Carolina Academy girls capture third straight SCISA Class 1A state title.

By: Gerald Doolittle The South Carolina Independent Schools Association enters October with teams now playing for playoff seeding. Last seasons Champions in Class 3A (Pinewood), Class 2A (Bethesda) and Class 1A (Williamsburg) all moved up a classification in the new alignment. Can Northwood repeat in 4A and can W.W. King repeat in 8-Man? The top 2026 contenders in Class 4A are Hammond (6-0), Pinewood Prep (6-0), Ben Lippen (4-1) and Laurence Manning (3-1). Defending Champion Northwood Academy (4-2) and Porter-Gaud (4-2) could sneak into the finals. The top 2026 contenders in Class 3A are Northside Christian (6-0), First Baptist (5-1), Hilton Head Christian (5-1) and Bethesda (3-1). Florence Christian (4-2) and Wilson Hall (4-2) could determine who make the finals. Class 2A will be a four- way battle between Calhoun Academy (6-1), Colleton Prep (6-1), Greenwood Christian (4-1) and Patrick Henry (4-1). Williamsburg Academy (3-1) will have say on who makes the finals. Class 1A will be a battle between Dorchester Academy (5-1) and Dillon Christian (4-2) SCISA 8-Man will have Jefferson Davis Academy (6-0), Laurens Academy (5-0), W.W. King Academy (4-1) and Newberry Academy (4-1) working hard to win the Title. Wardlaw Academy (2-3) can be a sleeper to pull off a surprise finish. The top rushing leaders leading into October are Jordan Blackmon (Dillon Chr) 935 yds, Isaiah Scott-Palacos (Greenwood Chr) 871 yds, Joseph Morse (W W King) 857 yds, Reed Almers (Dorchester) 839 yds, B J Suits (Northside Chr) 712 yds, Parker Kizer (Holly Hill) 673 yds, Derrick Porter (First Baptist) 683 yds, Michael Polite (Northwood) 583 yds, Kai Sobey (Patrick Henry) 558 yds, Caleb Hardy (Laurens Ac) 533 yds, Grant Smalls (Williamsburg) 480 yds and Ethan Porter (Augusta Chr) 447 yds. The top passing leaders going into October are Silas Brawner (Pinewood) 1898 yds, Cam Werntz (Porter-Gaud) 1387 yds, Cale Owens (Colleton Prep) 1312 yds, Kres Langhals (Hilton Head Chr) 1297 yds, Gibbs Isom (First Baptist) 1256 yds, Ethan Collins (Laurens Ac) 1110 yds, Harris Janik (Augusta Chr) 1070 yds and Kevin Johnson (Northwood) 1053 yards. The top pass receivers going into October are Amir Chisolm (Porter-Gaud) 742 yds, Tre Green (Pinewood) 687 yds, Drew Wolfe (Northwood) 640 yds, Lavoris Lucas (Pinewood) 612 yds, Thomas Corbett (Colleton Prep) 540 yds, Joshua Bradley (First Baptist) 507 yds, Jackson Richardson (Hilton Head Chr) 489 yds, Jimmele Smith (Ben Lippen) 447 yds, Wilson Yarborough (Porter-Gaud) 415 yds and Gray Easterling (Dillon Chr) 404 yards. The top tackle leaders going into October are Jacob Bussey (W W King) 73, Mac Strickland (Orangeburg Prep) 72, Allen Chisolm (Porter-Gaud) 66, Luke Sobey (Patrick Henry) 65, Stone Porter (Ben Lippen) 59, Davis Padgett (Palmetto Chr) 58, Eli Seigler (Greenwood Chr) 57, Chandler Rogers (Dillon Chr) 57, Lincoln Dial (Dillon Chr) 57, Zach Weatherford (Holly Hill) 54, Jake Harrington (Jefferson Davis) 53, Scooter Brown (Porter-Gaud) 52 and Eli Garrett (Laurens Ac) 50.

