Charleston Collegiate beats The King's Academy 5-0 for SCISA Class A boys soccer title

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • May 11, 2024

Sun Devils send out 10 seniors with second straight championship

               Columbia Charleston Collegiate managed to survive its semifinal match against Marlboro Academy in the SCISA Class A boys soccer state playoffs on Friday winning by a 2-1 count.


               There was a quick turnaround for the state championship match as the Sun Devils took on The King’s Academy less than 24 hours after beating Marlboro. Charleston Collegiate looked like a different team on Saturday, winning its second straight state title with a 5-0 victory at Hammond School’s Edens Stadium.


               “Yesterday, honestly Marlboro was a tough opponent for us,” said Sun Devils head coach Alexander Roberts, who is in his first year in charge after serving as an assistant last year. “I’m glad we were able to pull it out. We had a different mindset. We were more refreshed.


“Today they were ready to be champions. Yesterday they were questioning themselves. I’m glad they were able to figure things out for themselves. “

Wyatt Clifford, who scored two goals for Charleston Collegiate along with fellow senior Anthony Gaines, said he and his teammates were more locked in on the task at hand.

“I’m just really proud of the boys,” said Clifford, who has been on the Sun Devil varsity team since the seventh grade. “After losing some key players last year and not letting that affect us, just getting right back into it is outstanding.

“We didn’t have as much of an edge as we needed to have against Marlboro. We had that today.”

The King’s Academy also played its semifinal match on Friday, beating Patrick Henry Academy 7-3 TKA head coach David Waugh said his team didn’t play in the same fashion on Saturday.

“It’s difficult to win two games (on) back to back (days),” he said. “We didn’t play the same as we did when we won yesterday. We did try to change a couple of things up. We were just never able to maintain what we did.

“Credit to the other team, They played a great game and deserved to be winners.”

               The Sun Devils, who finished the year with an 11-6 record, controlled the pace of the match. They kept a steady amount of pressure on the Lions’ backline and goalkeeper Carter Matthews.


               Charleston Collegiate got its first goal less than 10 minutes into the match. The Sun Devils’ Gaines came down the left side of the field and took a beautiful feed from eighth-grader Carlos Hernandez and put it in the back of the net with 31 minutes, 15 seconds, left in the 40-minute first half.


               TKA, which finished with an 11-9 record, fended the Sun Devils off for a long stretch. Sophomore Caed Lovell and junior Parker Lynch helped turn away a rush at goal about midway through the half. The King’s had its best chance at scoring when K.C. Todd got free down the middle. However, senior goalkeeper Jack Turocy charged from the net and covered the ball before Todd could unload on a kick.


               Charleston Collegiate took a 2-0 lead when Clifford went flying down the left side and retrieved a three-quarters-of-the-field pass from sophomore Lawson Hughes and turned it into a goal with 14:57 left in the first half.


               That was the score at the half. It remained that way until Clifford scored at the 29:13 mark of the second half. Senior Aaron Jacques pushed the lead to 4-0 with 15:48 left, and Gaines got his second goal in stoppage.


               Gaines said there couldn’t be a better way to close out his career.


“We definitely wanted to leave our senior year with a bang, go out and win,” Gaines said. “We didn’t want to disappoint our (seven) other seniors.

“It came down to the last minute yesterday, so we came into this game focused on trying to connect with each other, playing team ball, and it definitely helped us today.”

            The other seniors besides Gaines, Clifford, Jacques and Turocy are Will Ravenel, Oscar Leighfield, Charles Hyleman, Luke Melton, Tekai Smiley and Holden Gantt.

The Lions are on the other end of the spectrum in regards to seniors. They have just two in Jackson Thomas and Elliot Elder.

“We started two eighth-graders three ninth-graders and only two seniors,” Waugh said. “The potential f9or the program is very strong. Last year we lost four seniors, and we weren’t really sure how we were going to be. We thought it was going to be a building thing, but we actually improved from last year (when TKA lost in the semifinals). This is a great thing for such a young team.”

               This is the third consecutive season Charleston Collegiate has played for the state title. Roberts hopes this is just the first part of a long run of dominance.


“I’m super proud of these boys,” Roberts said. “Everything goes to them. We just wanted to continue the legacy that we had. I just told the boys it’s another day in the office. We need to get used to this.”

For the seniors though, this is it. That’s what makes it so special to Clifford and his fellow seniors.

“It just especially means something this year because I’m a senior,” said Clifford, who has been on the varsity since the seventh grade. “ I’ve been playing soccer since I was three years old. To close a chapter in my life, one that’s been a big part of my life my entire life, is special.”

By 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 7 th 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 8 th 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 7 th 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 7 th with redemption on their minds. Brooklyn Holmes started the inning off with a walk and then Alexa Eversole got her 4 th 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.
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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