By Dennis Brunson Hssr.com Associate Editor Manning – The Dorchester Academy baseball team came into the SCISA AA state playoffs with a 7-13 overall record. The Raiders’ run in the playoffs came to an end on Thursday with them sporting a 13-15 record – oh, yeah – and the state championship trophy. DA beat defending state champion Lee Academy 9-5 in the third and deciding game of the best-of-3 championship series at Laurence Manning Academy’s Tucker Belangia Diamond . “These guys here we struggled all season long, but we never lost our composure,” said Dorchester head coach Brent Jackson . “We just came out here in the playoffs and started playing baseball like we should have.” The Raiders won their second title in three years, claiming the 2024 crown. Jackson pointed out an important distinction. “We just had one guy back from that (’24) team,” he said. “This was a new bunch of guys who did it.” The Cavaliers, who finished the season with an 18-6 record, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. However, DA broke through for four runs in the third. LA got within 4-2 in the fourth only to see Dorchester match the run in the top of the fifth. Lee put up two in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 5-4. That set the stage for Raiders senior third baseman Wyatt Byrd . DA’s Reed Almers reached on an infield single to start the top of the sixth. He was forced out on a fielder’s choice, and it appeared Cavaliers relief pitcher Myles Frye had the second out when he got Landon Holly to pop up in foul territory down the first base line. The ball wasn’t caught though, thus extending the at-bat. That would be fatal for LA. Holly came through with a single before Warren Judy struck out for what would have been the third out. Instead, it was just the second and that brought the right-handed swinging Byrd, the No. 5 hitter, to the plate. He lofted a fly ball right down the right field line. The outfield on Tucker Belangia Diamond is pretty spacious with the exception of down the two lines, with right reaching 295 feet. Byrd’s poke ended up clearing the fence for a 3-run home run that made it 8-4. “When I hit it I thought I had a double,” said Byrd, who not only hit his first homer of the season but also hit a homer in his final high school at-bat. “I just got very excited when I saw it was a homer.” Lee head coach Danny Price couldn’t undersell the significance of that scenario. “If we make that play we’re getting out of the inning without them scoring,” Price said. “If we do that, then we really have the momentum going for us. But baseball can be a funny game.” Dorchester would add another run as John Quattlebaum drew a walk, went to third on an Abe Shuler single and stole home to make it 9-4. Lee got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but Judy retired the side in order in the seventh to get the complete game. “I was just out there competing,” said Judy, who finished the game with 90 pitches. “I wasn’t getting a lot of strikeouts. I was just relying on my defense, and they did a great job.” Judy allowed seven hits, but didn’t walk a batter while striking out four. “Warren pitched a heck of a game,” Jackson said. “He just went out there and battled.” The Raiders finished with 12 hits, all of them coming over the last five innings. Shuler led the way in terms of hits, going 3-for-4 with one run batted in. Byrd was 2-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored. Holly was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Judy was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Austin Varn had a hit, two runs and an RBI, Carter Beeks had a hit and two runs, and Almers had a hit, a run and an RBI. “We got the clutch hits when we needed them,” said Jackson, whose team didn’t hit a home run in the regular season but hit four over the course of the eight playoff games. Olson had two of LA’s seven hits to go with a run and an RBI. Chance Entzminger had a hit, two runs and an RBI, Andrew Bowers had a hit and an RBI, and Cash Holloway had a hit and a run. Tucker Rogers and Aiden Fitzgerald each had a hit, while Frye scored a run and picked up an RBI. “We had a great season,” Price said. “We hit and pitched well most of the season, but we just didn’t seem to play our best in this series. You have to tip your cap to them (Dorchester). They played well.” Lee got out to the 1-0 lead in the first when Entzminger reached on a 1-out error, stole second and scored on an Olson single. Tyler Gilbert started on the mound for the Cavaliers. He walked Almers to open the game before retiring six batters in a row. However, he walked Beeks to begin the third and wasn’t as lucky this time around. Gilbert struck out Bryce Marchant before getting Almers to hit a ground ball. All hands were safe on an error, and Varn and Holly followed with RBI singles to make it 2-1. Judy had a ground-rule double to drive in a run, and Byrd followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1. LA cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth. Olson singled with one out, reached third on an Aiden Fitzgerald single and scord on a sacrivifce fly by Frye. Dorchester got the run back in the fifth when Judy and Byrd started the inning with singles. Shuler followed with a 1-out single to score courtesy runner Graham Varnadoe . Holloway led off the Lee fifth with a single and was sacrificed to second by Cary Privette . Entzminger delivered Holloway with a 2-out single, and Bowers followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-4.

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.

