Patriots having a lot of success on the softball diamond

By Roger Lee

Contributing Writer

North Charleston – Fort Dorchester Softball is off to its hottest start in years.

The Patriots are 12-2 on the season with a 2-1 mark in 5A Region 8 with a 15-0 win over Stall, a 12-7 win over Ashley Ridge and a 3-1 loss to James Island. They are ranked fifth in the HSSR 5A, Division 1 Softball Poll.

“We had a lot of girls coming up from the JV who had to step up,” said Fort Dorchester coach Curtis Moore. “Right now our biggest thing is learning how to bounce back when we fail. If we can do that we have a pretty solid team.”

The Patriots are working to replace an All-State pitcher/infielder and two other contributors from last season, but don’t lack varsity experience.

“We lost three seniors, but we have a good group of returning players,” Moore said. “We had three transfers come in prior to the start of last season so now everybody knows each other and I think we have kind of figured each other out and are meshing well so far.”

The Patriots returned 10 varsity lettermen and have added three new players to the roster.

“A lot of these girls joined this team when they were in seventh grade,” Moore said. “Catcher Ashton Giet is our only senior. We have five juniors and several eighth-graders and ninth-graders.”

Junior Mila Lorenzano and freshman Lilly Brinson are sharing time in the pitching circle. When she isn’t in the circle, Brinson typically holds down first base.

Junior Destiny Copeland typically plays at second, junior Nadia Lorenzano at short stop and junior Hailey Greatrex at third.

Sophomore Bayleigh Martin, freshman Morgan Carter and junior Regan Bruder are getting most of the starts in the outfield. Elizabeth Martray, who has experience both in the dirt and in the grass, is the other returning letterman.



New members of the team are Carter, Jordan Wallace and McKinley Tompkins.

Copeland was injured on the first at bat at James Island so she missed a non-region game against Berkeley April 10. Fort Dorchester hung in with a strong Berkeley squad ranked second in the HSSR 5A Division 2 poll, but lost 7-4. Giet and Mila Lorenzano both had an RBI double while Martin and Nadia Lorenzano both had an RBI single. Brinson and Carter also had singles. The Patriots stranded 10 base runners throughout the game.

With a .543 batting average Brinson leads the category followed by Giet and Copeland. Giet leads in homeruns with 5 followed by Hailey Greatrex with 4. Giet also has the best on-base percentage (.643) followed by Copeland (.611) and Brinson (.543).

Mila Lorenzano has a 1.183 ERA with 76 strikeouts while Brinson has a 1.862 ERA with 23 strikeouts.

This week brings a showdown with cross-town rival and state power Summerville, the top-ranked 5A, Division 1 team in all the state polls. The Patriots host the Green Wave at 7 p.m. Wednesday April 16.

FD Baseball                                                                                                   

The Fort Dorchester Baseball team also had a fast start, but cooled off when it ran into James Island. The Patriots dropped three straight games to the Trojans to fall to 11-5 on the season with a 4-5 mark in 5A Region 8 so they entered this week tied for fourth place with West Ashley.

Fort Dorchester claimed a 5-2 victory over West Ashley April 4. Pitcher Banks Wickersham threw six innings, allowing only five hits, two runs and two base on balls to earn the win. RJ Hamilton led the offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.

The Patriots claimed a 7-1 victory at West Ashley April 2. Daniel Schenk picked up the pitching win, going six innings on the hill and allowing only three hits and two base on balls while striking out seven. Catcher Ljay Johnson was 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Wickersham was 2-for-3 with a double and scored a run.

That night marked coach Ronnie Sayer’s 100^th coaching win at Fort Dorchester.