Hilton Head Prep beats Orangeburg Prep 5-3 to claim SCISA AAA baseball state title

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • May 21, 2025

HHP rallies from 3-1 deficit with 4-run 6th to win program's first ever baseball championship

           St. George – Hilton Head Prep took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning against Orangeburg Prep in a game in the SCISA AAA baseball state championship series.

 

           Wait …..

 

           “Didn’t it look a lot like the other night,” questioned HHP head coach Chris Wells.

 

           As in Game 2 of the championship series on Thursday at Indian Field in Orangeburg The Dolphins led 5-3 going into the bottom of the seventh, three outs away from winning a state title. That didn’t turn out very well as the Indians scored three runs to win 6-5.

 

           And that’s why OP and HHP were playing Game 3 on Monday at the Dorchester Academy field. Hilton Head Prep flipped the script.

 

           Orangeburg Prep got the tying run on base, but Hilton Head Prep didn’t let it slip away this time behind the pitching of Brandon Espinoza to win 5-3 and give the program its first ever state championship.

 

           Senior catcher Jackson Stanyard said there were a few choice words bandied about in the Dolphins dugout prior to taking the field in the seventh. However, it all really came down to this.

 

           “Let’s go out there and let’s play our game,” Stanyard said. “A lot of us got caught in the moment (in Game 2). We were about to win a state championship and we lost our minds. We said we need to go play our game, make the fundamental plays, throw strikes and get outs. And that’s what we did.”

 

           The right-handed Espinoza took the mound in the seventh just shy of 90 pitches with a pitch limit of 105. He walked Hunter Judy to start the inning before getting Landon Kuck to hit into a fielder’s choice. Morrison Burroughs, who had the walk-off base hit in Game 2, drew a walk.

 

           That brought Eli Pantaleon, who homered earlier in the game, to the plate. Espinoza and Pantaleon battled before Pantaleon hit a sinking line drive that second baseman Calvin Middleton snagged on a diving catch for the second out.

 

           Espinoza struck out Orangeburg Prep leadoff hitter Mason Tyler with his 101st pitch to secure the win.

 

           “This is really kind of surreal,” said Espinoza, a sophomore in his first year at HHP after transferring from May River High School. “I knew we had the team to do it. My team is very, very talented. I knew they had my back. I just had to pitch my game and do my stuff and we’d be fine.”

 

                       Hilton Head Prep finished the year with a 29-3 record, while the Indians finished with a 26-5 record. Each of the games in the best-of-3 series was highly competitive with the Dolphins winning the opener 3-0 on Wednesday in Hilton Head Island.

 

           That developed a lot of mutual respect between the two teams.

 

           “Hats off to the Hilton Head Prep team and Coach Chris Wells,” said OP head coach Tate Jameson. “He’s got a heck of a ball club.”

 

           “We made the plays this time against a hell pf a ball club and a hell of a coach,” said Wells, who just completed his seventh season in charge of the Dolphins. “I told Coach Jameson after the game that I wish they were AAAA or AA in another division and would have won the state championship. I would have rather beat anybody else than Coach Jameson. He’s a class act.

 

“If this was a 7-game series we would have played seven.”

 

           Espinoza was making his first start of the season after serving mostly as a short reliever. In going the distance, he allowed four hits while walking two and striking out five. Only one of the three runs was earned.

 

           Wells said the circumstances of the series led him to go with Espinoza.

 

           “He’s a little bit of a wildcard,” the head coach said. “He hasn’t pitched much for us. You look at his stats. He’s at the bottom of our roster in innings pitched. We’ve used him in other situations. We haven’t had three tough games in a week. He was fresh and I knew he was probably our second best pitcher all year, and we never used him.

 

           “It was a roll of the dice, and my coaching staff will tell you I’m a gambler, and we gambled and won. Hie’s probably our MVP tonight.”

 

           Wells said there was a lot of discussion during the last couple of innings as to how long to stick with Espinoza. The coaching staff went to Stanyard for his opinion.