By David Shelton Senior Writer Lake City – After failing to get his first win as a head coach in the season opening game, Carolina Academy’s first-year head football coach Tyler McClam was able to claim that victory in week two of the 2026 season. The Bobcats lost to Thomas Sumter, 44-0, in the opener but bounced back with a 22-8 win over Holly Hill Academy on Aug. 27. McClam, a former assistant who replaced David Rankin when the former head man left for Laurence Manning, was never worried much about when his first win would come. He was more happy for his young team to experience early success.  “I’m just happy for these kids to get rewarded for all of the hard work they put in over the summer,” McClam said. “We were sort of shell-shocked in the opener. Thomas Sumter was a lot more experienced and really took it to us. We weren’t ready to play. We have so many new guys on the field and they just needed to get some experience. “In the second game, we played much better, more relaxed. We executed better and we were physical. Holly Hill is a good team and we did a good job overall. We were just ready to plod to see.” The Bobcats are indeed a very young team. McClam says only two seniors start and the third senior on the roster is injured for the season. Most of the players that see the most action are sophomores. One of those sophomores is starting quarterback Holden Carsten . Junior Luke Cook and senior Carson Hanna will handle most of the running game. Senior Ryker Rhodes and Tanner Floyd are the leaders at receiver with sophomore Kingston Cox working as the tight end. Along the offense line are tackles Cole Elmore and Connor Mixon . Elmore is a freshman and Mixon is a sophomore. Working at guard are sophomore Matthew Beard and junior Raylen Parkhurst , while sophomore Kyle Cox is the starting center. Most of the same names appear as starters on the defensive side of the ball. Beard, Mixon, and Parkhurst are on the front, with Collin Nail and Kyle Cox working in a rotation as well. Kingston Cox and Hanna are the starting linebackers. Carsten, Rhodes, Floyd and Britton Johnson a re in the secondary. Burlen Frye and Cook are at outside linebacker. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the season. I think we are going to be a team that improves each week,” McCLam said. “I’m sure we will have some tough battles along the way but I like this team’s competitive attitude.”

From reluctant coach when a JV teamed one, to dedicated coach helping student athletes grow is Tyler McClam's way of giving back to the community.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Florence —Saving their best game of the season for the third game tiebreaker in the SCISA AA softball finals, The Carolina Academy Bobcats defeated The Kings Academy 14-1 on the Florence Christian softball field to win their second straight state title. The Kings Academy had won game one in Lake City while the Bobcats won game two on the road, so a third game tiebreaker was needed. For Bobcat head coach Scotty Phillips, it was his 7 th state title in 27 seasons as the team’s head coach.  The Bobcats pounded out 16 hits, from 8 different players in their line-up, and their five- run spot in the first inning set the tone for the rest of the game. After the game, Coach Phillips told the HSSR, “I will tell you what we did on the way over here on the bus,” said Coach Phillips. “We sang to Jesus, one song was Gratitude, plus several others and this team truly believes in the Lord. I will tell you that this is a great group of girls who have a lot of faith and they also have a lot of faith in each other. “Getting five runs in the first inning was huge for us and I will take that every day,” said Coach Phillips. “ Carlie Ann ( Smith ) had a fire cracker tonight (went 5-for-5) and she played a great tournament along with EllaHam (3-of-4 & 2 RBI’s) played here tail off and came on strong late in the season and she was the tournament MVP in Sumter as far as I am concerned and she had a great game tonight. “I feel awesome for the team winning two in a row and they worked their tails off to have success,” said Coach Phillips. They have been up and down throughout the season, and we kept telling them that they could be an awesome ball club and they came over here (Florence Christian) and put it all together tonight.” Carolina Academy senior pitcher/center fielder Raeley Frye will be named the HSSR-SCISA AA Softball Player of the Year when the publication’s softball all-state team is announced around June 1. She has been the ace pitcher in the circle for the Bobcats the past two seasons. Coming into the game she had pitched 84.2 innings with 108 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.48. At the plate she batted .352 with a team leading 32 RBI’s and seven home runs. Frye was a happy senior captain after the game. “If you had told me years ago (7 th grade), when I first started playing softball under Coach Scotty, that we would be where we are today, I probably would have told you no way,” said Frye. “It has been a lot of hard work.” Frye was asked what the difference was between game one, when the team lost 5-2 to The Kings Academy, and this third game that they dominated? “In the past two games we just started playing better as a team, and we started trusting each other