Midlands spring sports teams go for it all at state level
Midlands Top 10
Baseball
1. Airport (27-6)
2. Batesburg-Leesville (24-6-1)
3. Lexington (22-11-1)
4. Blythewood (24-7)
5. Ben Lippen (23-6)
6. Gilbert (26-6)
7. Dutch Fork (19-7)
8. Chapin (18-7)
9. A.C. Flora (19-9-1)
10. River Bluff (19-10)
Softball
1. Gray Collegiate (32-3)
2. Gilbert (25-5)
3. Lexington (23-6)
4. A.C. Flora (23-7)
5. Blythewood (20-9)
6. Pelion (16-8)
7. Airport (15-11)
8. White Knoll (14-9-1)
9. Chapin (13-11)
10. Hammond (11-10)
By WORTHY EVANS
Contributing Writer
Columbia - The spring sports season in the Midlands featured dozens of teams going for state championships in baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, boys tennis, lacrosse, and track and field. Several Midlands teams played through the competition and claimed state championships.
To note, Batesburg-Leesville baseball collected its first state title since 1949. Airport baseball went on a late-season hot streak and won its first state crown in the team’s history. Gray Collegiate softball got its first 4A state championship and third state title in four years.

In boys tennis, A.C. Flora won its first state title since 2021 and third in team history. In girls soccer, A.C. Flora earned their first state title. The Cardinal Newman boys soccer team picked up their sixth straight SCISA state championship, and the Lexington girls Lacrosse team won its first state crown.
The South Carolina High School League’s state track and field championships showcased the Blythewood girls team, which won their second straight 5A championship; the Gray Collegiate Academy girls team, which won the 4A state title; and the Fairfield Central boys team, which won their second straight 2A state title.
Batesburg-Leesville’s first state title since 1949
With an 8-5 victory over Philip Simmons at the University of South Carolina’s Founders Park May 31, the Batesburg-Leesville baseball team won their first state championship since 1949, winning the best-of-3 2A championship series two games to one.
The Panthers (24-6-1) scored three runs in the first inning and three more in the second, and took a 6-2 lead into the fifth inning, where they picked up two more runs. The Iron Horses rallied for two runs in the sixth inning, but relief pitcher Landon Soper pitched an uneventful seventh inning to seal the win.
“I can’t describe how it feels,” head coach Rob Bouknight said. “These kids have battled all year. (The six seniors) have been here since they were eighth graders. … We’re so happy and so blessed. It was amazing. It was supposed to be a neutral site. … Our whole town showed up and made it feel like a home game.”
Philip Simmons won the first game of the series 5-3 May 24, but the Panthers won 3-2 May 28 to force the deciding game at Founders Park.
Besides pitching four innings and getting the win for the Panthers, Braydon Hallman hit a 3-run double in the second inning that put the game out of reach. On the mound, Hallman gave up seven hits, walked two and gave up three earned runs, but struck out nine. Gavin Parish also doubled.
Airport wins 4A championship, first state title
Airport’s baseball team blew through the competition in the regular season and postseason to capture the team’s first state championship.
The Eagles (27-6) won the Region 4-4A title. Then the already hot team turned it up a notch, winning nine straight games, most of them convincingly, en route to a 4A championship series 2-game sweep of Seneca.
Airport won 3-2 at Seneca May 25, but closed out the series quickly with a 10-0, 6-inning victory over the Bobcats at home.
“This was for a lot of people. We lost some good ones this year… We were playing for our community and friends and it was good,” head coach Casey Bradwell said. “We put pressure on people, that’s what we do all the time, make them make plays, and we did that. We put enough balls in play to make them make some mistakes and we capitalized on them.”
Hunter Epps worked the entire six innings on the mound, giving up four hits and striking out six while walking just one.
“That dude’s never in trouble, man,” Bradwell said. “He throws the ball over the plate, he’s the best competitor I’ve ever coached. I’m proud of him, he did great.”
Epps also went 2-for-3 with a double, while Braden Gross went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in. Brice Gillette also had two hits.
GCA softball wins third title in four years
Gray Collegiate softball, competing in the 4A classification after years at the 2A level, didn’t miss a step. The War Eagles (32-3) stumbled in a lopsided loss to eventual 5A Division 1 champion Byrnes March 15, and lost a Region 4-4A game to rival Gilbert April 21. The rest of the regular season and postseason leading up to the 4A championship series against York was all victories.
York’s ace, senior and Erskine signee Layla Clayton, got the best of Gray in game 1 May 27 as the War Eagles fell 2-1 in a game interrupted by rain and completed in York before the start of game 2 May 28.
Clayton stayed in the circle for game two, but the War Eagles got a 4-0 victory to force a game three set for May 31.
The Cougars took a 2-1 lead by the third inning of game three, but Maddox Long’s 2-run home run in the fourth inning and Kayley Anderson’s 2-run shot in the fifth inning sealed a 5-2 win and 2-1 series victory for the War Eagles.
“They work so hard. People wouldn’t believe how hard these kids work,” Gray Collegiate head coach Doug Frye said. “There ain’t that many teams that can outwork us. They may beat us, but they don’t outwork us. We lose, we come back and get better. We’re done today, and I’ll bet half these kids will be practicing tomorrow, trying to get better. They’re hungry for it.”
Long also was the starting pitcher and worked three innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits. She made way for Makenzie Sease, who pitched a complete game in game one and returned to pitch four innings of 1-hit ball to get the win.
Besides Long’s and Anderson’s home runs, sophomore Aspen Boulware hit her team-leading 22nd home run in the first inning.
AC Flora girls soccer
The Falcons took only two shots on goal in their 4A state championship final May 10, but Samantha Lowther’s shot 22 minutes into the game hit the back of the net, and the Falcons defense ensured a 1-0 win for the team’s first state championship.