 

           “This was our first year with him, he’s a sophomore, but he looks like he’s a vet,” Stanyard said. “It was amazing. I can’t even tell you what I was thinking. He just fought all night long. He had a tight (strike) zone, and he just worked with it. He never gave up, always kept his head up.”

 

           Burroughs, one of eight seniors on the Orangeburg Prep roster, started on the mound. The left-hander got off to a slow start but was helped out by a fortuitous play.

 

           Sammy Middleton led off the game with a single before Stanyard drew a walk. Espinoza came through with a single to score Middleton and put the Dolphins up 1-0.

 

Burroughs threw a wild pitch that hit the brick wall backstop and bounced right back to Judy, the catcher. Courtesy runner Sam Bocian, In for Espinoza, ran straight to second while Stanyard backtracked to the bag. However, Stanyard got tagged out. Burroughs then struck out Connor Campbell and got JP Pirkey to ground out to get out of the inning.

 

           HHP missed out on a big scoring opportunity in the second. Tyler Britschke led off with a single and reached second when he beat the throw on a sacrifice bunt by Brody Hausher. Britschke did get forced at third, but an infield single by Calvin Middleton loaded the bases with one out.

 

           Burroughs responded by getting both Sammy Middleton and Stanyard to pop out on the infield.
 

           Espinoza allowed just one hit batter in the first two innings before the Indians got to him in the third. Eli Pantaleon picked up a 1-out single and Tyler reached on a throwing error that left runners on second and third. Tadd Jameson picked up a run batted in with a groundout and Charlie McCutchen delivered an RBI single to make it 2-1.

 

 OP expanded the lead to 3-1 in the fifth with Pantaleon’s solo homer in the fifth. Hilton Head Prep responded with four runs in the sixth. It came against Pantaleon, who came on in relief of Burroughs with one out in the third and had retired seven of the eight batters he faced with the one reaching on an error before being eliminated by a double play.

 

           Pirkey drew a leadoff walk before Pantaleon struck out Britschke. Hausher singled before Rooney and Calvin Middleton drew walks to force in a run and make it 3-2.

 

           Bryson Williams came on in relief of Pantaleon to face Sammy Middleton. Middleton hit a high chopper to Kuck at third base. Kuck initially looked home but then went to first and threw the ball away. Two runs scored. An RBI single by Stanyard made it 5-3.

 

           The Dolphins finished with six hits coming from six players. Sammy Middleton had a hit, a run and an RBI as did Calvin Middleton. Hausher had a hit and a run, Stanyard had a hit and an RBI, and Britschke and Campbell both had hits.

 

           Pantaleon had two of OP’s four hits, scoring twice and driving in a run. Tilden “T” Riley and McCutchen had the other hits. McCutchen and Jameson both drove in a run and Tyler scored the other run.

 

           Orangeburg Prep last won a state title in baseball in 1991 and had not played for a state championship since 2003. Coach Jameson had nothing but praise for his eight seniors – McCutchen, Tadd Jameson, Pantaleon, Kyle Cooper, Burroughs, Tyler, Judy and Williams. The head coach said McCutchen, his son, Pantaleon, Cooper and Burroughs along with Riley, a junior, were major cogs in the rebuild, starting with the program in the sixth grade.

 

“They are the core group that has built Orangeburg Prep baseball back along with the coaches,” he said. “We’ve made the playoffs the last four years, and it’s been a long time since that happened.

 

“They got good pitching and were just a little bit better than us. We had a chance to win the game in the seventh, and you can’t ask for much more than that.”

 

           For Wells, winning the state title is a culmination of a lot of hard work from his players.

 

“I was in tears about 10 minutes ago,” Wells said. “It means the world (winning state). You ask these kids to sign up and commit and give it all they’ve got, to look back with no regrets, and they bought in. Early in the season, the seniors – the best group of seniors I ever had, and I don’t say that lightly because I’ve had some outstanding young men over my career – they took it upon themselves to draw up the mantra together, and we did this together.