more,” said Frye. “You can’t have a team not trusting everyone and you can’t play well if you are divided. This team has been together for a long time and we trust each other.” Frye went 1-of-2 in the game including an inside the park home run that produced the Bobcat’s first two runs in the first inning after Smith led off with one of her four doubles and five hits during the game. In the circle Frye worked four innings, allowed five hits with three strikeouts before being relieved by Ham for the final two innings when the Bobcats had built an 8-1 lead. Other Bobcat hitters in the state championship win included center fielder Ham, a sophomore, who went (3-of-4 & two RBI’s) and in her two innings of relief in the circle Ham allowed one hit while striking out three batters. Sophomore third baseman Lauren Sims went (2-of-4 & 2 RBI’s). Sophomore first baseman Lexi McCutchion had a hit and two RBI’s, while freshman shortstop Paisley McCutcheon went (2-of-4). Freshman second baseman Natalie Brayboy contributed a hit and senior right fielder Savannah McCutcheon had a hit with two RBI’s. After the game, The Kings Academy head coach Jennifer John told the HSSR. “I am really proud of my team, and this was the first time we have been in the state finals,” she said. “Our two senior starters are our third baseman Lauren Mills and out first baseman Kate Buckley and our two senior subs are Maddie Cottrill and Maddie Creveling and we will miss all four of them. “ We really have a young team and with this game today it will fuel our returners to want to play harder and get back here again with a better result,” said Coach John. “We will have seven starts back including our sophomore pitcher Addison Bescher .” While the bobcats had perhaps their best overall game of the season this game was certainly not one of the better ones for The Kings Academy. “We got behind early and we just never recovered from the five runs they scored in the first inning,” said Coach John. “I feel like, you know what, that this game will motivate us to come back stronger next season.” The Lions got six hits in the game. Bescher led the team with two hits. She also had 9 strikeouts in the circle. Center fielder Emma Taflinger had a hit as did catcher Emma Atkinson . First baseman Kate Buckley and shortstop lead-off batter Ava Grace Keefe provided a hit. For the season, Carolina Academy had six starters bat .292 or better. Prior to the state championship game, the top hitter was Ham at .459 with 28 RBI’s. Smith was next on the hit index at .432 and 10 RBI’s. Fyre was at .352 with a team leading 32 RBI’s and seven home runs. Sims came into the final game batting .328 and 15 RBI’s for the Bobcats. Sophomore OF/Catcher Paisley Coker was batting .317 with 17 RBI’s while Braveboy was at .315 with 14 RBI’s. Paisley McCutcheon came into the final game batting .292 with six RBI’s. Other members of the Carolina Bobcat team include junior Katherine Holliday , left fielder Ema Amos , and 9 th grader Kaylee Lyerly . Ham had 53.1 innings with 78 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.41 coming into the final game.

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Walterboro – It’s official. The Pee Dee Academy softball program can now say it has been able to bear the title of state champion for the past half decade. The Golden Eagles won their fifth consecutive state crown on Tuesday, beating Colleton Prep Academy 8-1at the CPA field to sweep the best-of-3 SCISA AAA championship series. PDA, which beat the War Hawks 10-0 in five innings on Monday in Mullins , finished the season with a 28-2 record. This is the ninth straight season Pee Dee played in a state title series. It also claimed a championship in 2017. In Monday’s win, senior Maddie Coward tossed a 1-hit shutout. Coward, who has started in the circle for each of those five title teams, struck out nine, walked one and hit a batter. She threw 52 pitcheas, 43 for strikes. Pee Dee scored two runs in the first inning, one in the second, three in both the third and fourth and closed it out with a run with one out in the fifth. Dinah Johnson had a 2-run single in the first inning, while Lilly Grace Rowell had a sacrifice fly that scored Carly Carroll in the second. e The Eagles scored three runs in the third before Addison Hasty had a 2-run double in the fourth followed by an RBI double by Azeleigh Arnette to make it 9-0. The game-ending run came on a triple by Careoll Hasty and Arnette both had two hits to lead PDA’s 8-hit attack. Coward added a double, and Rowell had a single to go with her sac fly. Carroll and Johnson had the other hits. Carolina Academy beats The King's Academy 8-7 to force deciding game in AA Carolina 8 The King’s Academy 7 Florence – Carolina Academy kept alive its hopes of defending the SCISA AA title with an 8-7 victory over The King’s Academy on Tuesday at the TKA field. The deciding game in the best-of-3 series will be played at Florence Christian School on Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. Raeley Frye and Ella Ham did the work in the circle for the Bobcats, who improved to 15-10. Ham smacked a home run, while Paisley Coker had two multiple-run hits. Addison Bescher had 12 strikeouts in the circle for the Lions. Bescher also had 12 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in The King’s Academy’s 5-2 Game 1 win on Monday in Lake City . TKA head coach Jennifer John said Emma Atkinson had a great game catching Bescher, and that Emma Taflinger , Scarlet Rose Rivers and Chloe Ritter backed her in the field with great catches.