By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Sumter – Trying to figure out who the best football team is in the South Carolina High School League’s AA classification has not been an easy task. Records have been distorted with teams like defending state champion Clinton and defending runner-up Fairfield Central playing up in non-region games and taking losses. Then you have tough regions like Region 2 with Strom Thurmond , Batesburg-Leesville and Saluda locking up in epic battles. Then there is Region 4. It has the team with the best record among the contenders in Central with a 9-1 record after the first round of the state playoffs. However the Eagles didn’t even wn the region title. They lost to Andrew Jackson , which is the region champion. They could meet again – for the state championship – since Region 4 is a hybrid region. AJ is in the upper state bracket and Central is in the lower state bracket. Another region team, Cheraw , is still alive in the lower state bracket. So you know how we figure all of this out, right? By letting the playoffs play out. With one week in the books, let’s try to figure out who will be playing for the state title on Saturday, December 6, at South Carolina State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg beginning at 4 p.m. Here we go starting with the upper state second round: Saluda at Clinton Fairfield Central at Andrew Jackson Batesburg-Leesville at Chester Liberty at Strom Thurmond These are all teams that have been consequential in AA in the last few years. You have four region champions in Region 1 Clinton, Region 2 Strom Thurmond, Region 3 Chester and Region 4 Andrew Jackson. There are three second-place teams in Fairfield Central, B-L and Liberty. Saluda finished third but it lost to both Thurmond and B-L in overtime and dropped a 1-point decision to Ninety Six . While the Tigers will put up a strong fight, Clinton shoul come away victorious with running back Javen Cook leadin the way. Fairfield Central is 8-3, while AJ is 7-4 with one of thosef losses coming to the Griffins by a 35-0 count. The Volunteers won’t be able to make up enough of that gap. Batesburg-Leesville has rebounded from a slow start and is 8-3. Chester started the season 1-3 but has won six of its last seven to go to 7-4. Running back Amadre Wooden and wide receiver KD Whitt should provde enough plays to give B-L a victory. Strom Thurmond is 9-2 and Liberty is 8-3. Playing in Region 2 should be enough to push the Rebels past Liberty. The quarterfinal games are: Fairfield Central at Clinton Batesburg-Leesville at Strom Thurmond Fairfield and Clinton will meet again in the playoffs only one round earlier. The Red Devils will win again because of their overpowering running game. Thurmond and B-L faced off in their region opener with the Rebels coming away with a 28-26 overtime triumph. They took Region 2 with an undefeated record, but it will come to an end with a Panthers victory. The upper state title game will be: Batesburg-Leesville at Clinton This could be a very quick game as both teams love the running game and rightfully so. Two of the best running backs in the state will play in B-L’s Wooden, the school’s all-time leading rusher, and Clinton’s Cook. They will be toting the rock on a regular basis. Somehow, some way, the Panthers are going to come out victorious and advance to the title game. The four second-round games in the lower state are: Cheraw at Hampton County Timberland at Manning East Clarendon at Central Atlantic Collegiate at Philip Simmons These are four games that are intriguing as well but in a different fashion. Save Central – which again, didn’t win its region – each has had something to overcome. After losing three straighr games, including its first two Region 4 contests to Central and AJ, Cheraw is on a 4-game winning streak and is 7-4. Hampton had a 3-game losing streak of its own but has reeled off five straight wins to claim the Region 6 title. The losses all came to solid to strong teams in higher classes though, and the Hurricanes should be victorious. Manning, which played for the lower state title last year, started 0-2 and lost its Region 7 opener. However, the Monarchs won the rest of their region contests and are on a 6-game winning streak. Timberland is 9-2 but finished second in Region 6 after losing to Philip Simmons 22-0. This will be a slugfest between two teams who methodically run the ball and play tough defense. Manning will be victorious. East Clarendon is 9-2 but finished third in Region 7 with losses to Atlantic Collegiate and Lake City . Central is 9-1 with the lone loss coming to AJ by a 21-20 count. With the exception of a 34-27 win over Cheraw, all of the Eagles’ wins have come in blowout fashion. They will pick up their 10 th win. Atlantic Collegiate, in just its second year of football, has had something of a magical run in the second half of the season. The Armada lost its first five games, albeit against a murderous non-region schedule. However, ACA went 4-2 in Region 7 to finish second and opened with a home win over Woodland . Philip Simmons is on a 9-game winning streak after losing its first two. The Iron Horses will ground the Armada’s season. That means the quarterfinal games are: Hampton County at Manning Central at Philip Simmons Hampton County will have too much offensive firepower for the Monarchs. Central will have to make the almost 3-hour drive from Pageland to Charleston , but the trip back will be a little shorter after a victory. The lower state title game will have: Central at Hampton County Central will make an almost identical trip to Varnville to take on the Hurricanes the following week. Again, the Eagles will be celebrating on the return ride home. And your state title game will be: Batesburg-Leesville vs. Central These are two historically strong programs where their hometowns generally shut down on Friday nights. The Eagles, led by the likes of Dwayne Louallen Jr. , Ashten Wilson , Marques Allen and Taveon Moore , will be too hard for the Panthers to handle. Central will be a state champion for the first time since 2010. First Round Friday Upper State Clinton 56, North Central 7 Saluda 33, Mid-Carolina 13 Andrew Jackson 34, Ninety Six 16 Fairfield Central 50, Chesnee 21 Chester 50, Blacksburg 6 Batesburg-Leesville 42, Eau Claire 0 Strom Thurmond 49, Chesterfield 0 Liberty 35, Pelion 14 Lower State Hampton County 56, Lake City 22 Cheraw 17, Andrews 7 Manning 48, Academic Magnet 7 Timberland 46, Barnwell 8 Central 56, Kingstree 6 East Clarendon 14, Lake Marion 0 Philip Simmons 57, Whale Branch 12 Atlantic Collegiate 14, Woodland 0 Second Round November 14 Upper State Saluda at Clinton Andrew Jackson at Fairfield Central Batesburg-Leesville at Chester Liberty at Strom Thurmond Lower State Cheraw at Hampton County Timberland at Manning East Clarendon at Central Atlantic Collegiate at Philip Simmons