 

“We don’t have elite (NCAA Division I) DI talent top to bottom, we’re just a gritty bunch of guys from Hilton Head and the Lowcountry who fought tooth and nail and eared it. It means the world to this group. Those pictures we just took they’ll look back on those for the next hundred years and it will be something very special to them. It feels good to me personally, but I can’t get over the joy I have for these young men right now.”

 

“I can’t even put into words,” Stanyard said of what it means to be a state champion. “We’ve worked so hard for this, day in and day out. We’ve been playing baseball since we go to school, playing every single day. I can’t explain to you how much work we put in and how much this has been due for us. I’m just so excited.”

South Florence Defeats Hartsville 6-2 IN AAAA Softball Play-offs

By Billy Baker • May 21, 2025
By Billy G. Baker Publisher  Florence ---The AAAA Lower State softball playoff game between region foes South Florence and Hartsville was likely a “Good News Versus Bad News” situation for the winner, and that honor goes to the host Bruins, who rallied for a 6-2 win after trailing early in the game. The Good News is the win itself, and the Bad News is that South Florence has to travel to Gray Collegiate later this week, needing to defeat the War Eagles twice in order to advance to the gold medal round that starts next week. The Bruns lost to Gray Collegiate on Monday 8-2 in the double elimination play-off. After the game, South Florence head coach Bobby Jones, drew his comparison of his team versus Gray Collegiate , the top ranked AAAA softball team in the state with these comments. “First of all, Gray has college prospects sitting on their bench who don’t even start,” said Coach Jones. “As a charter school they draw their players from all over Columbia, and our players all come from South Florence. “They have four Division I college prospects starting on their team, and in all my years coaching softball, I have never had a Division I signee,” said Coach Jones. “Gray is strong one through 15, all the way down the line. “We played a tough schedule against teams like Summerville and Catawba Ridge to get ready for them,” said Coach Jones. “We knew at the start of the season they were the team to beat in AAAA. Our goal is be very competitive and paly our best game of the season when we fact them again.” In reflecting on the Bruins win over Hartsville, Coach Jones said. “Our pitcher ( Payton Perry ) had a good night and our batters came through with key hits when we needed them the most,” said Coach Jones. “Our little 8 th grader ( Rylee Rowsey ) got a triple in the bottom of the 6 th that scored two runs when the game had been tied at two. It was a solid team win tonight.” Coach Jones, in his 29 th year of coaching, said the Bruins will miss all three senior starters from this year’s 24-8 team. Perry is headed to Coker College after a solid career . The other two starting seniors are outfielders Alaina Floyd and Riley Owens and they have been hard workers on the team.” Hartsville (23-6) is head coached by Amber Harvey, concluding her 6th season as the head coach at her alma mater . “ Unfortunately, we have averaged one bad inning on defense, in several of our games this season, and that is what happened again in this game, that cost us the game,” said Coach Harvey. “We have a total of four seniors on the team, and three of them start. Carter Shumate starts at first while Allie Bailey is our main pitcher, and Jaysha McCullough is our starting center fielder. Our other senior is Jenna Storm . Shumate came in to the game batting .513. “Allie Bailey really had a good year for us pitching and she sort of waited her turn and it was her time to shine and we are really proud of her contributions this season,” said Coach Harvey. “Carter has helped us on both defense and at the plate and she had a great throw to the plate from first base to get an out, and we practice that throw from first to home a lot in practice and she executed it very well,” said Coach Harvey. “We are proud of our season this year and with six starters returning for next year we are looking forward to further success.” The Red Foxes were led at the plate by junior shortstop prospect Myah Harvey who batted .522 with 8 home runs, 25 stolen bases, and 39 RBI’s. Shumate was second at .513 and 28 RBI’s followed by McCullough at .488 with 18 RBI’s. Hartsville took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Sophomore Emma Kate Hudson led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by 9 th grader Claire Smith . A ground-out by freshman Aliyah Smith moved Hudson to third. Junior catcher Mary Ellyn Hickey then singled in Hudson to give the Red Foxes an early lead. Hartsville extended the lead to 2-0 after batting in the 4 th inning. Shumate led off with a single and advanced to third on a double by Hudson. Two batters later Shumate scored on an RBI ground-out by Smith. South Florence tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 5 th . Riley Rowsey reached on a one-out single. She advanced to second on a walk to Riley Owens . A single by Page White scored Rowsey to cut the deficit to 2-1. Two batters later Ryleigh Hux doubled in White to tie the game. SF was hoping to make it a 3-2 lead but Hux was gunned down at the plate on a perfect throw by Shumate. In the bottom of the 6 th inning, the Bruins sent 8 batters to the plate when they broke the game open with four runs. Blakely Blue drew a one-out walk. Ava Black then reached on an error to put runners on first and second. Ryle Rowsey delivered the big hit of the game, a triple into the deep corner of left field that scored Blue and Black to give SF a 4-2 lead. Riley Owens then singled in Rowsey to make it 5-2. Owens scored the Bruins final run on a throwing error to give SF the final margin of 6-2. South Florence has players batting .354 or better. They are Hux (.395 & 24 RBI’s), Perry (.391 & 28 RBI’s) White (.388 & 24 RTBI’s), R Rowsey (.364 & 21 RBI’s) while Black and Owens are hitting .354.

