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HSSR Class AA - Sweet 16 Football Poll

Billy Baker • Oct 02, 2023

 HSSR Class AA - Sweet 16 Football Poll

1.   Gray Collegiate

2.  Oceanside Collegiate

3.  Abbeville

4.  Woodland

5.  Hampton County

6.  Saluda

7.  Marion

8.  Fairfield Central

9.  Silver Bluff

10. Strom Thurmond

11.  Barnwell

12. Ninety-Six

13. Edisto

14. Andrew Jackson

15. Andrews

16. Lee Central


Congratulations to these two Class AA athletes selected selected to represent the state of South Carolina in the 87th edition of the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas.


Marion High School - Quay'Sheed Scott, DB   

Silver Bluff High School - Jayden Fuller, DL


The game, which pits the best from the Palmetto State against the best from North Carolina, will be played on Saturday, December 16, at Spartanburg High School.





 Top AA Ranked Gray Collegiate Playing Nationally Ranked Teams To Get Ready For AA State Title Run


 By Billy G. Baker

  Publisher


 Moncks Corner — With region play starting those teams who played a very competitive non-region schedule are likely to be rewarded in upcoming games where fourth quarter conditioning, and limited penalties, are rewarded with close wins in toss-up games.


 Whether you lose by one point, or 30 points, you still lost. Preparing for success by competing against a strong non-region schedule gives most teams a competitive edge. As the late John McKissick always said, “Winning is positive and losing is negative. Give me players who will stick their noses in the briar patch and we will find a way to win.”


(That sounds painful, doesn’t it?)


 The HSSR’s top three teams in AA have been consistent from week-to-week since early in the 2023 season. Talking about a tough schedule let’s justify why we have Oceanside Collegiate (4-2) ranked number two behind sister charter school Gray Collegiate (8-1), even though the Land Sharks have two losses. Oceanside’s two losses were to top ranked South Florence (28-6) on August, 25. On September, 22 head coach Chad Wilkes took his team to his old work place Sumter High and the Land Sharks went toe-to-toe with a AAAAA team, before losing 17-10. Oceanside has also defeated the consensus number one Class A team in South Carolina, the Lewisville Lions by the score of 24-7. Strength of schedule benefits Oceanside for sure.


 So, the HSSR feels strongly that Oceanside Collegiate is ready to make a run in their region and another deep run in the AA playoffs. Abbeville, ranked number three in AA defeated Powdersville (35-34 in OT) and then played a competitive game against a 5-1 Westside team before suffering their only loss of the season 48-13. Abbeville, ranked number three,  has also gained valuable experience from having played a tough non-region schedule. The Panthers defeated Powdersville and their only loss was to Westside (5-1). 


 The HSSR’s top ranked AA team, Gray Collegiate, is mired in a charter school controversary with all fellow member schools in Region 4-AA. In an exclusive interview with Gray Collegiate head coach and athletic director Adam Holmes on October 1st, he told the HSSR, “We appealed the decision of schools in our region taking volunteer forfeits (without penalty) not to play us, to both the SCHSL and the Appellate Panel, and neither body chose to make a ruling, or get directly involved in finding a solution to what created the problem.


 “In all honesty, I am most surprised as to why a very competitive football program like Fairfield Central (currently 5-1)  would not want to play us with a chance to win a region title and get four home games in the playoffs as region champions,” said Coach Holmes.

“They are losing a lot of money and having to go on the road at some point in the playoffs.”


 Coach Holmes told the HSSR that Gray Collegiate has asked to be moved up to the AAA classification with realignment happening for the 2024 season.


It is unclear, at this point, what controversy might lie ahead for Gray even if they move up to AAA next season. “The whole issue could be solved with an amendment to the SCHSL by-laws that would prevent any league member from participating in the play-offs in any sport if they voluntarily forfeit a region game,” said Coach Holmes. “Right now, there is no provision in the by-laws for teams who forfeit region games and hopefully after the season this situation can be reviewed.”


