Young Clarendon Hall softball team gaining experience
Saints baseball team has eight wins after going winless last season
Summerton – The Clarendon Hall softball team was off to a 7-8 overall start as May closes in. That’s a good start for most programs, but Clarendon Hall isn’t most programs.
The Saints had won three straight state titles before falling to Pee Dee Academy in the AAA state championship series last year. With such a young team this year, head coach Jeffrey Bays is taking things in stride.
“We’re not exactly where we want to be or expected to be,” Bays said. “We are pretty young but have lots of talent. We just need to get the experience.
“We have had some really good games, but we have struggled in quite a few. Our goal is to get them where they need to be come May (for the state tournament).”
The four returning starters from last season occupy the first four spots in the batting order. They are shortstop/pitcher Sunshine Brown, second baseman AC Martens, pitcher/shortstop Brynli Brewer and centerfielder Aubree Richardson.
The rest of the lineup has catcher Devyn Atkinson batting fifth followed by leftfielder Ellie Horton, first baseman Lily Grace Harris, third baseman Liza Barwick and either Ella Stukes or AJ Clark, who share right field.
Brewer was leading the team in hitting with a .537 batting average. Martens was batting .475, Atkinson .429, Richardson .359, Clark .333 and Brown .325. Martens had four home runs and 16 runs batted in, while Brewer had eight doubles.
Brewer had 36 innings pitched in the circle and owned a 4-2 win-loss record. She had a 2.53 earned run average with 36 strikeouts and just four walks. Brown had worked 18 innings.
BASEBALL TEAM OFF TO 7-8 START
After going winless last season, the Clarendon Hall baseball team is hovering around .500 in its first year under head coach Jackie McIntosh. A longtime CH baseball and softball coach who has been in charge of baseball before, McIntosh isn’t surprised.
“I think we’re right on course,” McIntosh said. “In my mind, the goal was to get above .500 and hopefully make the playoffs. We have a chance to make the playoffs and go as far as we can. We can get the young guys some extra games and experience.”
The Saints were 7-8 overall and 2-4 in region play coming out of spring break. They played their final 3-game region series against Thomas Sumter Academy starting on April 13.
Pitching has been the strength for Clarendon Hall. The Saints owned a 2.67 earned run average. Sophomore Joey Hatchell was leading the staff with a 1.79 earned run average and 52 strikeouts. Junior Cole Richburg had a 2.59 ERA and 35 strike outs.
Junior Zander White had a 3.36 ERA, sophomore Cayden Richburg had a 3.15 ERA, Freshman Waylon Geddings had a 4.08 ERA, junior Jake Roberson had a 2.21 ERA and eighth-grader Jack Wyatt Reynolds had not allowed an earned run.
Hatchell, Cole Richburg and Reynolds combined on a no-hitter in an 11-3 win over Orangeburg Prep. Hatchell worked four innings, Richburg two and Reynolds one.
Offensively, CH had a .264 batting average but owned a .375 on-base percentage. Eighth-grader Grayson Holliday had a .375 batting average, senior Thomas Shorter was hitting .357, Reynolds was batting .333, sophomore Josh White .398 and Hatchell .302. Zander White was at .275, and sophomore Talan Dymond was at .256.
Holliday had an OBP of .480, Shorter .460, Reynolds .451, Josh White .387, Hatchell .377, Zander White .356. Dymond .356, senior Tommy Lei Atkinson .348, Geddings .333 and Cole Richburg .312.
Reynolds was leading in RBI with nine followed by Hatchell with seven. Dymond, Josh White and Holliday each had six. Hatchell led in runs scored with 14, Reynolds had 13 and Holliday had 10.
McIntosh said the Saints’ biggest improvement from last season is on defense.
“The biggest problem last year was unearned runs, most of them coming on walks and errors,” he said. “They’ve corrected that substantially. We’ve been able to throw strikes, make them put it in play and clean up the errors.”
