Laurence Manning captures SCISA AAAA softball state championshiip

 Manning – The Laurence Manning Academy softball program owned eight SCISA state titles in the fast-pitch era. However, the last one having come in 2017.

That is until Tuesday.

 That’s because the Lady ‘Cats picked up title No. 9, beating Hammond 9-0 at Julie Skoler Field to sweep the best-of-3 AAAA state championship series.

 “It feels a whole lot better being one than watching one,” LMA head coach Buddy Truett said of getting to watch his team celebrate after having to watch Wilson Hall celebrate the past two seasons. at LMA's expense “I'm happy for the girls.”

 “It means a lot,” said Truett’s daughter, senior catcher Hailey Truett, of getting to lift the state championship trophy. “We worked hard the last three years and we knew we had it last year but fell short. So we knew we had it in the bag this year, and it feels great to have worked so hard for it. We work as a team.”

 Laurence Manning, which finished the season with an 18-4 record, had a much easier go of it in Game 2 than in the opening game on Monday in Columbia. The Lady ‘Cats took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning only to see the Skyhawks score twice to force extra innings. LMA scored three runs in the top of the eighth to go up 5-2 only to see Hammond cut the lead to 5-4 before centerfielder Lyza Prickelmyer threw out Madge Miller at home plate trying to score after tagging on a fly ball for a game-ending double play.

Prickelmyer, a sophomore, said getting the title this year was something the Lady ‘Cats have been gunning for since falling to Wilson Hall in extra innings in the deciding game of last year’s title series.

“It means a lot,” Prickelmyer said. “We worked hard, we kept fighting. We wanted it last year We just had that chemistry. We wanted it for each other. We wanted it really bad.”

 Junior Left-handed pitcher Kayleigh Parmenter-Avins limited the Skyhawks to just two hits while striking out 15. Parmenter-Avins did struggle with her control a bit, walking eight, including loading the bases in the second while getting the three outs via strikeout.

         She thought she was putting it in there, but he (the umpire) wasn't calling it,” Coach Truett said. “You've got to go with what he's called the entire game. I went out to visit and she said, ‘I’m good.’ I said, ‘I’m not taking you out, I’m just giving you a moment to take it all in.”

         Parmenter-Avins said winning the title is the culmination of a lot of time spent together with her teammates.

          “I think we worked harder than anybody, and I think we deserved it,” said Parmenter-Avins, who had one stretch where she struck out seven straight batters.

         LMA jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first against Hammond starting pitcher Grace Beacham. Marlee Black drew a leadoff walk before being forced out at second base on a fielder’s choice by Ashley Rae Hodge. Lily Welborn singled but Hodge was thrown out trying to reach third base for the second out. Aftrer Prickelmyer was hit by a pitch, Parmenter-Avins singled home Welborn.

         Laurence Manning broke the game open in the third. Black led off with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Welborn drew a 1-out walk and scored on a double by Prickelmyer.

 It looked like the Skyhawks might get out of the inning without any further damage. Relief pitcher Olivia Wiske came on to get Parmenter-Avins to pop up on the infield for the second out. The left-hander had two strikes on Karly Bjork before Bjork turned on a pitch and sent a laser shot to left field. It was just a matter of whether it would get high enough to get over the fence, and it did for a 2-run home run, making the score 5-0.

“Really, I wasn't trying to hit a home run,” said Bjork, a senior shortstop. “I had two strikes and I knew I had to do it (make contact) for the team. They threw me inside and I backed off the plate a little bit and I just took it.

 “When I hit it, I was saying, ‘This is going over, this is going over.’ Then I saw (assistant) Coach George (Kosinski) getting hyped, so it's a great feeling when you're running around the bases and the team is coming out to support you like that.”

“The kid can hit,” Coach Truett said of Bjork. “As long as she stays focused, she can really hit.”

 LMA added three more runs in the fifth. Prickelmyer singled with one out and Parmenter-Avins followed with a single, and Prickelmyer scored on a throwing error. A walk to Bjork and a base hit by Hailey Truett loaded the bases. Laini Kosinski put down a bunt for an RBI single to make it 7-0. Bjork scored on a passed ball to make it 8-0.

Black reached on an error to start the sixth and scored on a Welborn groundout for the final run.

 Laurence Manning finished with 12 hits. Prickelmyer led the way, going 3-for-3 while being hit by a pitch. She had the double and a run batted in to go with two runs scored. Parmenter-Avins was 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Truett was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

 Black had a hit and scored two runs, Bjork had the homer and scored twice, Laini Kosinski had a hit and an RBI, Welborn had a hit, two runs and an RBI, and Maggie Welch had a hit.

 Hammond’s hits came from Ali Dorrington, a 1-out single in the first, and Ava Miller on an infield single in the sixth. Skyhawks head coach David Beacham said it was just not a good night for his team.

“She got some timely strikeouts when she needed them,” Coach Beacham said of Parmenter-Avins. “Tonight was just one of those nights. You come down here, the road trip, and we just couldn’t get things going. That is a great team we were playing against, but we played them tough the first game.”

While the final game was disappointing for Hammond, the rest of the season was anything but that. The Skyhawks played for a state title for the first time in 26 years and finished the season with an 18-6 record. Beacham, who is in his seventh season as the Hammond head coach, predicted his team would play for the title this year.

“I told my athletic director at the start of the season we'd be playing in the state championship against Laurence Manning,” the head coach said. “I can't guarantee it will be Laurence Manning, but we'll be there. I just knew the returning players we had. The seniors, the juniors we had were going to be big difference makers. A lot of these girls started with me when they were in the seventh grade, eighth grade.”

Hammond is graduating six seniors, the first big graduating class Coach Beacham has had during his tenure. “I’ve graduated four seniors the other years to show how young we’ve been,” he said.

 Only two of the seniors started on Tuesday, Grace Beacham and Sadie Meacham. The other seniors are Lucy Davies, Lauren Asbill, Ana Lu Muella Kiser and Preston Swarat.

         “We've been right in the middle with it (going 10-11 and 11-10 the past two seasons), but we challenged ourselves a little bit harder, and we played great,” Coach Beacham said.

         Like Hammond, Laurence Manning is set to return seven starters next season as well.

         “We've got a good program coming up,” Coach Truett said. “We’ve got pretty much the same team next year.”

         The LMA seniors are Sarah Madelyn Fleming, Savannah Feagin, Bjork and Hailey Truett.

         “I'm just blessed I get to share this with my daughter,” Coach Truett said.

         “He's been coaching me since I started softball, so it’s really special knowing my senior year we both won it,” Hailey said.