Thomas Sumter softball struggles in difficult SCISA Region 1-AAA
Lady Generals have had to do battle with Calhoun, Clarendon Hall and Orangeburg Prep
Dalzell – When the South Carolina Independent School Association released its non-football region pairings for reclassification for the 2024-25 and ‘25-26 school years, Region 1-AAA was listed as having Calhoun Academy, Clarendon Hall, Orangeburg Prep and Thomas Sumter Academy.
For TSA softball head coach David Porter, that meant his team ha a tough row to hoe this season. Orangeburg Prep was the 2-time defending AAA state runner-up, Clarendon Hall had won three straight state titles between Class A and AA, and Calhoun played CH for the AA crown in 2023.
“We knew going into the season that we were in a tough region with some teams that have a lot of proven leadership,” Porter said.
The Lady Generals were swept in 3-game series by OP and Calhoun and lost the first of their three games against Clarendon Hall. Thomas Sumter did have an opportunity to play spoiler if it could notch out a couple of wins on April 14 and April 15.
“Still, we have been a little disappointed that we haven’t competed as well as we thought we would,” Porter said. “Softball is a humbling game, and we’ve been a little humbled coming off the season we had a year ago. I think that is going to fuel us during the offseason to come back next year even stronger.”
Thomas Sumter was only 2-11 overall after going 11-8 last year in its return to varsity softball after a few years of not having a team.
Lila Kate Stines was leading the Lady Generals offensively with a .609 batting average. She had two doubles, two triples, two home runs, 12 runs scored and nine runs batted in.
Anna Luzzi was batting .577 and leading in home runs with five, RBI with 15 and runs with 13. Ryan Stokes was hitting .321 and Peyton Dew .316.
Porter thinks Thomas Sumter made the most improvement over the course of the season defensively.
“Even though the stats don’t really tell the whole story, I think we have shown some improvement defensively,” Porter said. “We’ve been moving girls around and playing girls in positions they haven’t played much to try and strengthen our defense, and they’ve responded very well.
“I think that is going to help us into next season. If we can confidently move girls around depending on who we’re playing and who’s pitching for us, that is going to be beneficial for us.”