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Lake City- During the 2026 softball season “The Carolina Academy ” Bobcats defeated region rival “The Kings Academy” Lions twice (7-3 and 1-0), so when the two teams won their respective SCISA AA brackets in the post-season tournament at Lexington (May 8-9), fans of both teams knew the best-of-three finals that began in Lake City on May, 11 was going to be like a prize fight, likely to extend to all three rounds. The Lions took advantage of numerous Bobcat errors, including 8 walks, to take game one 5-2. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday (May 12) in Florence for game two. TKA is hoping to sweep and earn a state title. “The Carolina Academy” are the defending SCISA AA state champions so this is not their first rodeo, and in all honesty, they did not play one of their better games of the season on Monday. The difference in this game was TKA sophomore pitcher Addison Bescher who recorded 12 strikeouts, while allowing just five hits. Her best stat might have been “no walks.” After all you need base runners to score runs and free passes glare at you in the stats totals. Ater the game, TKA head coach Jennifer John shared her thoughts. “Addison is pitching with a lot of confidence, and she knows exactly where she is locating her pitches,” said Coach John. “I also think like our girls were really disciplined at the plate. They waited for their pitch, and when they put it in play, they were smart about it. I think that made a huge difference in getting the runs we needed to win. “Addison and Emma (catcher Emma Atkinson ) have been a great pitcher/catcher combination all year and they are two of our best leaders,” said Coach John. “We know that Carolina Academy will come ready to play on Tuesday. We just need to stay focused and not beat ourselves.” Veteran Carolina Academy head coach Scotty Phillips spent a long time in his huddle talk with his team after the game. “I reminded our players that they are better hitters than they were tonight, and they were not attacking the ball very well in this game,” said Coach Phillips. “They have to come out and swing the bats better in game two. They are not getting on base through walks with their pitcher.”  Coach Phillips talked about his own veteran senior pitcher Raylee Frye who has been very impressive over her five- year career . “Raylee, for some reason, has started pulling up her arm a little bit when she pitches over the past couple weeks and we have to get that fixed before game two tomorrow,” said Coach Phillips. “Their pitcher pitched a good game. We will likely go with Raylee in game two and we are confident she will have better control and focus in this game.” Coach Phillips was very complimentary (once again) about veteran catcher Carlie Ann Smith. “ You do not get many like her in a coaching career,” said Coach Phillips. “She’s a very special player.” The Bobcats were limited to five hits in the game from five different players. Frye and Smith had hits along with freshman second baseman Natalie Braveboy , outfielder Paisley Coker and Ella Ham had a double in the 6th inning. As far as what he hopes to expect from his team in game two, Coach Phillips said, “It looked like we were not very confident tonight and I feel like we will be more alert and focused tomorrow,” said Coach Phillips. “We will be ready to play I promise you.” Both pitchers started off the game lights out with each of them retiring the first six batters they faced. Fyre had three of her five K’s in the first two innings. Bescher also had three strikeouts in the first two innings. Left fielder Hannah Allison led off the top of third for TKA with a single. She advanced on a ground-out by and scored on a throwing error to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats pushed across their only two runs of the game in the bottom of the 4 th to take a 2-1 lead at that point. Smith led off with a single. Paisley McCutcheon advanced Smith to second on a sac bunt. Frye drove in Smith with a well-hit ball to center field to tie the game 1-1. Fyre advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Paisley Coker to make it 2-1. In the 6 th inning the Lions added two runs to take a 3-2 lead. Emma Atkinson reached on a one-out double and then the team benefited from a hit batter, and two straight walks with Atkinson tying the game on a bases load walk. Lauren Mills also scored on a bases loaded walk to put her team for good 3-1. Ham got out of the jam with two straight K’s to end the inning. The Lions added two insurance runs in the 7 th inning. First baseman Kate Buckley reached on a one-out single and then three straight walks to Atkinson, Mills, and Haley Griggs led to the Lions plating two more runs to win the game 5-2. The five hits by TKA came from Bescher, Buckley, E. Atkinson, Mills and H. Allison..

Pee Dee softball after 5th straight title; Laurence Manning softball, Hilton Head Christian baseball after 3 in a row.

Orangeburg Prep girls came out strong in game one of the SCISA tournament games.