Summerville edges past Sumter in Lower State series

By Roger Lee • May 20, 2025
Summerville pitcher Ansley Bennett threw a no-hitter against Sumter May 19 during the playoffs. Photo by Roger Lee

Hanahan hangs on to defeat Fox Creek 9-8

By Neill Kirkpatrick • May 20, 2025
By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to HSSR Hanahan – Nothing in baseball causes a coach more stress than when his pitching staff can’t find the strike zone as was the case for Fox Creek in the second and third innings Monday night as home standing Hanahan took full advantage by scoring 9 runs and then they had to withstand a Fox Creek rally to advance into the lower state final with a 9-8 win. “I’m proud of our guys. We got down five in the second inning but they didn’t hang their heads. We are a young team but these guys never give up, they never stop fighting and they always compete,” said Head coach Skylar Hunter. The Hawks will take on region rival and the HSSR’s second ranked team Oceanside Collegiate (26-5). The teams have played three times this season with the Landsharks winning all three. The Hawks will have to win twice to advance to their eight state championships series and third in a row. Fox Creek ends the season at 23-7. The Predators will also say good bye to nine seniors that were the backbone of back-to-back region and district champions. “I’m proud of this team. They battled to the end and showed a lot of grit all game,” said Head Coach Roby Gillespie. “This senior class has set the precedent for future teams. We tell the guys ‘Good isn’t good enough, strive to be great’ and this team did that every day.” After an uneventful first inning, the Predators came alive in the second. Bradley Anderson led off the inning with a single. After a strikeout, Will Frischmann stepped to the plate and launched a bomb to right center for a two-run tater and a 2-0 lead. Hanahan starter Chris Polm then walked the next three Fox Creek batters. The first batter that walked Jackson Wright was thrown out by the Hawks Hudson Sprovero for the second out of the inning. Caleb Waters had an infield single for Fox Creek to load the bases with two out. Will Fountain would score on an error and then Anderson plated two runs with a single pushing the lead to 5-0. The Hawks would respond in their half of the second with help from Fox Creek starting pitcher Devin Hillary. With one out Hillary walked Wyatt Muirheid. Zac Jimenez singled to put runners on first and second. Hillary then struck out the next batter before he couldn’t find the strike and walked the next three Hanahan which resulted in two runs cutting the Predators lead to 5-2. In the bottom of the third the Hawks would take the lead with a seven-run inning. It started with a lazy fly out to right. Hillary then walked the next two Hawks. Two wild pitches and a passed ball moved both runners up to second and third. Jimenez singled to scored Polm from third and still leaving the bases loaded.  Gunnar Haulbrooks came up next and singled scoring Muirheid and Jimenez and the game was tied at 5. The inning continued as Tripp Gallus had infield single and Joe Furse walked to load the bases. Sprovero came up next and promptly deposited the ball over the left field fence for a grand slam giving the Hawks a 9-5 lead. Fox Creek’s would bring in their fourth pitcher of the game Audyn Randall, who would get Jimenez to ground out to second base to end the inning. Randall pitched the finals 3 1/3 innings for Fox Creek and shutdown the Hawks offense. He struck out the side in the fourth and gave up only one hit to keep the Predators in the game. “Audyn maybe pitched four or five innings for us all. He came up to me and said coach give me the ball, I know I can throw strikes. He got up there and did his job to keep us in the game,” said Fox Creek coach Gillespie. Meanwhile, Hanahan brought in Haulbrooks in the second inning and he pitched well until the fifth inning. “Gunnar did a good job of settling us down in the middles innings and he also a big hit to bring two runs,” coach Hunter said. The Predators would draw closer to the Hawks as they scored twice to cut the lead to 9-7. Chance Weathersbee singled with one out and moved to second when Wright drew two out walk. Will Fountain would score both runners when he hit a triple into the right field corner. Hillary would cut the lead to one in the top of the sixth when he hit a solo shot over the right centerfield fence and suddenly the Predators were down only one at 9-8. The Hawks made a pitching change after the home run going to lefty Nolyn Nickels. Nickels would walk the first batter he faced but then got the final four outs of the game including striking out the last two batters and the Hawks were headed to the Lower State finals.