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By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Edior St. George – The Dorchester Academy girls basketball team has four returning starters from a team that went 16-8 a year ago and came within a basket of playing for the SCISA AA state championship. So it is no surprise the Raiders are having a successful 2025-26 campaign. They won 15 of their first 17 games and started 3-0 in Region 2. The four returning starters are junior Palmer Kizer , junior Alyssa Grooms , junior Rylee Weathers and sophomore Emery McClure . The newcomer to the starting five is a senior in Rylee Matthews . The first two players off the bench for Dorchester are senior Lyla Owens and freshman Madison Downey . Other members of the team are sophomore Emma Branch and sophomore Brinley Pope , both first-year varsity playes. McClure leads the team as she is averaging a double-double with over 10 points and 10 rebounds per game, respectively. She’s also averaging four steals a contest. The Raiders have a balanced scoring attack as Weathers and Grooms are both averaging double figures. Matthews is averaging double figures in rebounds. Kizer, who is averaging four steals a contest, is the defensive catalyst, according to veteran head coach Callie McClure . “Kizer is at the top of our defense, setting the tone on that side of play,” said Coach McClure, who saw the Raiders drop a 44-43 decision to Laurens Academy in the semifinals. “She is feisty and quick and never runs out of gas.” DORCHESTER BOYS OPEN 9-8 The Dorchester boys basketball team won nine of its first 17 games and was 1-1 in region play. With four games still left to go in the region, Raiders head coach Nick Mcalhany thinks the best is yet to come for his team. “We still have not played our best ball yet,” Mcalhany said. “We’re looking forward to doing that as we get into region play.” Dorchester went 10-13 last season. They lost to Carolina Academy 62-53 in the first round of the AA state tournament. Senior Abe Shuler is the leader of the offense, averaging around 15 points a contest. Joining Shuler in the starting lineup are senior John Quattlebaum , junior Austin Varn , sophomore Carter Beeks and freshman Colson Williams . Other members of the team are sophomore Boone Gruber , sophomore Graham Varnadoe , senior Bradley Sievert , junior Lathan Hartzog , sophomore Warren Judy , sophomore Clayton Ziegler and junior Will Quattlebaum . Dorchester is joined in Region 2 by Faith Christian , Charleston Collegiate and Cathedral Academy .

