Barnwell Softball Rallies For 9-7 Win Over Colleton County In Play-off Tune-up Game For Both Teams

Billy Baker • May 5, 2025


By Billy G. Baker

Publisher


Walterboro—The Barnwell High (19-2) and Colleton County High (15-5) softball teams met in a final regular season “play-off tune-up” type game on May, 2 and the Warhorses rallied late in the game to pull-out a hard-fought 9-7 win.


“Very proud of the job our 7th grade pitcher (Kinsey Terrapin) did in the circle tonight,” said Barnwell head coach Mike Beasley. “We actually had two other seventh graders starting in this game, and for most of the season, in catcher Genesis Walker and shortstop Shalayah Badger. This just speaks volumes about the future of our softball program in Barnwell.



“This is our 8th game in 10 days, over the past two weeks, and we played against some real good teams, and we were 5-3 over this stretch,” said Coach Beasley. “We rested our senior number one pitcher Jaidyn Devore tonight to get her ready for the play-offs that start on Wednesday.


“All I know is that we will be hosting a four- team district play-off starting on Wednesday (May, 7) and that we will be playing and at-large team in the first game, but right now I can’t tell you who that team will be,” said Coach Beasley. “As long as we can keep winning, we will stay at home in the district, in the lower state play-offs, and in the first game of the state championship best of three series if we are fortunate enough to make it to the AA finals.”


Against Colleton County the teams were tied after six innings at 5-5.


In their top of the 7th inning, Barnwell used two singles, and took advantage of five Cougar errors to push across five runs in the inning to take a 9-5 lead. Sophomore Laney Grubbs got things started with a one-out single. Then sophomore Kendall O’Berry singled to put runners on first and second. With two out Brooklyn Gardner reached on an error to load the bases.


Then junior Abigial Corley hit a sharp ground ball, to the middle of the infield, that had the potential to end the inning, keeping the score tied. However, four throwing errors during the same play, cleared the bases, even scoring Corley who dove head first on home plate to make it 9-5 on one of the strangest set of errors witnessed by this writer in a long time.


Colleton County did not give up. The Lady Cougars came to back in the bottom of the 7th with redemption on their minds. Brooklyn Holmes started the inning off with a walk and then Alexa Eversole got her 4th hit of the game  off of a single. Both runners stole bases to move up to second and third respectively with no-outs.


(At this point Coach Beasley replaced Terrapin in the circle with Grubbs, as the young Terrapin left the circle, she received a loud ovation from the Barnwell fans at the game.)


Xiomara Oxner then hit a SAC fly RBI to score Holmes to cut the deficit to 9-6. The next batter Bre Gerard hit a SAC fly RBI to make it 9-7. Then the Cougars got back-to-back singles from Madison Miller and Lanasia Sanders to have two on with two out. Grubbs got the next batter to ground out to short to end the game.


After the game, Colleton County 8-year head coach Tavara Edwards, told the HSSR, “We are 15-4 right now and we have a home play-off game on Tuesday, so all-in-all we have had a good season,” said Coach Edwards. “One of our senior leaders has been Lanasia Sanders who started out pitching tonight before we moved her to shortstop. She has been in the program five years and she is a real good leader for us both in the circle and at the plate.


“We have two other senior starters, one is center fielder Madison Miller who we moved over to left field later in the game, and the third senior is Kristina Rheam and we will miss all three of our senior starters,” said Coach Edwards. “We are a very young team but if my girls come out here and play with a clear head, they can compete with anyone.”


For the game Barnwell had six hits led by O’Berry who had two hits and one RBI. Grubbs had a hit and one RBI, and Corley had one hit and four RBI’s. Walker scored a run and produced two RBI’s, and Arnold scored a run with one RBI. Devore contributed a hit also.


In the circle Terrapin allowed two earned runs while striking out three. Grubbs picked up the save with a solid performance.


Colleton County had four players with multiple hits. Miller was 2-of-four including a double while McKenzie Cochran was 2-of-4 and junior Alexa Oversole went four-for-four and scored three runs. Bre Gerard had two hits and two RBI’s for the Cougars while Oxner had two RBI’s also.


Sanders started the game in the circle for CC and worked three innings with five K’s and she gave up four hits. Bre Gerard worked four innings with 7 K’s and she gave up two hits.


Devore, Barnwell’s ace pitcher will enter the AA play-offs having pitched 84.1 innings this season with 168 K’s and she has a stellar 0.83 ERA. Devore has signed to play at Howard University next season.


Terrapin is 4-0 having worked 17 innings in the circle with 18 K’s and she has an ERA of 1.65. Grubbs is at 4-1 with 35 K’s in 24.2 innings of work. Grubs has an ERA of 2.84.


Barnwell enters the playoffs with seven batters hitting over .300. Junior Shaelyn Badger paces the hit index at .471 and 10 RBI’s. Terrapin is next at .421 and six RBI’s. Shalayah Badger is at .375 with six RBI’s. Devore is hitting .344 with a team leading 23 RBI’s including five home runs. O’Berry is at .333 with 16 RBI’s and Walker is at .333 with 8 RBI’s. Gardner is hitting .317 with 10 RBI’s.  