Third time is the charm for Waccamaw boys track and field

By Neill Kirkpatrick • May 19, 2025
Southside Christian senior Grayson Gibbons wins more gold to close out prep career.

Mountain View girls track and field team wins AAA state championship

By Neill Kirkpatrick • May 18, 2025
Kailen Kramer of Oceanside clearing 12'6 during the AAA State Championship Pole Vault.

Seneca wins seventh state title on last event of the AAAA meet

By Neill Kirkpatrick • May 18, 2025
By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Columbia – There is nothing like heading into the final running event at a track and field meet needing to score some points to capture a state title but that is what faced the Seneca Bobcats as Landon Crawford stepped into the starting blocks for the start of the 4x400 relay with his team trailing upstate rival Wren 53-52. Along with Kevin Bradley, Evan Jackson, and Elias Mcgee they ran a season’s best 3:23.29 to finish second in heat one and place seventh overall after the results from the two heats were in to get the two points they needed to overtake Wren 54-53 and win their seventh state AAA track and field state championship. Their last state championship was in 2018. The Bobcats had been close as they have finished runner up three times since 2021. After the meet head coach Chris White told his team, “We have been working towards this moment for seven years. I am so proud of you guys. This is a result of all the hard work you put in all year.” The Bobcats won this meet by scoring in six of the seven events for 43 points. Avery Butler led the way by winning gold in the discus and winning silver in the shot put. He also set new personal record in both events. In the discus he throw 58.46 bettering his old mark by almost three meters and he put the shot 16.56 meters. Corbin Williamson was second in the javelin with a throw of 51.10 meters while Isaiah Lippert and Mcgee won bronze medals in the pole vault and triple jump, respectively. Mcgee placed fourth in the long jump as well. Crawford placed fifth in the 400 and he, Jackson and Mcgee were joined by Cameron Benson to place fourth in the 4x100 relays. Wren had four medal winners on the day led by Jaxon Jerabek, who took gold in the pole vault and finished fifth in the long jump. Also, in the pole vault Bryson Todd brought home the silver medal while Parker Harris placed fourth. They scored 23 points in the event. Grant Young and Camden Pendleton finished second and third in the 1600 and 3200. Young was also fourth in the 3200. Richland Northeast’s Ethan Moody was the big winner at the AAAA meet winning three gold medals on his home track and setting new personal records in every event. His first event was the 110 high hurdles were he ran a new personal best of 14.05 to beat a loaded field where six hurdlers ran 14.80 or better. He came back to run 10.59 in the 100 and 52 flat in the 400 hurdles setting new personal best in the 100 and tying a personal best in the hurdles. He had one event left on the day after the 400 hurdles with opportunity to become the 10 th male to win four gold medals and just the third to win four in all individuals events. He came up short in his last event the 200, finishing seventh. Just like the other events he set a new PR with a time of 22.01. He finished the day with 32 points. “I did not know I had a 10.5 in the 100 in me,” said Moody. “This is my home track and I just wanted to come out and perform well. I’m very excited with the new personal bests.” 1 Seneca 54 2 Wren 53 3 South Pointe 48 4 Travelers Rest 45 5 Beaufort 42 6 Bishop England 41 7 Brookland Cayce 40 8 Gray Collegiate 34 9 Richland Northeast 32 10 Hartsville 30 11 Bluffton 27 12 Daniel 24 13 Westside 20 14 Lakewood 18 14 May River High School 18 16 Wilson 16 16 Emerald 16 18 Blue Ridge 13 18 Hilton Head 13 20 Lower Richland 12 21 Gilbert 11 21 Airport 11 23 South Florence 10 23 Midland Valley 10 25 Fountain Inn High School 9 26 Laurens 8 26 Southside 8 27 Aiken 8 28 AC Flora 8 30 York 7 31 Dreher 5 31 Camden 5 33 North Augusta 3 34 Colleton County 2 35 Crestwood 1

