By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia - The Gray Collegiate Academy softball bats overcame the solid pitching of York Comprehensive in a 5-2 victory in the third and deciding game of the 4A softball state championship series Saturday, and the War Eagles now have a 4A state championship to go along with 2A crowns the team won in 2022 and 2024. Leadoff batter and home run champ Aspen Boulware got the team started in the first inning with a solo home run, her 22 nd of the year, while seniors Maddox Long and Kayley Anderson delivered 2-run shots in the fourth and fifth innings. Long started the game in the circle for the War Eagles (32-3) and gave up the Cougars’ only two runs, one apiece in the second and third innings. Makenzie Sease came on in relief to pitch four innings of 1-hit ball to claim the win. Both pitchers struck out three apiece. “They work so hard. People wouldn’t believe how hard these kids work,” Gray Collegiate head coach Doug Frye said. “There ain’t that many teams that can outwork us. They may beat us, but they don’t outwork us. We lose, we come back and get better. We’re done today, and I’ll bet half these kids will be practicing tomorrow, trying to get better. They’re hungry for it.” The War Eagles got on the scoreboard early with Boulware’s longball in the first inning. York (25-5) senior and Erskine signee Layla Clayton singled in A.C. Lingerfelt with one out in the second. Long struck out Emma Farrell and got Sullivan Littleton to pop out to end the inning. The Cougars took a 2-1 lead off of Marisa Reyes’ one-out solo home run in the third, but that was all the runs York could get across. Long got Natalie Dover and Lingerfelt to pop out to retire the side. “I thought we’d be fine,” Frye said. “We’re just waiting for the right pitch. (York starter Peyton Brooks ) threw a good breaking ball off the plate, and we worked hard on trying to go with the pitch, being patient and don’t chase things. 2-1 you’re always in the game.” Gray showed that were very much in the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, when they got to Brooks. Sease led off that inning with a single to leftfield and promptly came home on Lane’s 2-run homer that soared over the fence in left and gave the War Eagles a 3-2 lead. “I knew it was my time to step up for the team,” said Long, who will attend Charleston Southern as a student in the fall. “I just went up to the plate and did what I was supposed to do. It always feels better when the bats are moving. It helps us when we have a little bit of runs, makes us feel a little bit better.” With no one out, Anderson singled after Long’s homer, which brought Brooks’ time in the circle to an end in favor of York’s ace, Clayton. Clayton, who threw 209 pitches in games one and two for the Cougars, gave up Maliah Wright’s bunt single, but managed to get out of the jam with outs attributed to Elizabeth Robinson’s sacrifice bunt, Braelyn Triplett’s pop fly, and Kaylan Boudreau’s inning-ending fielder’s choice. Clayton and the Cougars weren’t so fortunate in the fifth inning. With one out, Sease singled and put her courtesy runner, Madison Bumgarner , at first. Gracie Porter bunt sacrificed Bumgarner to second, and Anderson took her the rest of the way on a high 2-out home run that skimmed the fence in centerfield before it went over. “It was a great feeling to know that my team had already put up the runs and we were ahead,” said Anderson, who will play for Converse College in the fall. “But just to add to that was really cool, and to know that they were behind me was a really cool feeling.” After that homer the Gray lineup livened up significantly, as three-run leads with two innings left to play tend to do. “It was really great, we all worked together,” said Boulware, who had just one hit on the afternoon but was intentionally walked and reached base three times on walks and being hit. “I feel like we hit a lot better in this game compared to the other two games, I was glad we were able to string our hits together.” Boulware added about Anderson, “The energy she brings to the team is great, and on top of that she hit a home run. I was so glad she got to finish off her career with a home run, so that’s really great.” Sease closed out York’s sixth and seventh innings in quick fashion. She needed just six pitches to get three outs in the sixth, and fourteen pitches in the seventh. Eleven of those pitches were to Brooks, who with two out fouled off five pitches on a full count before going down on a called strike three to end the game. “I can’t believe it. I’m shocked but I knew we could do it,” Sease said. “I don’t know how to feel right now. Those last pitches I was just focusing and trying not to get too excited, to stay calm and focused.” The Cougars gave Gray Collegiate everything they had and came close to reaching the state crown, but second place is not something to be sad about, York head coach Danny Mazell