Colleton County comes into the play-offs with an incredible .414 team batting average. Holmes leads the way at .607 including 31 RBI’s, five triples and one home run. Eversole is next at .571 with 22 RBI’s followed by Sanders at .527 including 33 RBI’s and four homers.


Gerard is at .519 and 22 RBI’s entering the AAAA play-offs while Oxner is at .500 with three RBI’s. Cochran is at .360 with 20 RBI’s and Miller is hitting .356 with 14 RBI’s.


The Cougars are le din the circle by Gerard and Sanders. Gerard comes into the play-offs with a 7-1 record with 96 K’s in 60 innings of work with a 1.40 ERA. Sanders is 5-2 with 67 K’s in 40 innings pitched and she has a 2.45 ERA.


Retired Hall of Fame coach Rusty Adams serves as the pitching coach for Colleton County. 

   

 

Laurence Manning Softball Team Rallies For 7-3 Win Over Rival Wilson Hall

By Billy Baker • May 5, 2025
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Sumter —You can always count on a highly competitive game when SCISA AAAA region softball foes Laurence Manning (19-2) and Wilson Hall play each other, and their game on May, 1 was another such game as the Swamp cats rallied for five runs in the top of the 7 th inning to earn a 7-3 win. “This is our first game coming back from Spring break, and we spent most of the day today at the State House where the team was recognized for our state championship season last year,” said head coach Buddy Truett . “These two factors contributed to our slow start today but I was pleased with our late rally that got us the win. I was worried about us playing a little dead today.” In the bottom of the third, with the scored tied at one, there was a collision between WH batter Mary Paisley Geddings and LMA first baseman Lyza Prickelmyer on a towering pop up just inside the first base bag. Pricklemyer laid on the ground for a few minutes as a hush came over what had been a vocal crowd for both teams. The runner was called out and Coach Truett helped Prickelmyer off the ground, and they began walking down the first base line. “Lyza told me she was not coming out of the game, no matter what,” said Coach Truett after the game. “I have coached her since rec ball days and it would have taken a stretcher being called in to have got her out of the game. She is a competitor, a real baller. “I was also very proud of Kendall coming in and giving us a spark with her RBI single,” said Coach Truett. “Lainia did her job in the circle once again also. “We have come back from being down earlier in the season also,” said Coach Truett. “We trailed Orangeburg Prep by 10 and we came back and won that game when we scored 22 runs. “I would say the biggest difference in this year’s team and last year’s team is that when this group gets down, or something bad happens early in the game, they do not panic, and they stay focused,” said Coach Truett. After the game, Wilson Hall head coach Teresa Alexander, in her 18 th season , told the HSSR, “Even we lost this game I feel good about where we are now entering the play-offs,” said Coach Alexander. “What we need to improve on is getting one-or-two timely hits with runners in scoring position. “This team has performed well to have only have three returning starters from last season,” said Coach Alexander. “LMA is a talented team. I anticipate we will be playing them again in the play-offs.” Wilson Hall went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Junior left fielder Addie Griffin reached on an error and later scored on a throwing error off a ground ball hit by Lily Grace Przybyla .  In the top of the 4 th LMA ties the game when Prickelmyer singled and made it all the way to third on a Barron throwing error. Kaylee Parmenter Avins came up next and hit a ground ball that was over-thrown scoring Prickelmyer to tie the game. WH went up 3-1 in the 5 th inning. Caroline Andrews led off with a single. Center fielder Abby Bradley then bunted safely to put runners on first and second with no-outs. Geddings then singled in Andrews to make it 2-1. Two batters later, 8 th grade third baseman, Marsha Kate Skey , brought Bradley in on a ground-out RBI to make it 3-1. In the top of the 7 th LMA’s first four batters all singled. Pitcher Laini Kosinski led off with a ripped single to center, followed up by Lily Welborn’s hit. Then Coach Truett entered 8 th grade pinch hitter Kendall Tanner , who had just been called up from the junior varsity for her first time batting as a varsity player. Tanner will have fond memories of the moment as she delivered an RBI single to right field that scored Kosinski to cut the deficit to 3-2. Maggie Welch came up next for LMA, and her infield single brought in Welborn to tie the game at three. Two batters later gold glove senior catcher Lila Kate Mathis’ ground-out RBI brought in Tanner to give LMA their lead for good at 4-3. Carol Ann Briggs then singled to advance a run in from second to make it a 5-3 game. Then Marlee Black and Prickelmyer reached on consecutive infield bunts to load the bases. Ashley Rae Hodge then delivered an RBI single scoring Hodge to make it 6-3. The final run of the game was brought in on an RBI single by Kosinski who batted twice in the final inning. For the game LMA was led at the plate by Kosinski who went 3-for-four with two RBI’s. Welch was three-for three with an RBI, and Prickelmyer had two hits and scored two runs. Welborn and Tanner each had a hit and Tanner also had an RBI. Hodge and Mathis had one RBI each while Briggs contributed a hit and one RBI. In the circle, Kosinski pitched all seven innings for LMA, allowing two earned runs and with six strike-outs. Wilson Hall was led at the plate by Andrews who had two hits and scored a run. Geddings had a hit and one RBI. Griffin had a hit and scored a run. Skey added a hit and one RBI. Grace McArthur contributed a hit and Bradley had a hit and scored a run. Lily Grace Przybyla was the starting pitcher for WH and she left the game after the 5 th inning but she reentered in the 7 th inning. She had one strike-out.

