Laurence Manning baseball, softballt teams having trremedous seasons

      Manning – Longtime head coach Barry Hatfield knew his Laurence Manning Academy baseball team had a chance to be pretty good in the 2025 season. However, did he think the Swampcats could be 15-1 and undefeated region champions good?

      “No, it’s not feasible to think that way,” Hatfield said. “I didn’t envision us having a season like that. Our conference (SCISA Region 3-AAAA) is very tough. Everybody is competitive for at least one game (with a frontline pitcher). I felt like we’d compete for the region title though.”

      The reason Hatfield thought LMA would be good was because of a deep pitching staff. It has not disappointed. The team earned run average through the first 15 games was a miniscule 1.08.

      “We felt like we had a good group of arms,” Hatfield said. “We knew that would make us competitive.”

      Hatfield likes to spread the innings out among his staff, and this season has been no different. Laurence Manning has seven pitchers who had tossed at least seven innings.

      Senior Peyton Price had seen the most work, tossing 30 1/3 innings in seven appearances. Price had a 0.92 earned run average with 41 strikeouts against just seven walks.

      Senior Seth Witherspoon has been the closer. He worked 7 1/3 innings in seven games with four saves, a 1-0 record and a 0.00 ERA. Senior Cole Hawthorne also had a 0.00 ERA in 17 1/3 innings to go with a 3-0 record.

      Junior Josh Niswonger is 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA in 16 innings, senior Drew Ferriell is 2-0 with a 1.14 ERA in 12 1/3 innings, junior Ray Weston is 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA in 8 2/3 innings, and senior Brentston Rembert is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in seven innings.

      Ferrell and junior Brayden Barnhill have been sidelined for a few games, but Hatfield expects both to be ready to go once the postseason starts.

      The infield has senior BJ Balls at first base, junior Payton Brown at second, sophomore Grainger Powell at shortstop, Rembert at third, sophomore Cade Mooneyham at catcher, Weston or junior Pierson Gamble in left field, junior Zy Dennis in center and senior Rory Carter in right.

      Ferriell and senior Daniel Geddings also see time in the outfield with Ferriell handling designated hitter duties as well.

      The left-handed swinging Balls, who has signed with Florence-Darlington Technical College, was leading the Swampcats with a .551 batting average and a .616 on-base percentage in 60 plate appearances. He had six doubles, one triple and 10 runs batted in.

      Rembert was leading in RBI with 20 while batting .391 with three doubles, one triple and two home runs. Powell was batting .348 with 14 RBI, two doubles and a triple.

      Ferriell was batting .292 with nine RBI, Price .286, Carter .237 with seven RBI and Brown .205.

       “The offense has had its moments, but it’s a continued work in progress,” Hatfield said. “Our players just have to recognize we’re a small ball/singles type of team. The ball does not carry well (at Tucker Belangia Diamond), and we’re playing half our games at our park. My assistant coach, Robbie Mooneyham, has been working hard with them. He’s basically our offensive coordinator.”

      LMA SOFTBALL GEARING UP FOR ANOTHER TITLE RUN

      Having lost just two starters from last season’s AAAA state championship team and returning its two main pitchers, the Laurence Manning softball team has been rolling along as the state tournament in Sumter draws near.

      The Lady ‘Cats won 14 of their first 16 games and were 5-0 in region play. They had outscored the opposition 151-43 in those contests.

      Head coach Buddy Truett is happy with how his team has handled being a target.

      “We knew it was coming, and I’m very pleased with it,” he said. “ Sometimes we get off to slower starts than I’d like, but one good thing is they don’t hit the panic button like they used to.”

The senior pitching duo of left-hander Kayleigh Parmenter Avins and righty Laini Kosinski is having another dominant season. Parmenter Avins started off with a 6-1 record and a 1.96 ERA in 35 2/3 innings, while Kosinski started 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 36 1/3 innings. Parmenter Avins had 41 strikeouts against 18 walks while Kosinski had walked just two while fanning 36.

      “I’ve said it before but I think we have the two best pitchers in SCISA,” Truett said. “Maybe I’m biased, but that’s my thoughts.”

      The primary batting order has junior Marlee Black leading off with junior Lyza Prickelmeyer in the 2 hole and junior Ashley Rae Hodge batting third. Kosinski is the cleanup hitter followed by junior Lily Wellborn and Parmenter Avins. Senior Jessica Griffith bats seventh, junior Maggie Welch bats eighth and senior Carol Ann Briggs bats ninth.

      LMA had five players batting over .400 through 14 games. Kosinski was batting .477 with 16 RBI, 11 runs, six doubles and a triple, Prickelmeyer was batting .467 with 21 runs, 10 RBI, four doubles, five triples and a homer, Black was hitting .455 with 14 runs, three doubles and a triple, Parmenter Avins was at .441 with three doubles and 13 RBI, and Hodge was batting .429 with 21 runs, 17 RBI, three doubles, two triples an two homers.

      Wellborn was batting .359, Griffin .263 and Maggie Welch .233. Freshman Caroline Welch was batting .375 in parttime duty.

      Defensively, Griffith plays second, Hodge is at short and Wellborn mans third. Black plays left and Maggie Welch is in right. When Kosinski is pitching, Prickelmeyer is in center with Parmenter Avins at first. Prickelmeyer slides to first and Kosinski goes to center when Parmeter Avins is in the circle.

      Briggs has handled the majority of the catching duties after senior Lila Kate Mathis broke her thumb early in the season.

      “She’s done well and really surprised me a little bit,” Truett said. “She was out of the game for about a year, and we put her back there under field and she’s responded.”

      Truett expects to have Mathis back before the end of the season. Other members of the team are junior Emma Jean Casselman and junior Ashlynn Holmes.

      Truett said the goal leading up to the state tournament is to show incremental improvement.

“We’ve got to get better every day we step on the field. We want to be climbing not declining and playing our best ball at the end of the season.”