 Gray Collegiate will play a Top 70 nationally ranked team Clearwater Academy International from Clearwater, Florida on October, 6th. The conflict forced Gray to find new teams to play, which the SCHSL has allowed. They recently travelled to Top 30 national power St. Johns High in Washington DC on September, 16 and lost 42-28.


 On September, 29 they Gray defeated Portal High, from Georgia 56-35. Earlier in the season Gray hosted three home games on their brand new on-campus artificial turf field with wins over Christ Church (49-21), Crestwood (62-20) and Camden (30-12). They won an away game at Hammond 52-14.


Counting their forfeit wins, they are currently 8-1 on their way to play Clearwater Academy in Florida. “We are getting paid to play these out-of-state nationally ranked teams, so we are still making money,” said Coach Holmes. “We feel good about having several home games in the playoffs and we hope to compete for a state title.”


Coach Holmes said that beyond the game with Clearwater this week no other games have been picked up just yet. Coach Holmes is still trying to complete a schedule to keep the team prepared for the upcoming playoffs. One idea could be to challenge the IMG Academy team in Bradenton, Florida and that team is among the best in the nation.

 


By Larry Gamble 15 May, 2024
Updates to the SCISA Championship Series for Softball and Baseball. Some games in this best of three series are not complete, others were weather postponed. SCISA SOFTBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES CLASS AAAA Champions - Laurence Manning Monday Laurence Manning 5 Hammond 4 Tuesday Hammond 0 Laurence Manning 9 CLASS AAA Champions - Pee Dee Academy (third straight state title) Monday Orangeburg Prep 0 Pee Dee Academy 3 Tuesday Pee Dee 6 Orangeburg Prep 5 AA Monday Colleton Prep 1 Clarendon Hall 6 Tuesday rescheduled for Wednesday at 5pm Clarendon Hall Colleton Prep Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed CLASS A Champions- JEFFERSON DAVIS ACADEMY Monday Cross Schools 0 Jefferson Davis 4 Tuesday Jefferson Davis 11 Cross Schools 0 SCISA BASEBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Best-of-3 series AAAA Monday Augusta Christian 3 Cardinal Newman 1 Tuesday rescheduled to Wednesday Cardinal Newman at Augusta Christian, 6 p.m. Thursday At - Lexington HS - if Needed AAA Monday Hilton Head Christian 3 Pee Dee Academy 1 Tuesday rescheduled to Wednesday Pee Dee at Hilton Head Christian, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed CLASS AA Champion - Dorchester Academy Monday Calhoun Academy 2 Dorchester 6 Tuesday Dorchester 5 Calhoun Academy 1 CLASS A Monday Richard Winn 8 Holly Hill 2 Tuesday rescheduled for Wednesday Holly Hill at Richard Winn, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed
By Staff reports 15 May, 2024
Other four Game 2s postponed, rescheduled for Wednesday
By Billy Baker 14 May, 2024
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Summerton — Softball championships are not always won just by the plays of the moment; they are won by the players on championship teams who prepare on a year-round basis, through summer ball, fall ball, outside instruction, and a total commitment to the sport. In Clarendon Hall’s 6-1 win over Colleton Prep (18-5-2) in Monday’s first game in the best- of- three SCISA AA state title series, observers could see the aforementioned on full display as a relaxed and well-trained team from Clarendon Hall played error free softball. Pitcher Calli Yount had 11 strike-outs, and the Saints produced timely hits with runners in scorer’s position.  It was the third time the two teams had meet this season and it was the third win for Clarendon Hall. The two previous wins were 8-0 and 6-0 so Colleton Prep improved by scoring a run this time. They hope to score even more as the two teams (weather permitting) get ready to play game two at 5 p.m. at Colleton Prep today. After the game Clarendon Hall head coach Jeffrey Bays , told the HSSR, “We definitely got some timely hits today but we didn’t hit the ball like we usually do,” said Coach Bays. “You do have those games where you are not as strong as you usually are at the plate, and we tell our girls to be patient and wait on their pitch. “Getting some walks, mixed in with a few timely