Bryce King (photo) and Chase Price are the top two pitchers this season and both have been dominant early.

Lake View — Kaleigh Blackmon is a senior and softball player at Lake View High School . As a student athlete, and dual enrolled with NETC, Blackmon has completed 11 college level classes already and many of these courses will help reduce her college work load. She’s already completed American History, Macroeconomics, Probability and Statistics, English 101 and 102, plus Biological Science, to name a few. Blackmon who has been a starter on her softball teams since the 7 th grade readily admits softball is her favorite sport. She enjoys the challenges of playing in the infield at third base. She is also interested in continuing to pursue athletics at the next level. In the classroom she carries a 4.2 GPA, and she says that after high school she plans to attend Horry Georgetown Technical College to earn an Associate’s Degree in Sonography.  For all her athletic and academic accomplishments, Blackmon has been chosen the “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The NETC currently offers over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2025-26 school year to students in the three counties they serve. Currently, Blackmon is enrolled in dual credit online courses offered by NETC. “Being an athlete has helped me improve my time management because I’ve learned to balance practices, games, schoolwork, and all my other responsibilities,” she said. “It’s taught me to stay organized, don’t procrastinate, and make the most of my time.” When asked about what NETC did to help her, Blackmon said, “It helped prepare me for college by teaching me how to manage online classes along with my high school workload and athletics. It has improved my time management, organization, and ability to stay disciplined without someone constantly reminding me.” When asked about the online class experience, Blackmon said her online experience “It helped me become more independent and responsible with my schoolwork,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed taking online classes and that was a confidence booster for her time management and planning skills. I try my best to stay organized by getting my NETC work done at the first of the week. I often get my schoolwork done at school so after practice I have time to spend time with my family.” Blackmon recalled her favorite thing about playing softball “is the camaraderie of the dugout; we chant and cheer to uplift our teammates, and it’s just having fun.”

Lake View — Bryce King is a senior, three-sport athlete at Lake View, where his senior year has been one sports season after another. This fall, he played football at the wide receiver and safety positions, which is a sport he’s played every season since middle school. After football, he returned to basketball for his senior season as a guard. Then, with spring time, his favorite sport baseball has started. King started playing t-ball early in life and he has played baseball, in some organized fashion, from summer travel ball to varsity athletics. He readily admits baseball is his favorite sport and hopes his final season will get him noticed by more college scouts. In 18 games this season he’s is batting .530 with 29 hits and a home run. He plays short stop and pitches. He has pitched in 9 games with 53 strikeouts. He is interested in playing in college. King says he has visited USC - Salkehatchie . With his planned college major in nursing, he is also considering USC - Sumter and Florence Darlington Tech . In the classroom, he carries a 4.3 GPA, and he plans to pursue degree in nursing with the goal of becoming a Registered Nurse and possibly a career as a flight nurse in medical transportation.  For all his athletic and academic accomplishments, King has been chosen the “NETC” Male Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The ”NETC” is currently offering over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2025-26 school year to students in the three counties they serve. King has completed his English 101 and 102 requirements for college plus Algebra 101 and Statistics via the online courses offered by NETC. When asked about managing his time to balance academics and sports, King said “Time management is about priorities, and you just have to give up some lesser priority stuff, to make sure you complete your priority items. As a student athlete, and Christian, I prioritize what is important and that means my academics come first, so I can use my athletic talent plus I prioritize making time for church activities.” King had this comment about the NETC experience. “It showed me a college level work load and gave me valuable experience that will prepare me for success at the next level,” he said. “One thing about the online experience, with some courses we were required to talk in groups about the assignments which meant meeting and interacting with our classmates in the online setting which was nice.” When asked about a favorite memory in any sport, King noted that happened in baseball during his junior year, “We had to beat Latta twice in the playoffs to win and earn a spot in the State Championship series,” he said. “We ended up doing just that and earned the lower state title.”

