Clarendon Hall chasing AAA softball state title this year

Summerton – You may or may not be able to versify this factoid in the annals of South Carolina

Independent School Association softball history, but it is very possible that Clarendon Hall  has the

opportunity to do something that has never been done before: win state championships in three different

classifications.

The Lady Saints will be going for a fourth straight state title. The first one came in 2022 when

Clarendon Hall was a Class A school. It moved up to AA due to the bi-annual reclassification and won

championships in 2023 and 2024. CH is now a AAA school with the latest round of reclassification and

will be trying to take that trophy home as well.

Clarendon Hall is part of a tough region. Joining it in Region I is defending 2-time AAA state

runner-up Orangeburg Prep  along with Calhoun Academy and Thomas Sumter Academy.

The Lady Saints were off to a 2-1 regular-season start with the only loss coming to 2-time

defending AAA state champion Pee Dee Academy. The victories were over Wilson Hall  and

Northwood Academy.

`Clarendon Hall will be trying to make it four in a row after losing five starters who had been key

contributors to the first three. They are Colleen McIntosh, Sidney Berry, Lacey Corbett, Macie

McIntosh  and Ashley Timmons. However, the Lady Saints have four seniors back who have started on

those teams in shortstop Mandy Wells, centerfielder Maggie Harrington, pitcher Calli Yount and

catcher Skylar Dymond.

Having the right-handed Yount in the circle again will be a big boost. She had an 11-1 win-loss

record for Clarendon Hall, which finished the year with a 19-4 record. Yount had 119 strikeouts against

just 17 walks and 35 hits allowed in 71 2/3 innings pitched. She had a 0.49 earned run average.

Yount also had an outstanding season at the plate, finishing with a .463 batting average and an on-

base percentage of .507. She had four doubles, five home runs, 31 runs batted in and 19 runs scored.

Harrington led the Lady Saints in hitting with a .592 average and in on-base percentage at .738.

She had six doubles, one triple, two homers, 24 RBI, 29 runs and 10 stolen bases.

Wells was the team leader in hits with 34, home runs with nine, runs with 36 and RBI with 34.

She batted .486 and had an OBP of .532. She also had eight doubles.

“The best word I have to describe her is my spark. She’s my sparkplug,” said CH head coach

Jeffrey Bays. “She’s the one that kind of lights the fire and gets things going. If you’re in a tight game

she’s normally the one that’s going to break it loose offensively.”

Dymond finished with a .306 average and a .361 OBP. She had five doubles and 15 RBI.

Another returning starter is freshman third baseman Brynli Brewer. Eighth-grader AC Martens

will start at second, senior Ava Cribb will start in right, senior Ashlee Berry will start in left and

freshman Aubree Richardson will start at first. Freshman AJ Clark will also see time at third base when

Brewer is pitching as well as a designated player.

Brewer is at the top of the batting order with Wells second, Harrington in the 3 hole and Yount

batting cleanup. Dymond is batting fifth followed by Martens and either Cribb or Clark in the 7 hole.

Ashlee Berry will bat eighth with Richardson flipping the batting order.

Junior Kelsie Martin and sophomore Chloe Scott will serve as substitutes. Seventh-grader

Sunshine Brown will be moving up from the junior vasity team and contribute both in the circle and in

the outfield.

Yount, who has signed to play collegiately with Columbia International University, is without a

doubt the No. 1 pitcher. Brewer and Brown will get their opportunities in the circle though.

“We’ve got a really good combination of pitchers with different speeds and pitches,” Bays said.

Shannon Corbett and Bailey Corbett will return to assist Bays, while Matthew Martens takes

over for Jackie McIntosh as pitching coach.