hits, proved to be a game changer for us, said Coach Bays. “I was really proud of how the girls responded to the challenge today. I can’t think of an error we made, and that is really important, and we have played very clean ball most of the year. “Our pitcher tomorrow will be a game time situation,” said Coach Bays. “Calli had a good outing today but we do have several pitchers who can throw strikes so we’ll just have to wait and see.” Colleton Prep head coach Tiger Martin told the HSSR , “They scored six runs total and five of them came in the second inning and then they got a solo home run later and made some errors and gave them some walks that helped them score the six runs,” said Coach Martin. “More games are lost then ever won. The team that makes the fewest mistakes usually comes out on top and they played a cleaner ball game then we did tonight. “It didn’t help that we had four backward K’s and we need to swing the bats more,” said Coach Martin. “We have to lay off her riser ball that was coming in high today and it can be virtually unhittable. Hopefully, we will have an umpire today that likes them thrown a little lower. We have to hope she can bring the ball down a little.” The Saints pushed across five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Yount led off with a single and then Colleen McIntosh drew a walk. Lacey Corbett singled to score Yount for a 1-0 lead and a throwing error on the throw in allowed both runners to advance to second to third. Two batters later, Macie McIntosh drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Brynlee Brewer , the only new starter on the team this season, reached on an error allowing two runs to score to make it 3-0. Two batters later, Macie McIntosh , drew a one-out walk to load the bases. An RBI ground-out RBI by junior Mandy Wells made it 4-0. The Saints 5 th run scored on a passed ball. In the CP 4 th inning, Ava Murray led off with a double down the third base line. She was brought in on a two-out single by Hannah Strickland to close the deficit to 5-1. CH added an insurance run in the bottom of the 5 th on a solo home run by Yount over the left field fence. Yount had three hits in the game including a home run. Clarendon Hall had six hits for the game and they benefitted from several CP errors and five walks they were issued. Yount gave up five hits in the game with two walks to go along with her 11 K’s. Senior Sydney Stivender pitched all six innings for CP. She recorded four strike-outs in taking the loss.
By Staff reports 14 May, 2024
Hilton Head Christian, Augusta Christian, Dorchester, Richard Winn take openers
By Staff reports 14 May, 2024
Laurence Manning, Pee Dee, Clarendon Hall, Jefferson Davis win openers
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 14 May, 2024
Cardinals beat Hammond 4-0 to finish as undefeated AAAA champion
By Larry Gamble 14 May, 2024
Scores from around the SCISA universe from Game 1 Monday. SCISA SOFTBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Best-of-3 series AAAA Monday Laurence Manning 5 Hammond 4 Tuesday Hammond at Laurence Manning, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed AAA Monday Orangeburg Prep 0 Pee Dee Academy 3 Tuesday Pee Dee at Orangeburg Prep, 6 p.m. Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed AA Monday Colleton Prep 1 Clarendon Hall 6 Tuesday Clarendon Hall at Colleton Prep, 5 p.m. Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed CLASS A Monday Cross Schools 0 Jefferson Davis 4 Tuesday Jefferson Davis vs Cross Schools, @ Bluffton High School Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed SCISA BASEBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Best-of-3 series AAAA Monday Augusta Christian 3 Cardinal Newman 1 Tuesday Cardinal Newman at Augusta Christian, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed AAA Monday Hilton Head Christian 3 Pee Dee Academy 1 Tuesday Pee Dee at Hilton Head Christian, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed AA Monday Calhoun Academy 2 Dorchester 6 Tuesday Dorchester at Calhoun Academy, 6:30 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed CLASS A Monday Richard Winn 8 Holly Hill 2 Tuesday Holly Hill at Richard Winn, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 13 May, 2024
