Saluda makes history again as it wins first ever softball state championship

         Chesterfield – The Saluda High School softball team made history in 2024 when it played in its first ever upper state championship series. In 2025, the Tigers made history again, winning the AA upper state title and playing in a state championship series for the first time.

     Well, Saluda made history again on Thursday, so you know what that means. The school has to make room for a state championship trophy.

The Tigers won the school’s first ever softball state title by beating Chesterfield 3-0 in front of a packed house at the CHS field to sweep the best-of-3 AA state championship series.

“It just means everything to bring it back to Saluda,” said Tigers head coach Hannah Towery. “It’s been a tough ride after last season (getting swept by East Clarendon in the AA title series), and to me it means everything to give the girls this opportunity.

     “I’ve always wanted to give the girls this experience because I never had this chance. I played on a lot of teams that came up short. It just means everything to make history for a third year in a row.”

     SHS finishes the year with a 29-3 record. The Rams finish 17-10.

     Sophomore pitcher Miller Martin and junior centerfielder Amy Sorcia said it was sweet to get the title after coming up short last season.

     “It feels really good because we’ve really grown from last year,” Martin said. “It means a lot to me because this is my sister’s (senior second baseman Ava Martin) last year, she’s a senior and she’s graduating, and it just feels good to come out here and play good and win it.”

     “We worked hard last year and sadly we fell short,” Sorcia said. “I think we definitely knew what we wanted to accomplish and we did it.”

Towery decided to throw both of her pitchers on Thursday, and the move worked like a charm, not that Towery expected anything else.

     Left-hander Kyle McGlohorn started in the circle and worked the first three innings. She allowed three hits and struck out two while walking none.

     Righty Miller Martin came on in the fourth. Martin, who allowed just two hits while striking out 13 in a complete game in the Tigers’ 7-1 win on Wednesday, allowed three hits on Thursday while striking out seven and walking none.

“I told them before the game we were going to play this game like we’ve done the whole entire year,” Towery said. “They’ve been our rock the whole entire year, both pitchers, and we were going to finish the year just how we started and ride what got us there, which was the two of them. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

     Freshman Ashton Cassidy had a strong pitching performance for Chesterfield. She went the distance, allowing six hits while walking two and fanning four. Only two of the runs were earned.

     “She is an awesome pitcher,” second-year head coach Graham Harpe said of Cassidy, one of just two starters from last season at the same position. “ She has carried us. She is definitely one of the MVPs (most valuable players) on this team.”

     The game was scoreless through the first four innings. SHS final broke through with a run in the top of the fifth.

     Reese Shaw started the inning with a single, and Kamryn Campbell drew a walk. After an out, Ashlynn Vereen hit into a fielder’s choice to leave runners on the corners with two outs.

     Vereen took off for second on the first pitch to Nyla Jordan, and catcher Madison Vanderpool sailed her throw into center field. Shaw easily scored to make it 1-0.

     Saluda made it 2-0 in the sixth. Zoey Springs singled with one out before Ava Martin drew a walk with two outs. Aubrey Marnati then delivered a single to score Springs.

The Tigers got a big insurance run in the seventh. With one out, Sorcia sent the ball over the left field fence for a home run to make it 3-0.

     “When I went up to hit the first two imes, I got it right down the middle both times,” said Sorcia, who was 2-for-3 with a triple and four runs batted in in the opener. “That’s what I was looking for and, yes sir, that’s what I got.”

     Miller Martin retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning to set off a big celebration, not only by the players,but by the Saluda faithful as well.

     “I wasn’t really stressed, but I was dialed in to make sure they didn’t score,” Miller Martin said of taking over a scoreless game.

     The Rams finished with six hits and had at least one runner on base through the first five innings. They had one hit in each of the first four innings and two in the fifth.

     CHS got a runner to second in the first inning. Ansley Helms singled with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jenna Stafford. That brought Cassidy, the cleanup hitter, to the plate. She had a 12-pitch at-bat before McGlohorn got her to pop out on the infield.

     In the Chesterfield fifth, Gabi Rhyne led off with a single. Miller Martin struck out the next two batters before Helms reached on an infield single. However, Martin struck out Stafford to end the threat.

     “We couldn’t string any hits together, but I think that says a lot about their pitching,” Harpe said. “Good pitchers can get themselves out of those situations.”

     SHS also had six hits with no one picking up multiple hits. Sorcia’s bomb was the only extra-base hit as she finished with a run scored and a run batted in.

     Marnati had a hit and an RBI, and Springs and Shaw both had a hit and scored a run. Jordan and Ava Martin had the other hits.

Despite the gaudy record, Towery said the Tigers really had to focus entering the state playoffs.

“Early on we lost a few games, but we really turned it around,” she said. “We struggled in the middle of the year with our hitting and going into the playoffs we knew we had to change some things from what we did last year. And the biggest thing was our hitting and they locked into that. It’s been a redemption tour, and they totally locked into that.”

For Chesterfield, Helms finished with two hits. The other safeties came from Jamison Miles, the head coach’s daughter, Brylie Harpe, Rhyne and Sydney Sowell.

With five starters playing varsity for the first time and two returning starters at new positions, Coach Harpe couldn’t be much happier about his lower state championship team.

“It means a lot,” Coach Harpe said. “At the beginning of the year we were trying to feel people out, put them at different spots. It wasn’t working out. We were losing tight games. To see them turn it around and all start playing with one another at the right time, it showed them what they can do, showed them how much talent is out here.”