Lake City baseball team has mix of youth, experience
Panthers lineup features four seniors, two juniors, three freshmen
Lake City – After a strong 3-1 performance in its annual trip to Myrtle Beach for the South Atlantic Bank Invitational spring break tournament, the Lake City High School baseball team is ready to get back to the grind of Region 7-AA.
The Panthers, who were 11-6 overall, were 4-3 in region contests. That was good for fourth in the 7-team region. While catching East Clarendon or Atlantic Collegiate Academy, both of which were undefeated at 5-0, wasn’t feasible, Marion was in third place at 4-2.
LC was going to be able to take care of that business out of the gate. It was set to play at Marion on April 14 and play host to the Swamp Foxes on April 16.
Lake City will close out its region schedule with games against Manning on April 28 and May 1.
The Panthers have a serious mix of experience and youth in their starting lineup. Head coach Matt Apicella has four seniors starting with three freshmen with a couple of juniors mixed in.
Apicella said on a preseason form that an area of improvement for the Panthers was getting the younger players experience.
Junior outfielder Mason Sims, an All-Region performer last season, bats leadoff, while senior infielder Rylan McKenzie bats second.
Infielder Jayce Edwards is one of those freshmen, but he is back for his third year as a starter. The All-Region selection is batting third. Two-time All-Region pick Amari Hanna, who is closing out his storied career as an All-Region pick for football, baseball and basketball, bats cleanup.
Senior catcher Grainger Barrineau bats fifth, junior 3-year starter DJ Singletary bats sixth, freshman Reece Morris bats seventh, freshman outfielder Ziyre McFadden hits eighth, and either freshman outfielder Tyler Fulton or senor infielder Luke Strickland will bat ninth.
McKenzie, Edwards, Hanna and Sims are getting the bulk of the innings on the pitching mound.
“Pitching depth is our strength,” said Apicella, who came into the season with a career record of 325-150 in his 25 seasons at Lake City.
SOFTBALL IS 4-4 IN REGION PLAY
The Lake City softball team was struggling with a 5-9 overall record and a 4-4 mark in Region 7.
The Panthers had 2-game series left against both Marion and Manning.
Through the season’s early going, Amiya Lewis was leading in hitting with a .462 batting average. Kami Leonard was hitting .400, Piper Beard .357, Layla Matthews and Kierstyn Hannah were both at .333 and Tara Lee was at .308.
Cannlyn Matthews and Layla Matthews were sharing innings pitching in the circle.