The Magnificent Seven win AAAA girls state track and field championship

By Neill Kirkpatrick • May 18, 2025
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

Ashley Ridge tops James Island to claim Lower State soccer title

By Roger Lee • May 18, 2025
James Island goal keeper Jackson Crawford comes out of goal to defend an attack by Ashley Ridge midfielder Joshua DeSouza May 17 during the 5A, Division 1 Boys Soccer Lower State Championship. 

Berkeley Advances To Lower State Div. II AAAAA Baseball Series Against West Florence After Beating North Myrtle Beach 6-2

By Billy Baker • May 18, 2025
Berkeley head coach Landy Cox.

Laurence Manning Wins Second Straight SCISA AAAA Softball Title With Hard-Fought 5-4 Win Over Wilson Hall

By Billy Baker • May 18, 2025
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Manning - Game two of the SCISA AAAA state championship softball series, between rivals Laurence Manning Academy (24-3) and Wilson Hall (15-12), appeared to be going the Barons way, as they held a 4-2 lead going into the 5 th inning of the game, hosted by the Swampcats on May, 15 th , one day after a hail storm delayed game-two. In sports, when adversity comes, we use terms like “the wheels fell off” or “things went South” to explain when negative things happen to the team we admire, and follow, at the worse moment in a game, especially with a state title hanging in the balance. Wilson Hall, committed three throwing errors on the same play, in the bottom of the 5 th inning, that led to LMA scoring three runs as the Swampcats went on to win the game, 5-4. It was their second straight SCISA AAAA championship. It was the 4 th straight year these two power-house SCISA teams had made it to the goal medal round. The Barons claimed Gold in 2022 and 2023. Laurence Manning finally broke through on their rival last season, when they earned a state title against the Barons. LMA had won game one of the 2025 series at Wilson Hal on Monday, 5-1. Minutes after the big come-from-behind win, head LMA coach Buddy Truett said, “All year long, when we have been down, we have come back; like when we came back from being down 10 runs against Orangeburg Prep,” said Coach Truett. “Our goal was to keep the pressure on them and when you put the ball in play anything can happen. “This team believes in themselves,” said Coach Truett. “Winning never gets old, absolutely not. I will take winning every time. Every kid on this team can hit it out.” Junior center fielder Lyza Pricklemeyer, who hit a home run to dead center field in the third inning . She has now played in four straight state championship games. “It feels great to have now won two titles in a row, and not everyone gets to experience this, and this is my 4 th year playing in the state finals.” said Pricklemeyer, a truly talented player on both sides of the ball. “I have seen both sides in the past four seasons and winning feels a lot better for sure. We came in very focused today, and we couldn’t do anything about the bad weather yesterday anyway. We were totally focused on winning the game today.” Pricklemeyer talked about her home run, in the third inning, to dead away center field. “I had been struggling at the plate the last couple of games, and their pitcher was throwing a lot of rise balls, and honesty, I was just trying to put the ball in play on the home run,” said Pricklemeyer. “I swing as hard as I can on every pitch and it felt good to see it go over the fence.” Pricklemeyer will play for the Lady Lighting Sumter legion team this summer. Senior pitcher Laini Kosinski possesses a lot of poise in the circle. “The one-day weather delay did not bother us at all,” said Kosinski after the win. “I pitch with the same focus whether runners are on base or not. I just stay in my tunnel and give it all I have.” Late in the season, with fellow pitcher Kaylee Parmenter Avins out with an injury, did that add a little pressure to her game? “I really didn’t feel any pressure, but I did feel some nerves on occasion,” said Kosinski. “When it came to this game, I felt focused and ready to help my team win a championship. It is a