HSSR Class A Football Ranking - (Entering Week 12 of Season, 11-14-2025) 1. Bamberg-Ehrhardt 11-0 (597-49) 2. Abbeville 9-2 (480-129) 3. Carvers Bay 10-0 (319-113) 4. Cross 9-1 (364-53) 5. HKT 9-2 (502-136) 6. Lamar 9-2 (401-277) 7. Johnsonville 8-2 (282-169) 8. Ware Shoals 10-1 (398-164) 9. Latta 8-2 (348-185) 10. Lewisville 7-4 (371-189) 11. Scott’s Branch 8-2 (316-183) 12. Blackville-Hilda 6-5 (182-209) 13. Lake View 5-4 (187-146) 14. CA Johnson 6-5 (258-331) 15. Wagener-Salley 5-6 (153-300) By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner — There were no major upsets at the top of the Class A food chain in the first round of the playoffs on November, 7. Now that there are 16 schools left hoping to punch their tickets to the gold medal round, the winning margins are going to tighten up, and round two games should be much more competitive. The goals of the 16 teams left are all the same; be 1-0 every week and eventually punch your team’s ticket to the Class A gold medal round scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday December 5 at South Carolina State University. (Be there and bring the whole town with you!) In the first week of the playoffs the HSSR number two ranked Abbeville (9-2) defeated Great Falls 63-0, and the “A” will now host Trent Usher’s Lewisville Lions team after the Lions drilled Whitmire 62-0 in the first round. These two teams met later in the playoffs last year with the Panthers winning easily. Abbeville will be seeking their 14 th overall state title this season. The Panthers earned number 13 last December in a 58-20 win over Cross . Last year’s Panther team was comprised of 27 seniors and this year’s team came into the 2025 season much younger but still loaded with home grown athletes. After his team’s season opening 42-0 win over Southside Christian , Coach Nickles told the HSSR, “We have a chance to be a really competitive football team. We have to keep working and improving. We’ll see how it goes.” Jaden Baylor took over the QB duties for Abbeville this season and he has improved with each game. Darius Riley is the team’s work horse at RB, and he started off the season with tackle breaking touchdowns runs of 71 and 67 yards in the season opener. Cole Driggers is a leader at left tackle in the offensive front. Top ranked Bamberg-Ehrhardt (11-0) has the distinction of being the most productive scoring offense in Class A, so far this season (597 points) and they also have the best scoring defense (49) in the state entering the playoffs. The Raiders will host Latta this week as a double-digit favorite. Latta advanced with a 34-14 win over Baptist Hill . Corey Crosby is in his 5 th season as the Raiders head coach and his team has now won 16 straight region games. His career record at B-E over this five- year period is 52-11 and the Raiders came into the 2025 season with 15 returning starters. A few impact B-E players include senior all-state WR Marcus Cann (6-2, 195) who is also a topflight DB. OL is one of the strengths of the team and three returners from last season have literally road graded the competition. They are center Michael Manigault (6-0,265), LG Jaden Moody (6-0,255), and junior RT Simeon Bamberg (5-11, 195). Carvers Bay is 10-0 and by Shrine Bowl OL Zyon Guiles (6-5, 295) who is committed to South Carolina. The Bears will host region rival Lake View this week in round two. They defeated Lake View 32-7 on October 10, but most observers feel like this game will be more competitive. The Bears advanced in round one with a 59-0 win over Allendale-Fairfax last week while the Wild Gators beat Hardeeville 28-6 to advance. In upper state Class A this week, Blackville-Hilda will host CA Johnson after getting by eliminating McCormick 15-0 last week. CA Johnson advanced on a 12-0 win over Calhoun County . Number five HSSR ranked HKT (9-2) HKT would love to be the Cinderella of Class A and claim the glass slipper at SC State in December. They eliminated Lee Central 56-14 in the first round and they are now ready to host a talented number 8 ranked Ware Shoals this week in one of the most competitive round two games in Class A. Ware Shoals advanced with a dominating 38-0 win over Ridge-Spring-Monetta last week. Number six Lamar (9-2) advanced with a 49-0 win over Calhoun Falls and the Silver Foxes will host Wagener-Salley this week, an upset winner over Dixie , 14-9 in round one. Remaining games amongst Lower State Class A teams include number four Cross (9-1), led by USC bound Caden Ramsey (6-5,200), hosting Bethune-Bowman . Cross had a bye in round one while Bethune-Bowman shut-out Ridgeland 38-0. Johnsonville and Scott’s Branch are teams with state championship experience, and the Flashes of Ken Cribb will travel to the Santee Lakes area this week in a game that should go down to the wire. Johnsonville advanced with a 48-14 win over Branchville while Scott’s Branch moved on with a 32-14 win over Hannah Pamplico .

Lake View's Jalen Clark.

