By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Bamberg – When you have won a state record fifteen state baseball championships the expectations will always be high because you are the standard for excellence on the diamond, such is the life of the Bamberg Ehrhardt Red Raiders. The Red Raiders have gotten off to a good start to the season. After dropping their opening game to Saluda 8-4 they have won six straight games to move 6-1/ 1-0. They are averaging over eight runs a game and the pitching staff is holding teams to under .200 batting average and less than three runs a game. “Our pitching has been really good so far this year,” said Head coach Gene Schwarting . “We are a very young team this year with only one senior, but this group is talented.” Coach continued, “We have some good teams in our region and in lower state so we will have our work cut out for us but if we can continue improve, we can compete for the region and the playoffs. Our guys practice and play hard and really enjoy the game, which is fun to watch, so hopefully we can make a long run this season.” The Red Raiders lone senior is a good one, in All State and All Region catcher Colin Wolfe . He is the team’s leader and is an asset to the young pitching staff. He also sees time in the outfield and on the mound. Junior Weston Stokes is also a returning All Region performer. He is the team’s top pitcher and when he is not on the bump he handles the shortstop duties. “We lean on Colin and Weston as they have experience that they can share with their teammates, “said coach Schwarting. The rest of the pitching staff consists of Tripp Brewer, Brian McMillan, and Dakota Black . Coach said they have all looked good on the mound and have been a big plus for us so far this year all have pitched well early in the year. Black plays second base and McMillian is a utility player when they are not on the hill. The rest of the starting lineup: Brent Amaker in the outfield, Walker Summers at first base, Garrett Wade in the infield, Cooper Sandifer plays where needed, Nasi Singleton in the outfield, Chase Collins in the infield and BJ Ayer in the infield. The Red Raiders have a break coming up and then they will back on the diamond in April when they take on Edisto.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Bamberg – The Boys and girls basketball programs at Bamberg-Ehrhardt each had outstanding seasons as they both advanced into the second round of the playoffs before their season ended on the road. The girls finished the year at 20-6/9-2 for a second-place finish in region 7A. The second-place finish earned them a home playoff game in round where the dispatched Green Sea Floyds 56-15. Head coach Candace Jones will return her entire roster next season led by recently named to the SCBCA Class A All State junior guard Raven Brown . She averaged a team high 12.9 points per game and 5.7 steals a night. She will head into next year with a chance to top the 1000 career point barrier as she finished the year with over 600 points. Also returning will the Lady Red Raiders second leading scorer Mh’Chiya Johnson . She scored 11.9 points a night and was also a pickpocket averaging 5.5 steals per night. “A positive team culture has been created which has fostered strong relationships amongst the team and coaching staff that has led to early success but will ultimately lead to the team’s overall success with accomplishing goals and people knowing about Bamberg Girls basketball,” said coach Jones. The Red Raider boys team finished the year at 14-7/7-5, good enough for fourth place in region 7 A. They went on the road in the first round and upset Lake View 61-51. They headed to Cross for round two where their second upset bid fell short 57-52. Head Coach Willie Carter will be losing his top three scorers in seniors Isiah Johnson , Anthony Williams , and Eric Parker . Wiliams, a top five senior class A player coming into the year, battled an injury from an All-Star football game early on but came on at the end of the year to average thirteen points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals per game. Parker led the team in scoring at 13,9 points per game and his other numbers mirrored Williams and like Williams he missed some time due to a mid-season injury. He was the Red Raiders inside presence. Johnson dropped six dimes a game to lead the Red Raiders as well as averaging 10.3 points per game. He also had the stickiest fingers on the team, averaging three thefts a game. Nigel Myers was also a big contributor in the paint for the Red Raiders. He scored 6.6 points per game to go with 6.7 boards a game and two assists and two steals. Eric Lee played solid minutes off the bench. “Our seniors did a great job of leading the team this year. Even when they were not on the court, they were helping the younger players,” said Coach Carter. “They also put us in a position where we will reload and not rebuild each year. Bamberg is known for football and baseball and this group of players brought that winning culture to the hardwood.” The Red Raider have a solid group to build from in junior Chanston Crosby and sophomore Darius Walker . Crosby, an All-State Quarterback was the team’s top three-point shooter hitting 24-43 for 56% from downtown Bamberg and scoring nine points a night. Walker averaged over six points and three boards. “We had a good season despite some adversity, so I am excited to see for next year and the future of Bamberg-Ehrhardt basketball,” Carter said.

