Laurence Manning Wins Second Straight SCISA AAAA Softball Title With Hard-Fought 5-4 Win Over Wilson Hall
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 5th inning of the game, hosted by the Swampcats on May, 15th, 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 5th 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 4th 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 4th 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 8th grader and a 9th 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 18th 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 5th 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 7th 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.
