Camden baseball looking for strong finish
Bishop, Furniss returning All-Region selectons
Camden – Denny Beckley just started his second quarter of a century as the baseball head coach at Camden High School. He is hoping things get better for the Bulldogs as they come out of spring break with the second half of the Region 3-AAAA schedule on the agenda.
Camden only won four of its first 15 games. On the bright side though, it was 3-3 in region play.
“We have gotten off to a very rough start and are anxious to get back from our spring break this past week to finish the second half of our season strong,” said Beckley, whose first year as head coach was the 1999-2000 school year. He had a 355-334-3 record through his first 25 seasons.
“We have played a very tough schedule and have taken our lumps. Hopefully, our players and staff have learned from the difficulties we have experienced in the first half of this season and we can make the proper corrections to be peaking at the right time of the year going into the playoffs.”
The Bulldogs lost six seniors from last season’s 19-13 team that won a district tournament for the second consecutive season, which led to them playing in the upper state tournament.
Camden lost its top two pitchers to graduation in Zecheriah Haney and Cade Marturano. Also, rising junior Caiden McGriff died in an automobile accident on July 29, 2025. He was 7-3 last season as the trio combined for 17 of the Bulldogs’ 19 victories.
Camden returns four starters from last year, three of them 2-year starters in senior Thomas Bishop, senior catcher Mac Mellichamp and junior Brady Furniss. The other returning starter is junior starter and pitcher Clay Ridgeway.
Bishop was an All-Region selection last season and plays first base and third base along with pitching. He batted .376 with 33 runs batted in. Furniss was also All-Region pick last season. He batted .348 and scored 30 runs.
Senior Dalton Sharpe is back with the program after a 2-year absence. He pitches, catches and plays the outfield.
Sophomore Thorn Tucker is starting in center field, junior Maddux Dixon plays first and pitches, sophomore Cason Newman handles third and shortstop, senior Dustin Bixby is an outfielder, sophomore Maddox Freeman plays second and in the outfield, junior Edwards Graham is an outfielder and pitcher as is junior Matthew Small, and Matthew Lounsbery is a junior outfielder.
Senior third baseman/outfielder Hunter Zabransky fills out the roster.
CAMDEN SOFTBALL OPENS 3-3 IN REGION
The Camden softball team was only 4-8 to start the season. However, the Bulldogs opened 3-3 in region play, which puts them firmly in position to garner a berth in the state playoffs.
` Camden is fourth in the 7-team region, It has 2-game series remaining against second-place York and South Pointe and Richland Northeast, both of which are below it in the standings.
` KK Washington was the team’s leading hitter with a .333 average and a team high 10 RBI. Dylana Pena was batting .310 with a team 10 high runs to go with three doubles, and one triple.
Emmie Oddie was batting .259 with eight RBI, Audri Phillips was hitting .241 and Rachel Martin was batting .222 with eight RBI.
Other members of the team are Haydin Williams, Kylie Brown, Lexi Peters, Kaitlyn Anderson, Emiri Haymore, Maddie Stokes, Mimi Byrum, Nia Brockington, Alyssa Faulkenberry, Maci Burris, Brylee Watkins, Jayden Kennedy and Emerson Johnson.