Five of eight series will have teams trying to defend titles
By Billy Baker 13 May, 2024
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Sumter — The good news was that no rain fell on Sumter’s Patriot Park on May, 11 providing for some great games in the annual SCISA softball playoffs with 8 teams qualifying to compete for AAAA, AAA, AA and Class A state titles starting on Monday. Game two will be played on Tuesday at the opposite site of the home team on Monday. If a third game is needed it will be played at a neutral site on Wednesday. One notable highlight from the games on Saturday was junior Mandy Wells of Clarendon Hall hitting three consecutive home runs in her team’s 15-0 win over Calhoun Academy to advance the Saints to the AA finals on Monday against Colleton Prep . Wells hit her two home runs to dead center field and her second homer was a base clearing grand slam. Her third home run was a line drive over right center field. Wells came into the SCISA tournament batting .481 with 28 RBI’s. Game one between Clarendon Hall and Colleton Prep is schduled for 6pm on Monday in Summerton. Laurence Manning defeated Hammond 5-3 to advance to the AAAA finals. The lost sent Hammond to the loser’s bracket finale against Wilson Hall and Hammond the defeated the Barons 14-4 to earn the right to play Laurence Manning for the title starting on Monday at 6 p.m. in Manning. “We started out hitting the ball right at people and Hammond gave us a great game,” said LMA head coach Buddy Truett . ´We didn’t like having to get up at 7 a.m. to get over here by 9 a.m. and it took us awhile to get going. We are excited to playing for a state championship. It should be a very competitive series and having finished runner-up the past two seasons we are focused on winning it all this year.” LMA trailed Hammond 3-3 going into the bottom of the 6 th inning. Lily Welborn led off with a single and made it all the way to third on a throwing error. An RBI single by Kaylee Avins scored Welborn to tie the score at 3. The difference in the game was a two- run homer from 8 th grader Karly Bjork the next batter up for LMA. “I told her after she hit the home run that I didn’t think I could love her anymore but I do now,” said Coach Truett. “I am very proud of the girls. We made some errors early in the game we do not normally make but we came back from being down and I very proud of all of them. ”We know that Pee Dee has good pitching and they are a solid hitting team also so we are expecting quite a series against them,” said Coach Kinard. “We went over there last year and kicked the ball around a bit. Our goal is playing better defense against them. Defense wins championships.” In Class AAA action, Orangeburg Prep defeated Thomas Sumter 15-0 to advance to the AAA finals. The Class AAA championship games for Pee Dee and Orangeburg Prep start Monday in Mullins at 6pm. Pee Dee Academy head coach Wes Eskridge told the HSSR after his team’s big win over John Paul II Saturday: “We have been fortunate to win three state titles in a row and we are competing in the finals for the 7 th straight time and I could not be prouder of this team,” said Coach Eskridge. ”Jo Jo Perritt is just a sophomore and she gets the job down in the circle for us. “Orangeburg Prep is a tough team and the key for us is for us to play our game and not theirs,” said Coach Eskridge. “We know we have to keep working hard.” In Class A action Jefferson Davis Academy will compete against Cross Schools , who defeated Laurens Academy 4-3 to advance. Jefferson Davis earned the right to play for a Class A title by defeating Cross School 7-1 on Saturday. Head JDA head coach Bart Owens told the HSSR , “Regan Still did a great job pitching all three games in the tournament and she is headed to Florence-Darlington Tech to play next season,” said Coach Owens. “We beat Wardlaw 16-3 and Laurens Academy in our other two tournament games ”Regan is an outstanding pitcher and she is the best that I have ever had at JDA,” said Coach Owens. “Super proud of the whole team today. Or goal now is to win the state championship next week.” The Class A championship series starts Monday at JDA game time is 6pm.
By Dennis Brunson hssrl.com Associate Editor 13 May, 2024
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