Laurence Manning Wins Second Straight SCISA AAAA Softball Title With Hard-Fought 5-4 Win Over Wilson Hall
Senior pitcher Laini Kosinski possesses a lot of poise in the circle.
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, 15.
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 at Wilson Hall, 5-1.
After the win, 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, 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 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.”
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.”
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.
“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.”
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.
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 LMA 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. finished with a .548 average, including 37 RBI’s, 10 doubles, six triples, and four home runs. She also had a fielding percentage of .976.
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 a triple.
Other members of the LMA team included senior Anna Lewis Burke, junior Emma Jean Casselman, and junior Ashlym Holmes.
