Class AAAA Softball is Gray Collegiate’s to Lose

       AAAA is Gray Collegiate’s to lose

By Dennis Brunson

    hssr.com Associate Editor

    Sumter – The Gray Collegiate Academy softball team made a championship debut in AAAA last season. The War Eagles went 32-3 in claiming the state title after moving up from AA.

    It was a little more difficult than anticipated for lower state champion GCA though. That’s because upper state champion York pushed it to the limit. The Cougars won the first game of the best-of-3 championship series before Gray rebounded with wins of 4-0 and 5-2.

    The Eagles are odds-on favorites to repeat this season. Led by the top player in the country in shortstop Aspen Boulware, GCA was undefeated through its first 18 games and was ranked No. 1 in the High School Sports Report AAAA Top 10 poll.

    Let us peer at the classification’s six regions and see who might be in the way of Gray Collegiate winning it again.

    REGION 1

    This region has two ranked teams in No. 2 Westside and No. 6 Fountain Inn. However it is Fountain Inn that is leading the region with a 5-0 record while the Rams are 4-1.

    Fountain, which was 13-5 overall, won the meeting between the teams in a 9-inning slugfest, 13-11. The teams are scheduled to meet again on April 16.

    REGION 2

    It would take a significant collapse by seventh-ranked Blue Ridge to let the Region 2 crown get away from it.

    The Tigers were 7-0 in the region while second place and fifth-ranked Seneca was 5-2. Blue Ridge owns a 3-2 victory over the Bobcats in the first meeting.

    Seneca’s other region loss came to Berea, which was just one game behind in the region at 4-3. Greer was also 4-3.

    REGION 3

    Fourth-ranked A.C. Flora is undefeated in Region 3, but it has two pretty good teams just behind it in York and Lancaster.

    The Falcons were 13-3 overall and 5-0 in region contests. York, 12-8 overall, was 5-1 and 10-7 Lancaster was 6-2.

    Flora has yet to play its 2-game region series against either York or Lancaster, so the opportunity for chaos to ensue is there. The Cougars and the Bruins split their two games.

    REGION 4

    Gray Collegiate actually only has a 1-game lead in Region 4. Third-ranked North Augusta was 7-1 in region play. The 13-4 Yellow Jackets lost to GCA 9-0.

    Gray has outscored its opponents 178-25 this season.

    Midland Valley and Gilbert are also ranked, the Mustangs at No. 8 and the Indians at No. 10.

    REGION 5

    Darlington is ranked ninth in the poll and was undefeated in Region 5 at 8-0 while sporting an 11-2 overall record. However, the Falcons had a couple of perennial AAAA powers breathing down their necks in South Florence and Hartsville.

    South Florence, which was 12-4, was 6-1 in region play. Hartsville was just 8-7 overall but 5-1 in region contests. South and Darlington had yet to meet, but Darlington did own a 6-4 win over the Red Foxes.

    The Bruins’ region loss came at the hands of Hartsville by a 3-2 count.

    REGION 6

    While it had just a 1-game lead in Region 6, May River has to be considered the favorite to claim the region crown.

    The Sharks were 5-0 in region play with Colleton County one game behind at 4-1. May River handed the Gators that loss with a 10-3 triumph.

    The teams are scheduled to meet again on April 24 in Walterboro.