 By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor St. George – The Dorchester Academy football team came up shy of the ultimate goal of winning the SCISA Class A state championship. The Raiders reached the semifinals of the playoffs before losing to Colleton Prep Academy 22-16 to finish the year with a 9-2 record. That being said, DA head coach Michael Nelson could find no fault in the effort put forth by his players to achieve that goal. “I’m proud of the work our guys put in all offseason and all season long to give us a chance to compete for a state championship,” Nelson said. “We fell short of our goal, but we are excited about getting back next season.” Dorchester won its first eight games of the season, including a 28-14 triumph over Colleton Prep. However, the Raiders lost to eventual state champion Williamsburg Academy 36-21 to decide the region championship in the regular-season finale. Dorchester had 12 players selected to the All Region 1-Class A team. They were senior quarterback/free safety John Quattlebaum , senior running back/defensive end John Whetsell , senior tight end/middle linebacker Abe Shuler , senior cornerback/wide receiver Landon Holly , senior tight end Bradley Sievert , junior offensive guard/defensive tackle Will Quattlebaum , sophomore fullback/noseguard Warren Judy , sophomore running back Reed Almers , sophomore guard/noseguard Jac Carn , freshman guard/noseguard Matthew Byron , junior center/defensive tackle Jack Whetsell and junior wide receiver Noah Risher . John Quattlebaum completed 81 of 116 passes for 1, 162 yards and 10 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He also rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. John Whetsell was the workhorse of the offense. Whetsell carried the football 200 times and rushed for 1,607 yards and 18 touchdowns. Shuler was Quattlebaum’s favorite target as he had 31 receptions for 462 yards and four touchdowns. Risher had 21 catches for 368 yards and seven touchdowns, and Holly had 10 catches for 110 yards and one score. Almers and Judy took full advantage of their opportunities to run the football. Judy rushed for 492 yards and seven touchdowns on 53 catches, while Almers ran for 399 yards and six scores on 58 carries. Judy also caught five passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders will graduate six seniors from this team, five of which were All-Region selections. However, Nelson expects the beat to simply go on. “We are losing six seniors and have some big shoes to fill, but our guys are ready to accept the challenge and continue the strong tradition of winning football at Dorchester Academy,” he said.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher St. George—Williamsburg Academy ( 9-1) used several big plays early in the game, in their 36-21 region clinching win over previously undefeated Dorchester Academy (8-1) in the final regular season game for both teams last Friday. After the game head WA coach, Will Furse , told the HSSR, “It feels great to win the region title, and our guys worked really hard to have the opportunity to play in a game with so much on the line,” said Coach Furse. “I am very proud of the way we played, and the preparation of what went into this game, and the work paid off.” Coach Furse said his team picking up a late season game against Bethesda Academy, that they played at Hammond a few weeks ago helped prepare his team for the region show-down game against DA. “I certainly hope that game helped us get ready for the game tonight because Bethesda was big and physical, and while that game was not a region game and didn’t matter in the standings, it certainly didn’t hurt us to get us ready for the rest of the season,” said Coach Furse. WA’s versatility to be able to run and pass has helped contribute to their 9 wins so far this season. “Being able to do both makes it difficult for defenses to defend us,” said Coach Furse. “We try to be versatile and to have a plan in place so we can adjust based on what the defense is showing us. We did a pretty good job of making those adjustments tonight. “I thought our guys played really well,” said Coach Furse. “We are super proud of Michael Ard tonight, because he played a great game on defense, after being hurt in a serious auto accident the morning after the Bethesda game, on his way to school. At first, we thought we might have lost him for the season, but he got cleared to play a week ago. “We didn’t play him at all on offense tonight, but he did a great job at linebacker for us,” said Coach Furse. “He is one of the toughest kids I have ever coached, and nothing surprises me about him. He is the heart and soul of this team.” DA head coach Michael Nelson shared his thoughts with the HSSR after the game also. “We lost one of our top running backs in the second period (John Whettsell) and that adjusted our game plan some,” said Coach Nelson. “We just have to go back to work and get ready for the play-offs now. “Our seniors’ leaders have all played well this season,” said Coach Nelson. “Seniors like Abe Shuler , John Quatllebaum , John Whetsell , Landon Holly and Bradley Sievert have stepped us as leaders this season.” Coach Nelson was also proud of the play of the Raider offensive line against WA. “We gave up three massive plays to them in the first half that hurt us tonight, and I felt like we came out and played better in the second half,” said Coach Nelson. “We will get back to work in practice on Monday and address some of our mistakes and hopefully we can have a deep play-off run.” Senior QB Micah Balder tossed two first half scoring bombs to sure-handed receiver Charlie Caulder of 75 and 95 yards respectively and junior hard-running RB Grant Small scor5ed on a 95-yard run to help give the Stallions a 22-6 lead at the half. Small went on to rush for 167 yards on 17 carries in the game, and he added a second half TD of four yards. Balder added 26 yards on four rushes an one rushing TD and senior RB Eli Brown rushed five times for 15 yards. As a team the Stallions gained 208 rushing yards on 26 carries. Caulder had a great game receiving for WA with five catches for 178 yards and two scores. Senior Jay Kellahan caught one pass for 8 yards. The top six tacklers on defense for WA included Balder and junior Michael Ard with 10 tackles each. Jay Kellahan had 9 hits while Caulder and soph Lane Patrick had seven tackles each. Seth Cherinko , Sammy Tomlinson , and freshman baseball prospect Caden Morris had six tackles each in the win. Cherinko had three sacks also. Dorchester Academy was led on offense by QB John Quattlebaum who went 21-of-31 through the air for 209 yards and three touchdowns. His top receivers were Abe Shuler with five catches for 54 yards and one TD along with Landon Holl who had four catches for 21 yards and Warren Judy caught three passes for 81 yards and a TD. Reed Almers had three catches for 42 yards, John Whetsell caught two passes for 18 yards and Noah Risher caught two passes for 33 yards and a touchdown. The top rushers for the Raiders included Whetsell with 76 yards on 14 carries (injured in second quarter), along with Almers who netted 62 yards on seven carries, and Judy rushed for 40 yards on two carries. The top Raiders on defense included Will Quattlebaum with 8 tackles and one interception while Judy had six tackle sand two TFL. Shuler chipped in with four tackles and John Quattlebaum had two tackles and one TFL. Whetsell added three tackles and one TFL. ON the season, Small is having a great season on the ground for the Stallions with 1,582 yards rushing on 148 carries and 24 TD’s. Balder and Brown have 456 and 440 yards, respectively. Caulder leads WA receivers with 25 catches for 548 yards and six TD’s. The top four WA tacklers to date are Ard (102), J. Kellahan (68), Caulder (52) and H. Dukes (39). Williamsburg Academy will host Patrick Henry this Friday in the first round of the SCISA Class A play-offs. DA will host Beaufort Academy this week to get the play-offs started. Top seeded Colleton Prep will host Lee Academy this week in the SCISA Class A play-offs while Thomas Heyward will play against Carolina Academy .

Raiders lose only two starters from 19-6 team that played for AA state championship

The SCISA Baseball playoffs are in the final semi finals and here are the updated brackets.