Chesterfield's junior Guard Marquan Blount.

Jabria Brunson wins high jump, places in two other events

Saluda – On Saturday night at Saluda High School , a standing room only crowd saw East Clarendon claim its third softball state championship with a 5-3 win over Saluda to sweep the best-of-3 AA championship series 2-0. “I am so proud of these girls," said EC head coach Jason Newsome . "It all started back in October. We had great offseason workouts in October, and January the girls really bought in to what we wanted to do. You can ask the girls and they will tell you how hard they worked this year. It is very gratifying to see all that hard work pay off.” Winning Lady Wolverines pitcher Lakelyn Gaskins said, “It feels wonderful to be state champs. The last time we won was 2017 so it feels good to win another championship.” It was a bittersweet ending for the Tigers of Saluda as they ended the season at 23-6-1. However, it was the best season in school history with a region championship, upper state championship and a runner-up finish. Along the way,p they had a 17-game winning streak after starting the year 0-3-1. SHS ead Coach Hannah Towery said, “I told the girls they have nothing to hang their heads on. We made history this year. No one thought we’d be here with such a young team. This is the first ever trophy that softball has put in the trophy case. I told our seniors to keep their heads u0, and for the younger girls this is something they will have to remember, this feeling, and learn from it and try and beat this goal.” Freshman Miller Martin got the start in the circle for Saluda and got the first batter to fly out to center field. Gaskins stepped into the batter's box and tripled to right. Right fielder Ashlyn Vereen made a great effort to catch the ball, but it was just out of her reach. EC’s Zoey Culick came up next and laid down a beautiful bunt that scored Gaskins with the first run of the game. Culick advanced to third on a wild pitch and an error. After an out and a walk, the Lady Wolverines had runners on second and third with two outs when Addison Fleming came to bat. Fleming bunted toward second base and beat the throw to first while also driving in Culick from third base for a 2-0 lead. “I could not have drawn up the first inning any better if I tried,” said Newsome. “Our game plan all year has been to get out of the gate really quickly and make our opponents chase us down.” Staked with a 2-0 lead, Gaskin’s set down the Tigers in order in the first two innings, striking out five of the first six batters she faced. Meanwhile, Martin settled down in the circle after the rough start and keep the Lady Wolverines off the scoreboard over the next three innings. In the third, the Tigers were able to scratch across a run. Amy Sorcia led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a passed ball. Gaskins seemed to get back on track after striking out the next two hitters, but then the Tigers' Nyla Jordan ripped a double in the left-center gap to drive in Sorcia with the Tigers' first run of the game. After Gaskins walked Martin, she got Karen Almarez to fly out to second for the final out of the inning. The Lady Wolverines led 2-1 after three innings. From the third inning on the game became a pitchers duel as both Martin and Gaskins were in control of the game. The Lady Wolverines were able to score another run in the fifth when Chloe Goff led off the inning with a walk. She moved to second on a sacrifice by Gaskins. Then Culick picked up her secondRBI of the game when she singled in Goff and the Lady Wolverines' lead was 3-1. The Tigers threatened in the sixth when Ava Martin walked and Sorcia singled, putting runners on first and second with two outs. However, Gaskins struck out the next hitter to end the threat. Leading 3-1 entering the seventh inning, EC's Bailey Hicks led off the inning with a single but was out at second on a fielder’s choice, leaving Gaskins on first. Culick had her third hit of the game, putting runners on first and second. Miller Martin then came up with a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but there were still two runners on base when Lake Jeffords stepped into the box. She ripped a single to left, driving in Gaskins. Then Fleming hit a bloop single over third base, driving in Culick for her secondRBI of the game and a 5-1 lead heading into the home half of the seventh. EC’s Gaskins got the first two batters out, one with her 11th strike out of the game, but then an error allowed Miller Martin to reach first bringing up Almarez. On a full count, she hit the payoff pitch over the right field fence and just like that the Tigers cut the lead to two at 5-3. “That home run is all on me,” said Newsome. “We were on a bad count. We had thrown the same pitch three times in a row. I thought we could sneak it by her. She made us pay.” Gaskins got Jayme Sheaffer to fly out to center to end the game and the celebration began. “This team never gives up and never gives in. They always fight and scrap until the very end,” said Towery. Gaskins finished the game with 11 strikeoutswhile walking four and allowing just four hits. Miller Martin struck out nine, five in the last two innings. She walked two and gave up 10 hits. Leading the way at the plate for the Lady Wolverines was Culick, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Payton Hanniford went 2-for-4 and Fleming was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Saluda was led by Almarez, who was 1-for-4 with two RBI off the round-tripper.