great feeling to help my team win two state titles in a row.” Kosinski said her curve ball was her best pitch during the game. ”My goals entering college will not change and that is to win, win, win,” she said. “Even when we got down today, we did not panic. We are all caring and loving teammates and we stick together no matter what.” Wilson Hall head coach, Teresa Alexander, told the HSSR after the disappointing loss, ”We came ready to battle today and I am really proud of the team for that,” said Coach Alexander. “We felt like we had prepared well for the game, but in in the end it didn’t happen. We had that one bad inning on defense, but all-in-all, we made it to the finals against a very talented Laurence Manning team, and my team put it all on the line. “We start one senior, Abby Bradley, and she just played the defensive game of her life along with only one junior our left fielder Addie Griffin,” said Coach Alexander . “ Our two pitchers’ tonight were an 8 th grader and a 9 th grader ( Marsha Kate Skey & Lilly Grace Przybyla ) and I was very proud of their efforts tonight. We are thankful to have them back, and the majority of our player’s back next season.” Coach Alexander put the three errors her team made in the bottom of the 5th into perspective. “What you saw was a team wanting to win really bad, and they make those routine plays 99 per cent of the time, but in the heat of the moment our players put everything into trying to get the third out. They tried hard to make the plays and it just didn’t happen. “We’ll bounce back, learn from our unintended mistakes, and be a better team going into next season,” said Coach Alexander. “We had a very young team this season, and our players kept working and grinding. I could not be prouder of them right now. We won some hard-fought games in the state tournament to get to the finals and this team never quits.” Coach Alexander said coming into this season, the Barons had graduated virtually all 9 starters “who had been a part of the team’s repeat run” prior to the 2024 season. “We have been working hard to figure out a way to get better with each game, and I think the fact that we made it to the finals this season, with a young team, should help go into next season with a lot of confidence.” Coach Alexander is closing out her 18 th season at Wilson Hall. She has coached teams to 10 state finals appearances, with six state titles won over this period, an outstanding achievement. Wilson Hall scored all four of their runs in the second inning, when 8 batters went to the plate. Addie Griffin led off with a double, and advanced to third when the ball got pass the catcher. Caroline Andrews generated a one-out single that put runners on first and third. Jenna Green then had an uncontested single, without a throw to first, on a ground ball as LMA held the runner at third from advancing home. Abby Bradley brought in Griffin on an RBI single through the middle. With two-out, Caroline Moorman ripped a double down the third base line scoring three runs to make it 4-0. The early momentum in the game belonged to Wilson Hall. In the bottom of the second, Caroline Welch put LMA on the board with a line drive home run over the left field fence that was caught with one hand by an LMA fan from the back of his pick-up truck. Then in the bottom of the third inning Pricklemeyer launched a solo home run to dead center field to cut the deficit to 4-2. LMA was down 4-2 in the bottom of the 5 th when they rallied to take a 5-4 lead that held up for the win. LMA’s first two batters of the inning were retired, but the momentum of the game was about to shift Swampcats. Ashely Rae Hodge reached on an error, and then Kosinski walked. Lilly Wellborn then hit a routine ball in the infield, and it appeared Wilson Hall might escape the inning still ahead 4-2. However, the throw to first base went over the head of the first baseman for the first error, and the next throw to second base was also over-thrown, resulting in two LMA runners crossing the plate. Then a third errant throw allowed Wellborn to score to give LMA a 5-4 lead. Needless to say, the