A.C. Flora head coach Eric Navarro, in his first year as varsity coach after serving as the junior varsity coach last year, said he knew the team’s potential.
“I knew there was something special about this group,” Navarro said. “As we progressed through the season we had some bumps, some hiccups. Every single time we faced a challenge, they stepped up. They got closer and stronger This was the best defensive performance we’ve had all season.”
Flora keeper Kennedy Bagley held up her end with a clean sheet despite Bishop England getting 13 shots on goal. Bagley is in her second year as a soccer player.
“With every save I got more and more confident. I just didn’t want to lose because this team worked so hard for this,” Bagley said.
Cardinal Newman boys soccer
Playing on their home field, St. Sebastian Stadium, the Cardinal Newman boys (13-8) beat Porter Gaud 6-2 to claim their sixth straight SCISA state championship.
“That was by far our most complete game,” head coach Will Eudy said. “With the weather and the field and the way things were going, we knew we had to change the way we played a little bit, plus we knew they were going to press and try to counter, so we went with a lot of long balls, diagonals into space, and we were really, really lethal with those today.”
Junior Tanner Battafarano led the way with three goals, the third straight state championship match where a Cardinal Newman player achieved a hat trick.
Sophomore Chase Nelson, Senior Dakota Venugopal, and junior Brayden Roth scored one goal apiece. Junior Quade Wilson two assists, sophomore Frankie Marion two assists.
Boys tennis
The seasoned A.C. Flora boys team (21-1) weathered a stoppage of play due to rain at the Cayce Tennis Center and a change of venue to the USC indoor tennis facility and battled to a 5-1 victory over Bishop England May 10. The Falcons’ third state championship is the first since 2021.
“I don’t know how it works but each one gets sweeter and sweeter,” head coach Amy Martin, who won four state championships, three with the boys and one with the girls, said. “This was the middle school team from 2022, we grew them up from 2021 and they have come out and gotten exactly what they needed to get done this year.”
Bishop England No.1 player Dante Naud defeated James Smyth 6-1, 6-4, but the Falcons notched a victory in every other match. No.2 Jude Smyth defeated Roland Wier 2-6, 6-1 (10-3), No.4 Vijay Sinha defeated Colin Murphy 6-1,6-2; No. 4 Will Hewitt defeated Parker Murphy 6-2, 6-4; and No.5 Wiliam Beasley defeated Lucas Kizzetto 6-2, 6-4.
In doubles, the No.2 team of Will Trumpeter and Tripp Van Vlake defeated Andrew Hamilton and Caleb Watson 6-1, 6-0.
The doubles match was the first win on the board for the Falcons, and once that victory was notched, the hassle of weather and moving from venue to venue disappeared.
Girls Lacrosse
Lexington beat Spartanburg 12-7 at Irmo’s W.C. Hawkins Stadium May 3 and won the first state title in program history.
Goalkeeper Emersin Clamp held off most of the Spartans’ assaults and racked up 15 saves. Lenoir-Rhyne signee Izzy Saville scored five goals, finishing the season with 68 goals.
Track and field
Several Midlands teams took the top spot in the state track and field meets.
The Blythewood girls team blew away the 5A Division 1 competition early with its sprinting depth May 17. The Bengals finished with 107 points on the day to claim their third straight state championship and first in the 5A Division 1 classification.
“From Blythewood, the high school, the parents, the younger brothers and sisters come out, it’s just wonderful,” head coach Aleshia Hawkins said about the team’s atmosphere. “Everyone takes everything seriously. They want to get to the next level, and I tell them, you work. You don’t work, you can’t make it to the next level.”
Peyton Hightower won gold in the 400 dash and won gold as a leg in the 4x400 relay team. Her sister, Hayley Hightower also ran a leg for that state championship team to go along with her basketball state championship the Bengals won in March.
Brooke Bramlett won gold in the 100 hurdles, Amina Rhone won gold in the 400 hurdles in addition to running a leg on the 4x400 team.
The Gray Collegiate girls track team won the 4A championship at Richland Northeast High School May 16 with 61 points, edging second-place Daniel’s 58 points and third-place Seneca’s 55 points.
“I’m really proud of these girls, they worked hard all year. The coaches did a great of preparing our kids to come out here and preform at a high level,” Head Coach Jackie Robinson said. “First time getting a AAAA state championship at Gray Collegiate, we did it with only seven girls making it so for them to come out here and maximize all the individual and relay events I just can’t say enough good things. We had several personal records; they picked themselves up and delivered in a big way.”
Senior Tamara Steward took home the gold in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.83 seconds. She also took first in the long jump with a mark of 5.48 meters. She finished second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:03.23.
The Fairfield Central boys track and field team faced competition May 16 from Philip Simmons, the 2024 3A state champions who came down to 2A this year.
While the Iron Horses got close, the Griffins sprinted past them and claimed their second straight state 2A championship at Spring Valley High School’s Harry Parone Stadium.
“We broke through last year with a lot of young kids,” Fairfield Central head coach Raymond Harrison said. “We returned a lot of kids who scored points last year, so I knew we had a pretty strong chance to win it again this year. All season long, I knew Philip Simmons was going to be tough to deal with.”
With wins and top placings in the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter dashes and runs, Fairfield Central collected 65 of its 101 points on the night. Philip Simmons finished second with 82 points.
Senior Tydarion Grier won the 100 and 200 dashes, and won gold as a leg on the team’s 4x100 relay team with junior Jamie Brown, who also won gold in the 400 dash. Brown also won gold as a leg on the team’s 4x400 team. Hank White won gold in the 800 run.