said. “Cherish the moment, because it’s hard to get there,” Mazzell said. “I don’t care if it’s softball, baseball, basketball, football, it’s hard to get to the state finals. We were in the state finals and we were the No.2 best team in the state.” Mazell added, “No excuses, they beat us. And you’ve got to make the fundamental plays. I think we had four errors in this game and one of those errors they capitalized on it. But I’m excited for these girls and what’s coming up next year. I’ll miss Layla Clayton, her ERA’s probably the best in the state in all classifications (0.62 in 20 appearances). She’s going to the next level and it’s up to our girls to pick it up.” Frye said that Gray Collegiate’s seniors made game 3 a treat, and will give the returning teammates something to remember as they get back to work for the 2026 season. “The best thing was the seniors and they were going out with their last at-bats as a home runs, that’s pretty impressive,” Frye said. “Boulware, she’s just special anyway, she got probably 35 intentional walks this year because she’s hit like 22 home runs this year. She’s just special kid, a special player.” On Anderson’s tension-breaking homer in the fifth inning, Frye added “She hit it good. It’s being disciplined and waiting on the pitch going with the pitch, don’t try to do too much with it, I think we did a good job of that today. We hit the ball pretty hard.” Tuesday-Wednesday Game One York Comprehensive 002 000 0 – 2 6 1 Gray Collegiate 010 000 0 – 1 5 3 WP: Layla Clayton, 7 IP, 5H, 1R, 0ER, 3BB, 6K. G – Kaylan Boudreau 2B. Y – Kayla Johnson 3-4, HR. Wednesday Game Two Gray Collegiate 100 102 0 – 4 9 2 York Comprehensive 000 000 0 – 0 3 1 WP: Peyton Hendrix, 7 IP, 3H, 1BB, 8K. G – Makenzie Sease 2-3. Peyton Hendrix 2-3, 2B. Aspen Boulware HR. Kaylan Boudreau 3B. Y – Peyton Broom 2B. Friday Game Three York Comprehensive 011 000 0 – 2 4 4 Gray Collegiate 100 220 x – 5 7 0 WP: Makensie Sease, 4 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 3K. Y – Marisa Reyes 2-3, HR. G – Kaley Anderson 2-3, HR, 2 RBI. Maliah Wright 2-3. Maddox Long HR, 2 RBI. Aspen Boulware HR.

Gray Collegiate sophomore Peyton Hendrix pitched all seven innings in their 4-0 win over York in game 2.

York senior Sullivan Littleton makes the catch at first base against Gray Collegiate.

SCHSL Championship Series got started on Saturday with 12 teams in each category striving to earn a state title. It's looking to be a wet week for most of the state, we'll see how the forecast holds up for these games to be completed. Softball 5/26 - Class 5A Div 1. - Byrnes @ Summerville 5/26 - Class 5A Div. 2 - Catawba Ridge @ St. James 6p 5/27 - Class AAAA - York @ Gray Collegiate 6:30p 5/27 - Class AAA - BHP @ Aynor 6p5/27 - 5/27 - Class AA - Saluda @ East Clarendon 7p 5/27 - Class A - Latta @ Lewisville 6p 5/28 - Class 5A Div 1. - Summerville @ Byrnes 5/28 - Class 5A Div. 2 - St. James @ Catawba Ridge 6p 5/28 - Class AAAA - Gray Collegiate @ York 5/29 - Class AAA - Aynor @ BHP 6p 5/29 - Class AA - Lewisville @ Latta 5/29 - Class A - East Clarendon @ Saluda 7p Game 3s (if needed) on 5/30 Baseball - Games Started Saturday, May 24 th with games 5/27, 5/29, and 5/31 5/24 - Class AAA - Southside Christian 14 , Oceanside 1 5/24 - Class AA - Philip Simons 5 , Batesburg-Leesville 3 5/24 - Class A - McBee 5 , LakeView 3 5/27 - Class 5A Div. 1 - Lexington @ James Island 6:30p 5/27 - Class 5A Div. 2 -Catawba Ridge @ Berkeley 5/27 - Class AAAA - Airport @ Seneca 5/27 - Class AAA - Oceanside @ Southside Christian 5/27 - Class AA - Philip Simons @ Batesburg-Leesville 5/27 - Class A - McBee @ Lake View 5/29 - Class 5A Div. 1 -Lexington@ James Island 6:30p 5/29 - Class 5A Div. 2 -Berkeley @ Catawba Ridge 5/29 - Class AAAA - Seneca @ Airport Game 3s (if needed) on 5/31

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Columbia – The Magnificent Seven is a classic old time western movie at Richland Northeast in the AAAA girls state track and field meet the Gray Collegiate girls track and field team wrote their version of the Magnificent Seven as they won their first AAAA state track and field state championship narrowly defeating runner up Daniel 61-58. “I’m really proud of these girls, they worked hard all year. The coaches did a great of preparing our kids to come out here and preform at a high level,” said Head Coach Jackie Robinson. “First time getting a AAAA state championship at Gray Collegiate, we did it with only seven girls making it so for them to come out here and maximize all the individual and relay events I just can’t say enough good things. We had several personal records; they picked themselves up and delivered in a big way.” The state championship was the second consecutive for coach Robinson and Gray Collegiate as they won their first state track and field championship last season at the AA level. Gray led Daniel by two points 58-56 heading into the final event, the 4x400 