Lake View’s Kaylynn Turner Named “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month Lake View — Kaylynn Turner is a senior who plays softball and volleyball at Lake View High School . Turner said she started playing volleyball in the seventh grade, but softball is her favorite sport, which she started playing in the 9 th grade. On the volleyball court, she played all around as a utility player and played left field in softball. Being a two-sport student athlete brought opportunities. Turner says this about team play, “My favorite part is being on a team with friends, forming new friendships, and the support from family.” In the classroom, she carries a 4.07 GPA, and she says that after high school she plans to major in Exercise Science with an end goal of a career in Occupational Therapy, or as an athletic trainer. While she has not ruled out continuing softball at the next level, if she gets that opportunity, her favorites teams are Coastal Carolina , USC , and Florence Darlington Tech .  For all her athletic and academic accomplishments, Turner has been chosen the “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits, in various subjects, that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The NETC is currently offering over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2024-25 school year to students in the three counties they serve. Currently, Turner is enrolled in two dual credit online courses offered by NETC. She already completed many basic requirements for her freshman year of college. She has focused on taking key classes for her major, like Medical Terminology, History, and Spanish. She added that she “already took care of many first-year classes and hopefully this puts me a semester ahead when I start college.”. When asked about what NETC did to help her, Turner said it “helped her develop important time management skills, especially while playing sports, attending high school, and taking college level classes online through the NETC. “Dual-enrollment classes really taught me the difference between in-person classes, versus online classes which prepared me for what’s I should experience in in college,” said Turner. When asked about the online class experience, Turner said the experience was a “confidence boost” that enhanced her time management skills. “The online classes were doable when I thought they weren’t,” she said. “Before taking online classes, I was more of a procrastinator, and I learned to be more on top of my work.” Turner recalled her favorite time playing softball “In the first game of the lower state playoffs this past season, I played a long ball off the fence and I was able to throw it back to the infield and we got the lead runner out.”

Lake View’s Kason Herlong Named “NETC” Male Student Athlete of the Month  Lake View — Kason Herlong is a senior two-sport athlete at Lake View High School , where he earned all-region honors in two seasons as the starting quarterback on the football team. He was recently named the Class A Baseball Player of the Year by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association and Herlong has signed a baseball scholarship to attend North Greenville College . He has also earned Class A all-state honors in baseball by the “The High School Sports Report” for the past three seasons. Herlong batted .418 with two home runs and 17 RBI’s this past season. On the mound he was 7-1 with 80 strike-outs in 50.1 innings of work. He had a .556 ERA also. Of the two sports, Herlong favors baseball. Baseball is a sport he has played since he was first enrolled in T-Ball. Herlong was also chosen to represent Lake View in the 2025 North-South all-star baseball game. He has a very bright future ahead of him in the sport of baseball. In the classroom he carries a 5.23 GPA. He has been taking dual credit online courses through the NETC since he started the ninth grade. Just a sample of his completed college course work includes College Algebra, Biology, English 1, English 2, Computing, and Economics. For all his athletic and academic accomplishments, Herlong has been chosen the “NETC” Male Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The ”NETC” is currently offering over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2024-25 school year to students in the three counties they serve. With his high diploma earned, and numerous college level courses completed with NETC, Herlong should start college as a sophomore when he reports to campus at the end of the summer. He plans to major in Accounting in college. “Taking NETC online courses had a huge impact, including being better at prioritizing my time,” said Herlong. “How you do one thing, is how you do everything. And it helps keep me focused on meeting priorities and deadlines in both academics and athletics,” said Herlong. When asked about the impact on starting his collegiate career, he commented, “By taking these online classes now, I’ve got extra credits completed to put me one step ahead. I’ve been very blessed to have this opportunity.” Herlong said that while baseball is his favorite sport, he also enjoyed playing football. As a two-sport athlete in high school, and dual enrolled for online college classes through the NETC, he feels better prepared to meet the challenges ahead of him as a student athlete at North Greenville University. Herlong has a favorite memory from his baseball career. ”This season, we won against Latta for the Lower State Championship,” he said. “Last season, we got beat by Latta for the lower state championship. We came back this season and turned that around by beating them twice on their field. Those two wins advanced the team to play for a State Championship.”