Trojans will take over Carvers Bay in third round

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Bamberg – Head coach Candace Jones took over the Bamberg-Ehrhardt Lady Red Raider basketball program a mere weeks before the start of the regular season so not only was her team learning new offenses and defenses schemes, but they were also learning how to work together as a team and the expectations of their new coach. “Given the coaching change, and only being together 6 weeks thus far, I thought maybe familiarity would be an issue, but the team has gelled quickly and has performed at a high level since the start of the season,” said coach Jones. Coach Jones continued, “The expectation for this team is to compete at a high level all season and compete for a region championship and become a playoff contender, making a deep run into the playoffs. This team can be one of the top teams in Class 1A.” On thing that coach Jones has preached since the beginning of the year is” Defense” and her team has bought into it in a big way. The Lady Red Raiders have held six of their opponents to ten points or less. On the year they are allowing just 25.65 points per game. As a team they are averaging 22.9 steals a game. They are really starting to get after it on defense; knowing where to be, communicating, and helping each other on defense. Just taking pride on the defensive side off the ball and this allows us to run multiple schemes on defense,” Coach said. Currently the Lady Red Raiders are 16-4/ 6-1. Their only out of region losses have been to AAAAA Stall (15-8, 2-3) and to the second ranked class A and county rival Denmark-Olar (16-3,9-0). The region loss was to Bethune-Bowman by three. They will have the opportunity to reverse the outcomes when they head to Bowman for the rematch. Bamberg-Ehrhardt is a young team with no seniors on the roster. They are led by two juniors in Raven Brown and MhChiya Johnson . The guard combo are the teams top two scorers with Brown averaging 12.2-points per game and Johnson scoring 11.8 points a night. They are also 1,2 in steals with Johnson averaging a team 6.6 a game and Brown is at 5.7. Sophomore forward Ezariah Williams is averaging a double/ double scoring 10.4 points and 10.6 boards a game. She also leads the team in blocks and is a force in the paint. Markayla Thomas and Jade Moody are junior guards who apply pressure all over the court for coach Jones. Thomas is third on the team in steals at 5.3 a contest and knocks down six points a game. Junior forward Cailyn Youmans and eighth grade guard Jada Sanders have been solid all year for coach Jones. Youman is the team s leading rebounder cleaning the glass to the tune of 12.4 a game and she also scores eight points a night while Sanders is averaging 3.7 steals a night. Freshman Carmyn Folks has also played well on the defensive end of the court, getting four steals a game as well as dropping five points a night. She is third in rebounding at 8.2. Coach said, “A positive team culture has been created which has fostered strong relationships amongst the team and coaching staff that has led to early success but will ultimately lead to the team’s overall success with accomplishing goals and people knowing about Bamberg-Ehrhardt Girls basketball.”

Flashes will face Christ Church once again for state title on Friday, December 1

State championship game set for December 2 at 2 p.m. at S.C. State's Oliver C. Dawson Stadium

Nick Folk rushes for 149 yards to lead Red Raiders past previously unbeaten Warriors

Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Bamberg – Since head coach Deanna Merchant took the reins of the Bamberg-Ehrhardt volleyball program she, her coaching staff and her girls have quietly built the Lady Red Raider program into one of the top-Class A programs in the state where playoffs are expected. Despite losing several key players from last season’s team, which made it into the third round, expectations are the same for 2023. “This is a rebuilding year for us, so I'm fully anticipated getting off to a slow and getting better with every match and competition.” said coach Merchant. “We fell short against our rivals Branchville, but then we split matches with the 1st place team in our region, Bridges Prep.” Coach Merchant continued, “We will be making it to playoffs but will be going a different route than we have previously as we are 3rd place in region. I anticipate a strong post-season where we will face one of the two region opponents again.” The Lady Red Raiders return three starters of which two were All Region selections in 2022 in senior outside hitters Amelia Stembridge and Paige Beard . They are the captains of the team, and the two players coach Merchant looks to for leadership on the team. Beard is perhaps the Lady Red Raiders top all-around player as is tough at the net but will also go down to the floor to make plays and is one of the top servers on the team while Stembridge is strong at the net and leads the team in kills. Cailyn Youmans , a junior, has been strong at the net. She is also one of the better servers on the team. She also plays on the BE girls basketball team. Several newcomers to the varsity team have made an impact and grown with each match. Setters Kathleen Evans and Neveaha Ricks have done a good job running the team. Evans is also a top server and a solid defensive player. Other solid defenders are libero Addi Jameson , and defensive specialist Raelynn Jarrett . Jarrett is just a freshman. Middle Hitter Briaunjenai McMillan has been another Lady Red Raider that has played well at the net. “I am proud of how much this team has improved throughout the year and they are playing their best volleyball as we get ready for the playoffs,” Merchant said.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Denmark – Denmark-Olar’s Terrance Hinton caught a short pass from Trey Hinton then broke several tackles, out raced the Bamberg-Ehrhardt defense for a 64-yard touchdown with 2:45 to put the Vikings up 22-15 and the defense then stopped the Red Raiders at their own 17-yardline as the Vikings won the Battle of Bamberg. “Coach told me that you have to battle back from adversity, and we did that all game. We beat the number one team in the state when everyone doubted us, but we knew what we could do. We are blessed to come out with a win,” said Trey after the game. DO head coach Jarvis Littlejohn said “Trey came up with a great play at the end on defense to save the win. He threw two picks tonight, but he fought back and came up big when we needed it the most.” While the offense came up big at the end, it was the Viking defense that dominated the game from start to finish. They held the vaunted Red Raiders offense to 146 total yards for the game and allowed only one score. “Hats off to the defense. They played lights out all night and came up big at the end,” said coach Littlejohn. “Bamberg has three really good backs, their physical up front so we knew we had to match them up front. We study hard all week, and it paid off with the win.” The Viking defense set the tone on the Red Raiders first possession as they forced a quick three and out. The Red Raider defense also forced a three and out but on fourth down the center snap went over the punters head and Bamberg-Ehrhardt took the lead at 2-0. DO took their first their lead of the game when the Hinton-to-Hinton combination connected on a 50-yard scoring strike to score the first of his three touchdowns. Terrance caught the pass across over the middle and ran past the BE defense for the score. The 2-point conversion put the Vikings up 8-2. On the night “Agent Zero” as Terrance is known by his teammates and coaches rushed six-times for 32 yards and a score while catching four balls for 131 yards and two touchdowns. The Red Raider defense also played well all night. After the DO touchdown, they came up with back-to-back interceptions by Jaden Milhouse and Eric Lee . Lee returned his 15-yards for a touchdown and after Zachariah Singleton’s extra point the Red Raiders led 9-8. The Vikings went on a 13-play drive on their last possession of the first half and had a first and goal from the eight-yard line, but three straight runs were stuffed by the Red Raider defense and the clock ran out. BE came out in the second half and reminded everyone why they were the top ranked team in Class A coming into the game. The Red Raider defense forced a three and out and then on their first play of the second half Nick Folks busted up the middle, cut right and outran everyone for a 34-yard touchdown. The extra point bounced off the goal post and the Red Raiders upped their lead to 15-8. The Vikings responded on their next possession going on a 12-play, 65-yard drive to cut the lead to one at 15-14 on Terrance’s five-yard run, The key play on the drive came on fourth down from the Red Raider 20 when Trev Whaley connected with Shamarion Palmer for 15 yards and a first down at the Red Raider five-yard line. Whaley also had an interception on the night. With 8:40 to go the Red Raiders put together their best drive of the game. Folks rushed three-times for 20 yards and Jamie Downing had a 29-yard run to give the Red Raiders a first and goal at the Viking’s 10-yardline. The DO defense came up big as they did not allow another yard and a Red Raider pass on fourth down into the end zone fell incomplete. The Viking offense took over at the 11 and went on their 89-yard game winning drive. The defense was led by the physical front of Tykeem Ross , Eric Burkett , Jamarion Wise , and Reginald Youmans . They made several tackles behind the line and pressured BE quarterback Chanston Crosby all night. Ross is one of the top junior prospects in the state. “This win means a lot to us and the community. We now have to refocus after this win and continue to improve each week. There is still a lot of season left,” coach Littlejohn. Denmark-Olar (2-0) will be on the road for the first this season as they travel to Charleston to take on St. John’s (0-2) while Bamberg-Ehrhardt (1-1) hits the road for the third straight week as they take on rival Barnwell.