relay. The Lady Eagles team of Tamara Steward, Taylor Jones, Aliyah Edwards, and Zaira Gaines made sure the lead held up as the finished sixth while Daniel finished seventh for the final of 61-58. The foursome also got the meet started off on a solid note as they won bronze in the days first event the 4x100 relay. Steward led the way for Gray Collegiate winning three individual medals: two gold and a silver. She won the 100 hurdles in a time of 14.83 equaling her personal best and the long jump setting a new personal best of 5.48 meters. She also set a new personal best in the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:03.23. Tresta Miller , also visited the medal podium for Gray as she placed second in the 100 and the 400 meters. She also participated in the 200 and the long jump. Daniel’s lone gold was in the 4x800 relay with Lizah Williams, Ellen Breed, Lilly Tidwell, Lilly, and Ashby Williams. Williams was the top individual winner for the Lions as she won silver in the 1600 and 3200. She set a new personal best of 5:08.39 in the 1600. In the 100 and 200 meters, Gaines scored valuable points for Gray as she placed fifth and sixth, respectively. Greer’s Jewel Brantley had won a gold and silver medal winning the 100 meters in a time of 11.88 and finishing second in the 200 meters in 24.68. She is just a junior. Also winning two individual medals was Westsides Ayanna Hunt. She won the discus with a throw of 47.51 meters and won silver in the shot put with a put of 12.17. She won the discus by over 10 meters. South Pointe’s Azyah Adams won two bronze medals in the 100 and 200 meters. She set new personal best in both events with a time of 12.05 in the 100 and 24.83 in the 200. The 4x100 relay team of Jayla Robinson, Adams, Amiya Davis, and Kavae Anderson took home gold in the event. ================= 1 Gray Collegiate 61 2 Daniel 58 3 Seneca 55 4 Hilton Head 47 5 South Pointe 45 6 Bishop England 40 6 Westside 40 8 Wren 39.5 9 Lakewood 26 9 York 26 11 Dreher 25 11 Lower Richland 25 13 Travelers Rest 19 13 South Florence 19 15 Greer 18 15 Fountain Inn High School 18 17 Bluffton 16 18 Gilbert 14 19 Wilson 13 20 Aiken 12.5 21 Hartsville 12 22 AC Flora 11.5 23 Blue Ridge 9 24 Airport 8 25 May River High School 6 25 Richland Northeast 6 27 Brookland Cayce 5.5 28 Midland Valley 5 28 South Aiken 5 30 Colleton County 4 30 Camden 4 32 Pickens 3 32 Southside 3 34 Beaufort 2 35 Lancaster 1

By Billy G. Baker Publisher West Columbia — Gray Collegiate Academy boys’ soccer coach an athletic director Kevin Heise, celebrated his 600 th career win late in the 2025 season, and his current War Eagle’s team improved their record to 22-3 with a first round AAAA play-off win over Gilbert , 5-0, on May, 7. The War Eagles will now host Brookland - Cayce on Saturday May, 10. The Bearcats advanced with an 8-0 win over Wilson High . In the win over Gilbert, the Gray boys’ team took 26 shots on goal, making five of them. The goals were scored by five different players. Those War Eagles scoring goals included Ethan Mohundro , Noah Mitchell , Jason Gonzalez , Gavin Greer , and Tanner Leggette, Andres Camp has one assist while Mohundro led the team with two assists and Jay Ethridge added one assist. Earlier in the week, prior to his game with Bluffton, the HSSR interviewed Coach Heise as he was keeping stats on his lap top, watching the Gray Collegiate girls’ soccer team defeat Bluffton 6-1 on May, 6. “We finished 21-3 in the regular season with a 13-1 region record,” said Coach Heise. “The one region game we lost was to North Augusta in penalty kicks at their place earlier in the season. We were fortunate enough to come back home later in the season and best them 4-0. “Winning the region was a big goal because it sets us up well for the play-offs and here, we are getting ready to play Bluffton,” said Coach Heise. “We always hope to be playing our very best once the paly-offs begin.” Coach Heise talked about the seven seniors on this year’s team who have been a vital part of the programs the past several years. He began with senior goalie Joey Sullivan being a four-year starter for Gray. ”Sullivan has already competed in three state championship games, so he has a lot of experience and he has a huge number of minutes played, that will never be surpassed here,” said Coach Heise. “It is very rare to play start four seasons and play in all 30 games each season. He is a good leader for us.” Sullivan has 58 saves in goal this season and he has only allowed 12 goals in well over 1,000 minutes of play. Sullivan is headed to the Honors College at USC. In the mid-field the War Eagles are led by senior Noah Mitchell who has 11 goals and a team leading 26 assists to date. Mitchell is an all-state performer and he will be on the Carolina’s Classic team. Mitchell will be attending Emory University in Virginia. Senior Ethan Mohundro id also in the mid-field. “He’s our glue guy,” said Coach Heise. “He does