aiken twice next week, and Woodland one more time. We are going to try hard to get two more wins.” Coach McCollum said that Austin, batting .468 with 26 RBI’s and six home runs, has played more third base, when not pitching this season. “Before I came back to Barnwell last year, I was at Hampton, and I had to coach against him, and I glad he is now on my team. He’s a very good player.” Coach McCollum said Barnwell has relied on Austin, and three other seniors for most of the load this season. “We have a sophomore and a freshman starting in the middle, and we have two sophomore starters in the outfield, and a junior started in center field tonight,” said Coach McCollum. “We are kind of young and old at the same time. “The other seniors are Kaleb McCormack , our catcher, who has improved his hitting this season along with and Trey Boleman who started at third tonight and Hayden Pierce was at first tonight, and he hit a double off the wall. Kaleb is a very good on defense behind the plate and we feel good about him, behind the plate, regardless of who is pitching.” Case Davis is a freshman starting shortstop with a .411 batting average. Pierce is at .390 and McCormick is at .289 with 16 RBI’s and a .999 fielding percentage. Joe Huggins is the DH and he is hitting .367. Sophomore Dakota Black starts at second. Tommy Reid is a junior center fielder currently batting .333.  Vincent Gibson is a sophomore in the outfield for Barnwell. Jax Mead is a sophomore starting at second base. Caiden Roland is the sophomore starting right fielder. Some additional Barnwell pitching depth has come from, Pierce (5-0, 35 K’s, ERA 2.54), along with Bradley Richardson (2-0, 9 K’s), Boleman (26-K’s) and Davis (24 K’s with a 1.07 ERA). After the game, Bamberg Ehrhardt (8-6) head coach Gene Schwarting told the HSSR, “We have three 8 graders who start for us, two 9 th graders, one sophomore, a junior and two seniors so for the most part we are a young team,” said Coach Schwarting. “Our two seniors, Weston Stokes and Brent Amaker are co-captains” Stokes is the team’s number one pitcher. Stokes started in left against Barnwell and batted lead-off. Amaker started in center and batted third. Nasi Singleton, an 8 th grader , will typically start in the outfield and Garrett Wade usually starts at third base. Chip Brewer, or Stokes, will start at short and Dakota Black is at second while 8 th grader Chase Collins holds down first. Asiel Graham is usually the starting B-E catcher, backed up by Davis Ehrhardt . Singleton is the top hitter for the Raider at .477 and 8 RBI’s. Stokes is at .410 and 12 RBI’s. Black is third on the hit index at .333 and 15 RBI’s. Other top hitters include: Amaker (.317 with 17 RBI’s & a HR), Wade (.306 & 10 RBI’s) along with Cooper Sandifer (.300 & five RBI’s). Stokes has 26 innings pitched with 48 K’s. Sandifer has worked 22.1 innings on the mound with 38 K’s, and Brewer has 14 innings pitched to date with 25 K’s. “In terms of our pitching this season, it has been pretty good, but at times it has also been like a roller- coaster,” said Coach Schwarting. “We will pitch well one game, and not so well the next game. We also need to improve on our timely hitting before we start the play-offs also. “The other night we lost to Orangeburg Prep 6-3, and we left the bases loaded in the second, third, fourth and 5 th innings,” said Coach Schwarting. “”We have to get stronger in our hitting, up and down the line-up, one through nine. “Our pitching has been outstanding, our defense has been solid, and we just need to do a much better job getting hits with runners on base,” said Coach Schwarting, a Bamberg-Ehrhardt graduate now in his 7 th season as the Raiders head coach.