Game 2 is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. in Saluda

SCHSL Championship Series got started on Saturday with 12 teams in each category striving to earn a state title. It's looking to be a wet week for most of the state, we'll see how the forecast holds up for these games to be completed. Softball 5/26 - Class 5A Div 1. - Byrnes @ Summerville 5/26 - Class 5A Div. 2 - Catawba Ridge @ St. James 6p 5/27 - Class AAAA - York @ Gray Collegiate 6:30p 5/27 - Class AAA - BHP @ Aynor 6p5/27 - 5/27 - Class AA - Saluda @ East Clarendon 7p 5/27 - Class A - Latta @ Lewisville 6p 5/28 - Class 5A Div 1. - Summerville @ Byrnes 5/28 - Class 5A Div. 2 - St. James @ Catawba Ridge 6p 5/28 - Class AAAA - Gray Collegiate @ York 5/29 - Class AAA - Aynor @ BHP 6p 5/29 - Class AA - Lewisville @ Latta 5/29 - Class A - East Clarendon @ Saluda 7p Game 3s (if needed) on 5/30 Baseball - Games Started Saturday, May 24 th with games 5/27, 5/29, and 5/31 5/24 - Class AAA - Southside Christian 14 , Oceanside 1 5/24 - Class AA - Philip Simons 5 , Batesburg-Leesville 3 5/24 - Class A - McBee 5 , LakeView 3 5/27 - Class 5A Div. 1 - Lexington @ James Island 6:30p 5/27 - Class 5A Div. 2 -Catawba Ridge @ Berkeley 5/27 - Class AAAA - Airport @ Seneca 5/27 - Class AAA - Oceanside @ Southside Christian 5/27 - Class AA - Philip Simons @ Batesburg-Leesville 5/27 - Class A - McBee @ Lake View 5/29 - Class 5A Div. 1 -Lexington@ James Island 6:30p 5/29 - Class 5A Div. 2 -Berkeley @ Catawba Ridge 5/29 - Class AAAA - Seneca @ Airport Game 3s (if needed) on 5/31

Tigers return 4 All-Region players in Williams, Arant, Shaw, Uhlar

Saluda boys part of 4-way tie for first in region

Tigers have already matched win total from last season