all the dirty work and leads by example.” Another key forward/mid-fielder is junior Andres Campo who transferred into the program from Cardinal Newman last season. Camp has 14 goals and 12 assists so far this season. Freshman Jason Gonzalez also works hard in the mid-field and he has 11 goals and six assists coming into the post-season. Coach Heise is especially pleased with the play of three marking backs who have led the defense for several years as starters. “Really, a key aspect of our team is three seniors who play in the back,” said Coach Heise. “ JJ Evans is going to be playing in the North-South game (also has 7 goals & 7 assists) and he is joined in the back by senior Junior Gonzalez who is just a great soccer player,” said Coach Heise. “He turned down several colleges offers to move back to Mexico this summer. Then we have in the back senior Jay Ethridge who will also play in the Carolina’s Classic all-star game after the season. Jay has signed to play at USC Lancaster next year.  “All seven of our seniors are a very special group of players that we will miss,” said Coach Heise. ”I can’t put it any other way. They are very special players in our program.” Nathan Hernandez is a senior versatile player, on offense and defense, who has missed most of the 2025 season with a knee injury. “Nathan has been a three-year starter but he has only played in about a quarter of our games this season,” said Coach Heise. “The game he has played in, he has made an impact and knock on wood that he can play and give us a shot in the arm in the play-offs.” Some non-senior starters include sophomore mid-fielder Will Webber who has scored 14 goals with 11 assists to date. “He is on the outside and he is tied for the most goals on the season and he just a sophomore,” said Coach Heise. “We have a junior up-front Tanner Leggette and he is a beast, a very big boy at around 200 pounds and he has scored 10 goals with seven assists. We also have a junior right marking back who has started all but one game this season in David Andrade . Freshman Jason Gonzalez has started 8 games for the team this season and he has 11 goals and six assists tohis credit so far. “We have 26 total players on the team and we rotate them in-an-out-out all the time,” said Coach Heise. “All of our players are hard-working and dedicated to the sport of soccer.” Over the past three seasons, Gray Collegiate boys’ soccer has been in the state finals three years in a row. They lost to Christ Church three years ago and to sister charter school Oceanside Collegiate the past two seasons. Can this senior dominated team take that next step and win a state title this season? “The thing I am most proud of is that this team wants to really prove that they can compete at the AAAA level,” said Coach Heise. “Before realignment this year we competed at the AA level. We know that people are waiting to see what we can do at the AAAA level. “In the three championship games we have lost we were beat, 2=0, 1-0, and 3-0,” said Coach Heise. “In two of these games we had a chance to score to score in the first minute of play and one hit the post and the other we just missed a wide-open shot. “You have to score in order to win and we have to take advantage every scoring opportunity we get,” said Coach Heise. “The play-offs are single elimination so we have to play our best from here on out.” Coach Heise is now in his 8 th season at Gray Collegiate. His top assistant is brother Kyle. Other assistant coaches include: Bryan Fallaw, JT Gardner, and Todd Wilkerson. Alisa Dancer is the team statistician. The Gray Collegiate Girls Soccer team Finishes 22-3 On The Season To describe the boy’s and girls’ soccer teams at Gray Collegiate as a family affair would be right on the mark. Emily Heise , wife of Kevin Heise, is the head coach of the War Eagle’s girls’ soccer team. After an opening play-off win over Bluffton (6-1) to start the the play-offs on May, 6 the team lost an over-time hard-fought game to traditional power Hilton Head, 2-1, three-days later to conclude a very successful 2025 season at 22-3. Against Bluffton goals were scored by five different players. Leading the way with two goals was sophomore forward Caroline Cantrell . Cantrell finished the season with 21 goals and four assists for 46 total points. Junior Vanessa Coleman , junior Victoria Coleman , junior Bailey Lancaster , and freshman Maggie Ingram each scored one goal against Bluffton. The top scorer on the team was Victoria Coleman with 32 goals and 22 assists for a total of 86 points. Lancaster finished the season with 47 points, with 11 goals and a team leading 26 assists. Senior goalie Sophie Hoffman allowed only 12 goals all season in 1,460 minutes played. She had 14 shut-outs on the season. Coach Emily Heise, who is expecting the couple’ third child in the near future, is assisted by Kevin Heise , Katie Clampitt , and Kenneth Smith . Kyle Heise is the team’s statistician.