By David Shelton Senior Writer Lake View – It did not come as a big surprise when Lake View’s head baseball coach Kip Herlong retired after 32 seasons at the helm. Herlong certainly still has the energy and passion for the game but there comes a perfect time to step away. Expressing a desire to follow his son Kason’s college career at North Greenville, Herlong is ready to hand over the reins of the program. Kason Herlong capped a solid prep career by hitting .417 with 40 hits and 31 runs scored. He also was 7-1 with two saves and a 0.56 earned run average on the mound. He was selected as the Class A player of the year and played in the North-South all-star game where he was named the most valuable player for the 1A/2A/5A South all-stars. Herlong also played football and was the starting quarterback for three seasons. “It was a real blessing to coach my son for six seasons, and he worked hard and is all about this community and his teammates,” the coach said. “Because I was coaching I missed out on a lot of my daughter (Morgan) playing in college. My wife (Liz) and I are looking forward to following his college career.” Herlong, already a member of the state’s baseball coaches hall of fame, leaves behind a legacy that will not likely ever be matched at Lake View. He won 633 games and eight state championships since taking over in 1993. His teams also were state runner-up five times, including this season when the Wild Gators lost to McBee in the Class A state championship series. One of the traits that made Herlong such a success was his humility and even keel attitude. While sometimes feeling disappointment, the coach always used the game as a teaching tool to his players. After the game three loss to McBee, Herlong took the time to thank those who helped the program be a success. “It has been a great ride in such a great community,” he said. “We have met with failure and we have met with success, and we treat them the same and move forward. Our motto this season was ‘keep moving forward’ to keep one foot in front of the other and keep going. “It would have been great for our players and for our fans had we won but things don’t always turn out like you would like.” Lake View finished 2025 with a 23-7 record. Several other players had solid seasons for the Wild Gators. Chase Price contributed five wins on the mound with a 1.76 earned run average. Senior Chris McGill batted .342 with two homeruns and 23 RBIs while senior Braden Borders batted .341 with 17 RBIs. Senior Bryce King hit .311 and senior Ian Capps hit .287 with 22 RBIs. McGill, Borders and Capps were three-year starters. “We have great kids here at Lake View and they work really hard. We always have a chance with these kids. Baseball is really important to them,” Herlong said earlier this spring. Lake View has moved quickly to replace Herlong, hiring former Lancaster coach Will Celmer to the position. Celmer is a 2008 graduate of Dillon High and was coach at Lancaster from 2019-2024. Softball posts another successful season The Lake View softball program continued its winning ways in 2025, posting 17 victories and making the district finals of the Class A Lower State playoffs. Chloe Cox finished the season with a .423 batting average on 30 hits and 14 RBIs. Sarah Price hit ,435 with 12 RBIs and Hollie Scott hit .373 with 19 RBIs. Scott also handled pitching duties and had a 2.15 earned run average with 187 strikeouts. Hanna Coburn finished with a .356 batting average, adding 16 RBIs, while Kaylynn Turner hit .356.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Florence — McBee won their 5 th Class A baseball state championship since their first one in 1981, with an 8-1 win over Lake View , at Francis Marion College on May, 31 st spoiling the final game of Wild Gator head coach Kip Herlong, who is retiring after 32 seasons at the same school. McBee head coach Josh Tiller told the HSSR, after the big win, “This is an amazing feeling right now, and it is great to see all the hard work that we put in throughout the season pay off with a state championship,” said Coach Tiller. “We are super proud of Aiden Hughes going all seven innings on the mound. He had a gutsy performance tonight. “Tonight, we were finally able to get some hits with runners in scoring position and that makes a big difference in any baseball game,” said Coach Tiller. “Other than Hughes on the mound, other seniors playing for the final time tonight (for McBee) were Landon Tedder behind the plate, headed to Coker College , Cohen Reid played third base, and Colton Wallace played at short. These guys have provided a lot of leadership for our program, not just tonight, but for several seasons. We are super proud to have had them be a part of our program.” Coach Tiller said his team being able to get on the board first, with three runs in the third inning was a turning point in the game. “Being able to get an early three run lead, it made it easier to turn around and play defense,” said Coach Tiller. “Once we got momentum the game seems to go our way the rest of the way.” Hughes, tossed a five hitter in the 8-1 win for McBee. And he is still deciding on a next level program, told the HSSR, after the game, “I am blessed to have great teammates who support each other, a coaching staff that works hard to teach us the game, and we also have a great community as you saw from the crowd tonight,” said Hughes. “It was important for me being a senior to have the ball in my hand tonight. It was a pressure situation to be in, but my team mates got us an