East Clarendon baseball team plays tough non-region schedule
James Gamble, Cherish Cochran basketball All-Region selections
Turbeville – The East Clarendon High School baseball team won only one of its first four
games, but that comes with a caveat.
The Wolverines, who are in the AA classification, played two AAAAA schools and two AAAA
schools in those games. EC head coach Curtis Johnson likes to “schedule up” in non-region play to
prepare his team for the postseason.
East Clarendon lost to AAAA Hartsville 5-1 to start the season before falling to AAAAA West
Florence 11-1. That was followed by an 11-10, 9-inning loss to AAAA Socastee. The first win came
against AAAA South Florence by a 7-6 count on Mach 15.
The Wolverines were set to open Region 7-AA play against Clarendon County School District
rival Manning on March 19. ECHS is actually scheduling up in region play as well since it moved from
Class due to reclassification. The region includes Kingstree, Marion, Mullins, Lake City and Atlantic
Collegiate Academy.
East Clarendon returns four players who were regulars in the lineup from last season’s team that
went 21-9, won the region title and its district tournament in the Class A state playoffs before going 1-2 in
the Lower State tournament. They are Whit Nesbitt, Dawson Beard, Hunter Mixon and Foster
Matthews.
The Wolverines are having to replace the leader of the team on the mound in Caleb Coker. The
Co-Player of the Year in Class A, Coker owned a 9-1 win-loss record and a 1.84 earned run aveage in 65
innings pithed. He struck out 65 while walking just 14 and allowing 50 hits.
Brent Hardy and Matthews are back after pitching significant innings. Hardy was 4-3 with a
2.65 ERA in 37 innings, while Matthews was 3-1 with a 2.07 ERA in 23 innings.
They have been sharing innings so far this season along with Evan Lee, Barnes McConnell and
Cooper Goff,
JAMES GAMBLE BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-REGION PICK
Freshman James Gamble was the lone East Clarendon boys basketball player selected to the All-
Region 7-AA team.
Gamble had a solid all-around season for the Wolverines. He led the way in scoring at 14.0 points
per game while pulling down 7.1 rebounds, handing out 3.1 assists and coming away with 2.2 steals.
East Clarendon finished the season with a 6-18 overall record and was 1-11 in region play,
missing out on the state playoffs. Head coach Patrick Kelly hopes a year o maturity and a summer of
hard work will help rectify that situation.
“We were a very young team this year,” Kelly said. “In the majority of our games we started two
freshmen and two sophomores due to injuries. We need to get in the weight room and work hard this
summer.”
Senior Darius McCray averaged 7/0 rebounds.
CHERISH COCHRAN GIRLS BASKETBALL ALL-REGION PICK
Sophomore point guard Cherish Cochran was selected to the All-Region girls basketball team.
Cochran led the Wolverines in scoring with a 13.9 average to go with 2.0 assists.
East Clarendon finished with a 5-14 overall record while going 3-9 in the region. It didn’t make
the playoffs.
“This season was not our best record-wise, but our team gained valuable momentum in maturity
and perseverance,” said head coach Demetress Adams-Ludd. “We look forward to growth and reaching
our full potential.”
Other key contributors for East Clarendon were freshman Kierstin Woods, senior Jasmyne
Lloyd and freshman Payton Hanniford. Lloyd aveaged 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds, while Woods
averaged 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds. Hanniford led in rebounding at 6.6 while scoring at a 3.9 clip.