momentum of the game shifted back to LMA as their fans aplenty cheered the moment. Kosinski did her best pitching for LMA over the final two innings of the game. In the WH sixth inning the Barons were three-up and three down on three balls hit to the outfield. Then in the WH 7 th Kosinski retired the side on three straight ground outs as the home fans started to celebrate. For the game, Wilson Hall out-hit LMA 7-to-4. Center fielder Abby Bradley had two hits and one RBI while Moorman, the catcher, had a hit that resulted in three RBI’s. Shortstop Mary Paisley Geddings had a hit while Griffin had a hit and scored a run. Green added a hit and Andrews had a hit and scored one run. Wilson Hall used two pitchers in the game. Marsha Kate Skey started the game and worked three innings, allowing two earned runs, four hits and she had four strike-outs. Lilly Grace Przybyla worked the final three innings, giving up no runs, no hits, and she had four strike-outs. LMA made the most of their four hits. Pricklemeyer and Welch each homered with one RBI each. Hodge contributed a hit with one RBI and she scored a run. Kosinski had the final hit and Wellborn scored a run during the contest. Kosinski pitched a complete game for LMA allowing 7 hits, just one walk and she had one strike-out. For the season, LMA had an impressive .406 team batting average. Leading the team in batting was Kosinski, a senior headed to Francis Marion to play softball. She batted .557 with 34 RBI’s, including six doubles and one triple. In the circle she went 12-0 with an ERA of 2.67. In 86 innings she had 82 K’s. Pricklemeyer, a top junior prospect with major college defensive skills, and a sweet swing from the left side to make any college coach smile. The top 10 rated junior in South Carolina, finished with a .548 average, including 37 RBI’s, 10 doubles, six triples, four home runs and she stole 10 bases. She also had a fielding percentage of .976, playing in center field and first base. Next on the hit index is junior Marlee Black , a lead-off batter with a .482 average including 23 RBI’s and 12 stolen bases. Hodge, a junior, batted .434 with 37 RBI’s and she stole 13 bases. Senior second baseman Carol Ann Briggs batted .382 with 9 RBI’s with a fielding percentage of .964. Other top LMA batters included senior pitcher/utility play Kaylee Parmenter Avins (.396 & 19 RBI’s) who battled injuries towards the end of the season. In the circle Avins worked 46.1 innings with 50 K’s and she had an ERA of 2.62. Welch, a highly regarded freshman batted .341 with 13 RBI’s. Junior Maggie Welch finished at .339 with 17 RBI’s and four home runs. Senior catcher Lila Kate Mathis battled though injuries for a good part of the season and her 1.000 fielding percentage behind the plate will be something talked about at future LMA class reunions. Mathis batted .333 with five RBI’s also. Wellborn, a junior, finished at .299 with 15 RBI’s and veteran senior Jessica Griffith hit .274 with 20 RBI’s including four doubles and one triple. Other members of the LMA team included senior Anna Lewis Burke , junior Emma Jean Casselman , and junior Ashlym Holmes . Wilson Hall’s stats leaders included Skey who led the team with a .357 average including 26 RBI’s and a home run. Geddings was next on the hit index with a .379 average with 15 RBI’s. Moorman was next at .338 with 15 RBI’s and a .982 fielding percentage. Przybyla hit .323 with 21 RBI’s and Bradley was at .321 including a fielding percentage of .957. Grace McArthur batting .300 with a fielding percentage of .974. Andrews was at .289 with 19 RBI’s and one home run. Griffin was at .275 with 25 RBI’s and two home runs while Emmie Williamson hit .269. Madelyn Davis was also a member of the team who had a double six RBI’s on the season. Green contributed 9 RBI’s on the season. In the circle, Skey worked 81.2 innings with 98 K’s and an ERA of 3.42. Przybala had 75.1 innings of circle duty with 55 K’s with a 2.69 ERA. Both these teams will come into the 2026 season heavily favored to meet once again in the SCISA AAAA state softball finals.
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