Shuey excited for opportunity as new Laurence Manning baseball head coach

           Manning – The Laurence Manning Academy baseball program has undergone a major shift with the retirement of head coach Barry Hatfield and the naming of Preston Shuey as the new head coach.

           LMA has gone from a coach in Hatfield with 31 years of head coaching experience -- the final 17 with the Swampcats – to a first-time head coach in Shuey, who spent the last five years as an assistant coach at East Clarendon High School. He is looking forward to the challenge.

           “I’m excited to be getting this opportunity,” said Shuey, who was a standout collegiate player at Francis Marion University, where he attended after graduating from South Mecklenburg High in Charlotte in 2007. “Coach Hatfield built a successful program, and I want to step in and make a smooth transition.”

           Hatfield guided Laurence Manning to three state titles, back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017 and the third one coming in 2022.

           “Some of the older players know success as they were part of the program the last time Laurence Manning won a state championship,” Shuey said. “I just want to continue the program on the path he started. I am excited to be a part of the Swampcat family and looking forward to building on the success of Coach Hatfield."

           Shuey and Laurence Manning head of school Allen Kirby have been friends since meeting while playing baseball at Francis Marion. That played an instrumental role in Shuey coming to LMA.

           “Allen Kirby (who just completed his first year at LMA) wanted me to take over,”  Shuey said. “A lot of things fell into place, and I felt it was the way God was leading me.”

           While Hatfield emphasized pitching and defense, Shuey stresses offense.

           “I’m a hitting guy,” said Shuey, who was the de facto hitting coach for East Clarendon the past four years. “I want us to be aggressive at the plate, get a pitch and drive it, hit it hard.

“My pitching philosophy is I want my staff to throw strikes, and on defense make the routine plays.”

 Laurence Manning athletic director Morgan Watt is happy to have Shuey on board.

“Preston is really excited to build on the winning tradition of baseball that Coach Hatfield had at Laurence Manning,” Watt said. “We are super excited to have him as head coach.”

           Shuey won’t be the only new head coach for Laurence Manning,. SCISA veteran David Rankin will be in his first year as the football head coach. Rankin spent the last two years at Carolina Academy.

           “The kids have bought in good so far,” said Rankin. “The participation has been great over the summer. Things have been going well, but we haven’t played a game yet.

      “We’re trying to get our guys in shape and get them familiar with the way we do things so when we get to July 23 (the first day of fall practice) we can roll, not standing out there wasting time. We just want to get that kind of stuff in.”

 Rankin has been the head coach at W.W. King Academy, Thomas Sumter Academy and Lee Academy on two different occasions each and one term at both Carolina and Williamsburg Academy. It was during his second stint at Lee where Rankin enjoyed his greatest success. After going 3-8 and 5-5 in the first two years of his 11-year stay that ran from 2013 to 2023, the Cavaliers went 89-26 over the final nine seasons. They won Class A state titles in 2015 and 2022 and played for the state title on four other occasions. For his career, Rankin has coached a state runner-up eight times.

           Rankin is still piecing together his coaching staff. As of press time, he has another veteran SCISA head coach in Brock Miller, Cedric Bennett and Patrick Anderson, who served as the interim head coach for the second half of the 2024 season, on staff.

           Anderson is back for his third season in charge of boys basketball. He led the Swampcats to a 25-5 record and the semifinals of the SCISA AAAA state tournament last year. That was the first time LMA had gone that far since winning the AAA title in 2011-12.

           “We are looking forward to building on the success of last year and taking the next step," Anderson said.

           Girls basketball head coach Lisa Ard is back for her third year as well. She led a senior-dominated Lady ‘Cats team to an 11-12 record last year and the program’s first state tournament win since the ’13-14 season.

“Looking forward to the challenge of leading a very young team,” Ard said.

           Buddy Truett will be back as the softball head coach. He has led the Lady ‘Cats to three consecutive AAAA state titles. “Four times in a row will be tough, but we are going to give it all we got,” Truett said.

           Robin Page is once again in charge of the varsity cheer program. “It is going to be a great year for Swampcat football, and our squad is ready to cheer them on,” she said.

           Jessica Weinberg will be in charge of the girls tennis program again, while Karla Beard will head the boys and girls cross country program again.

“The team has been working hard and we are excited about the challenge of this year," Beard said.

 Mike Davey is back as the lacrosse coach. Donald Hardy returns as the girls golf head coach, while Watt will once again be in charge of the boys team.

 “We have a great group of young ladies and are looking forward to the season,” Hardy said.

 Watt was still looking to fill head positions for bowling, volleyball and boys and girls track and field. That means Jay Atkins is stepping down as the bowling head coach after leading the Swampcats to 12 state titles among the co-ed, girls and boys divisions.

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