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Saluting 8 Former Palmetto State Prep Players Taken In The Recent NFL Draft, While Also Pointing Out A Bias That Exists Towards SC Prep Football Talent Nationally

By Billy Baker • April 28, 2025
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner —With thanks to the web site “High School Football America’s Draft Tracker” the HSSR is very proud of the 8 young men who played high school football in the state of South Carolina who had their names called in the recent NFL draft, held in Green Bay Wisconsin. While we already knew the majority of these athletes drafted, based on watching the draft in real time, this wonderful “High School Football America’s Draft Tracker” allows us to verify which states had the most players drafted, and share our own feelings about how the state of South Carolina stacks up against the rest of the nation based on sheer population numbers among other factors. In the recent draft the top 10 states in players drafted from high schools in each state included: Texas (36), Florida (24), Georgia (22), California (15), Virginia (10), with Michigan , Alabama , and North Carolina next with 9 each, while South Carolina and Maryland closed out the nation’s top 10 states at 8 each. As someone who has followed the NFL draft closely for the past 40 years, this reporter was a bit surprised at some of the NFL numbers produced by states who use to average more drafted high school players, than they produced in the 2025 draft. For example, the state of Ohio, with a population of 11.88 million people had just seven home grown players drafted in 2025. Pennsylvania, with a population of 13.8 million people had just five former high school players drafted! The 8 players from South Carolina include three from the Gamecocks. They include former Irmo FS Nick Emmanwori , (pick 35 by Seatle), former Marion star DL T.J. Sanders (pick 41 by Buffalo), and former Conway stand-out Tonka Hemingway (pick 135 by Las Vegas). Former Hammond five-star rated DL Jordan Burch , who spent the past two seasons at Oregon, after starting his career with South Carolina was pick 78 by Arizona. Former Clover High WR and Virgina Tech player Jaylin Lane went to Washington with the 128 th pick. Louisville’s Quincey Riley, a CB who played at AC Flora was drafted by New Orleans with pick 131. Former Gaffney stud and Georgia DL Tyrion Ingram - Dawkins was chosen by Minnesota with pick 139. The 8 th and final player drafted from the state of South Carolina was former Rock Hill and current Alabama tight end Robbie Ouzts. Based on a per capita formula, factored mainly on population and number of high schools in each state fielding a varsity football team, the state of South Carolina must be considered one of the top states in the nation for producing NFL talent year-end and year-out. Let’s compare the bordering states of North and South Carolina to document real data. The state of North Carolina produced 9 NFL signees in the recent draft, one more than South Carolina. They have a population of 11 million people, with nearly 525 high school varsity football programs. (Both public and private schools) The state of South Carolina has a population of 5.4 million people with around 252 public and private varsity football programs in the Palmetto State. On this per capita formula one would have to give the edge to South Carolina is the actual production of NFL talent based on the criteria used. The aforementioned information is a key reason the HSSR continues to complain about the accuracy of national recruiting services, who put out lists, in advance of the upcoming May Evaluation football recruiting period. As of April, 27 th 247 Sports listed 15 2026 players from the state of North Carolina in their national Top 247 Player list while only listing three players from the state of South Carolina! If this does not confirm a bias towards the state of South Carolina we hardly know what would! The facts are the facts. Going back 40 years there has only been an average difference of around two players a year difference between the two states in prep players going on to be drafted in the NFL despite the fact the state of North Carolina has twice the population and twice the number of high schools playing football. If you currently have 15 players in their Top 247 from North Carolina, the state of South Carolina should have at least 12 players in the current 2026 class on their list based on real data over time! The three prep players listed from South Carolina include South Pointe FS J’Zavien Currence , committed to South Carolina and Dorman FS Kentavious Anderson , a hard lean-to Clemson, along with Dutch Fork DE Julian Walker who is uncommitted. Numerous players in South Carolina, with 10 or more major college offers did not make the national 247 list headed up by Timberland OL Desmond Green who will come into the May recruiting period with 21 major college offers. Finally, there are only 20 players from South Carolina currently listed on the 247 state-by-state list, despite the fact the Palmetto State had 40 players sign on with major college football programs in 2025! At the same time, 247 Sports lists 54 players on the North Carolina state-by-state list for May evaluation. Does this seem fair? Three months ago, the HSSR pointed out that six of the 80 players invited to participate in the Next Level Under Armour All-American game, for rising freshmen were from the state of South Carolina. This all-star game was played in Orlando, Florida and witnessed by numerous national scouting services, If the 2030 football class from South Carolina does not have five or six players on All National Top 300 list we should all throw up our hands and wonder who is behind a bias that is not properly promoting the talent level of high school football in South Carolina.
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