early lead and they played good defense behind me. “I have been a member of the McBee varsity since the 9th grade and I will remember this game for the rest of the life.” Coach Herlong exits a Hall of Fame career at Lake View (633-170) that began with his first state championship in 1995. Few will ever forget Lake View’s five straight state titles between 1997 and 2001, a true dynasty era for the program. Two other state titles were won in 2016 and in 2021. The 2021 was Herlong’s 8 th title and it was very special because his son Kason, was on the team as an 8 th grader on his way to a great career at Lake View. On five occasions, including his final game in coaching, the Wild Gators have finished as runners-up. So, with a crowd of players, present and past, and family members, and fans gathered around him after the disappointing loss, Coach Herlong shared some thoughts: “It has been a great ride in such a great community and you look up in the stands tonight and you see such a great crowd,” said Coach Herlong. “It’s like this in every sport at Lake View. This community is very supportive of all the teams at Lake View. We all support each other.” “We have met with failure and we have met with success, and we treat them both the same and move forward,” said Coach Herlong. “Our motto this season was to “Keep Moving Forward” to keep one foot in front of the other and keep going. “We had some bad things happen tonight, early on, and that hurt us, but we kept working hard but it didn’t work out for us tonight,” said Coach Herlong. “It would have bene great for our players and fans had we won but things do not always turn out like you hope they might. “We had a couple more errors than we are used to having tonight, and I felt like the pressure got to us tonight and it just didn’t work-out,” said Coach Herlong. “We had an error here and there, left some runners on base early that we could not bring in, and that is not what you want to happen in a state championship but that is what the Lord willed and we will just have to accept it and move on.” Coach Herlong said in retirement he will now be able to follow his son’s baseball career (Kason) at North Greenville University. “Because I was coaching, I missed a lot of Morgan’s (older daughter) softball games at North Greenville when she played. Now that I am retired my wife will make sure we are there to see Kason play as often as possible. “It was a real blessing to coach my son for six seasons, and he worked hard, and he is all about the community. and his teammates, so we looking forward to following his college career,” said Coach Herlong. “The other night when all the players I had been blessed to coached at Lake View, showed up for our final home game, and stayed for a group picture, that just shows you what kind of wonderful people they are. That moment meant a lot to me.” This writer covered all 8 state championship games won by Coach Herlong and the Wild Gators through the years. It will be an adjustment coming to baseball games next season at Lake View and not seeing Coach Herlong in communication with his brother Chad, a long- time assistant, when things like a pitching change might be needed. After two scoreless innings, McBee plated three runs in the bottom of the third. Manning Tolson reached on an error, and then Cohen Reid reached on a fielder’s choice as Manning forced out at second. With two out JJ Melton drew a walk. Landon Tedder then singles on an infield hit to load the base with two out. Hughes then singles on a line drive hit to left field to score Tedder and Melton to make it 2-0. Reid makes it 3-0 when he scores on a wild pitch. Lake View got one-out back-to-back singles from Bryce King and Ian Capps in the top of the 4th but both runners were stranded at first and third as the next two Wild Gator batters hit short balls to the shallow outfield to retire the side. In the bottom of the 4 th McBee made it 4-0. Manning Tolson reached on a two-out double to right field. Cohen Reid then singled him to give the Panthers a four-run lead. Lake View scored their only run of the game in the top of the 5 th inning. Holden Lee reached on a hit-by-pitch. Two batters later Herlong singled to advance Lee to second. Braden Borders then draws a walk to load the bases. Lee scored on a deep sacrifice fly ball by Chris McGill to center field that might have been a grand slam in a high school park to make the score 4-1 after five innings. In the bottom of the 5 th McBee made it 5-1. Tedder draws a one-out walk and then Hughes reaches on a hit-by-pitch. Hayden Griggs loads up the bases when he reaches on an error. Colten Wallace then hits a sacrifice fly RBI that brings in Tedder from third base. In the bottom of the 6 th inning McBee adds three insurance runs. Tolson, Reid, and Evan Norris all collect singles as the first three batters of the inning. Tolson’s pinch runner (T Wright) scores on an error to make it 6-1 while Reid and Norris advance to second and third on the error. Reid then scores on a pass ball to make it 7-1. Norris scores on a sac RBI sac fly by Tedder to make the final score 8-1. For the game, McBee had seven hits and the Panthers took advantage of three Lake View errors to produce several of their 8 runs. The Panthers were led at the plate by Tolson and Reid who each had two hits with Reid also collecting one RBI. Lake View had five hits in the deciding game three against McBee. Capps led the way with two hits. Herlong, Bryce King and Holden Lee each contributed one hit. Lee scored the team’s lone run.