Gray Collegiate head coach Doug Frye With Co-captains Aspen Boulware an Naveah Matthews.

Gray Collegiate sophomore shortstop Aspen Boulware has a .608 batting average, 14 HRs and 33 RBIs.

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Gray Collegiate baseball lost a big part of its baseball success with the retirement last year of head coach Charlie Assey . Assey, who had coached the War Eagles since 2018, led the team to two Class 2A state championship series appearances in 2021 and 2022. He took the team to the upper state semifinals in his final season, falling to Strom Thurmond. “Gray Collegiate has been a huge part of my life the last six years,” Assey said in a statement last year. “The baseball program is one of the top teams in the state. This has been the most difficult decision to make in my life. To hang up my hat forever from something that has been my entire life dream is tough. Please know that I will always be appreciative of this opportunity to be a War Eagle.” Assey won a state title at Brookland - Cayce in 1998, and won four SCISA state championships, coaching at Orangeburg Prep , Mims Academy , Willington Academy , and Heathwood Hall . In looking to fill Assey’s shoes, Gray Collegiate found a natural choice—longtime Assey assistant Matt Hornsby , whose son M.J. Hornsby stayed at Gray while his father went to rebuild the baseball program at Dreher . “We had some really good years, and during that time we had some good players and good parents and a good program,” Hornsby said about his three years at Dreher, where he led the Blue Devils to two region championships in 2022 and 2023. “But it just killed me when I couldn’t see my son play. I was going to come back to Gray and stay until my son graduated, then when Coach Assey retired, I was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time.” Gray lost six seniors from last year’s 30-7 team, including Blaine Redmond , the team’s No.1 pitcher and centerfielder. The War Eagles have a good core returning, Hornsby said. Among those returning are Junior shortstop and pitcher M.J. Hornsby, junior second baseman/shortstop Garrett Blankenship , sophomore pitcher and catcher Riley Huggins . “He’s our No.1 guy at pitcher and he’ll catch some but not just yet,” Hornsby said. “He plays outfield as well and is a really good player.” Coach Hornsby said the infield is really strong with M.J. Hornsby and Blankenship sharing time at shortstop and second base, junior Cole Adams at third, and senior first baseman and pitcher Zeb Taylor coming back. Taylor hits in the cleanup spot. “The infield has been our strongest part of the year so far,” Coach Hornsby said. Junior J.P. Sweat is in centerfield and junior Kaleb Holmes in rightfield, and senior Judson Decell is in leftfield. “J.P. is batting over .700 right now and kaleb has been batting around .600, a nice surprise for us.” Competing in what Hornsby calls “the gauntlet” of the 8-team Region 4-4A, which include Brookland-Cayce, Gilbert , Airport , Aiken , South Aiken , Midland Valley , and North Augusta , will be a big challenge this year. Fortunately for the War Eagles, Hornsby shares a great deal of baseball philosophy with his predecessor. I just want to build basically on what we’ve established here. He’s got them on a good foundation,” Hornsby said. “Our offensive approaches are a little different, I’m a little more free-swinging and he’s a little more old school than I am. We’re still going to bunt and do all the things he said, but I don’t think I’ll take as many pitches as he did and don’t want to wait as much (for good pitches). We’ll be a little more aggressive on the bases, but our philosophies are very similar.”