Can Atlantic Collegiate Academy Win Class AA Baseball Title In Second Season As A Program?
As a brand-new school playing baseball a year ago ACA went 11-1 in the region under head coach Larry Prange.
HSSR -SCHSLClass AA Baseball Top 10
(As of 4-12-2026)
1. Atlantic Collegiate Academy
2. Clinton
3. Philip Simmons
4. Bridges Prep
5. Batesburg-Leesville
6. Landrum
7. Saluda
8. East Clarendon
9. Andrews
10. Lake City
Can Atlantic Collegiate Academy Win Class AA Baseball Title In Second Season As A Program?
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Moncks Corner — If baseball teams won state titles on paper, just off the strength of their college prospects, the Atlantic Collegiate Academy (15-2, 5-0), based in Conway, would have standing to go ahead and accept the AA championship trophy.
As a brand-new school playing baseball a year ago ACA went 11-1 in the region under head coach Larry Prange. The team currently boasts 9 players hitting .300 or better.
Junior AJ Kipybida utility/pitcher is hitting .468 with 22 RBI’s and a home run. On the mound he has logged 19.2 innings with 32 strikeouts.
Senior Cam Craft is a senior pitcher/outfielder headed to Wofford College. He is batting .364 with five RBI’s. Senior pitcher/outfielder Logan Newcomb is headed to Coastal Carolina and he is currently hitting .423 with 8 homes runs. Newcomb has also seen 18.1 innings of mound work with 38 strikeouts
Junior utility pitcher AJ Kipybida is batting .468 with 22 RBI’s including six doubles and one home run. On the mound he has worked 12.23 innings with 9 strikeouts. Junor infielder Chase Foxworth (421), and junior pitcher/infielder Eli Chowning is batting .389 with 11 RBI’s. Chowning is committed to The College of Charleston.
You have to have the horses to pull state championship wagons and ACA is ranked number one ion AA for a reason.
Saluda High School baseball coach Travis Mills was more than pleased with how his team had performed heading into spring break. The Tigers owned an 11-5 overall record and a 5-1 mark in Region 2-AA.
Mills is hoping that strong start has laid the groundwork to what comes over the final few weeks of the season.
“I’m super proud of how we have played to this point in the season so far,” Mills said. “We have played a really tough schedule that we hope prepares us for a run at a region title and also a run in the AA playoffs.”
Saluda was tied with defending AA state champion Batesburg-Leesville for first place. The teams have yet to meet this season. They face off on April 21 and April 24.
The Tigers also have two region games left against Strom Thurmond.
Mills credits a 7-man senior class for helping set the stage for this season. They are Brayden Williams, Cooper Gantt, Lane Ashley, Jeremy Matthews, Sid Shaw, Zac Costain and Ethan Graham.
“We have a great group of seniors who have been here a long time and those guys are leading the way,” Mills said.
Three of them are in the starting lineup in Shaw, Williams and Matthews. Shaw is a returning South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association All-State selection and was the runner-up for Region Player of the Year. He’s the catcher and the leadoff hitter. Willliams is the centerfielder and bats cleanup. Matthews is the right fielder and hits seventh.
Shaw was leading the team in both hitting and on-base percentage. He had a .431 batting average and a .554 OBP. Williams was batting .372 with a .518 OBP, and Matthews had a .250 average and a .352 OBP.
Sophomore shortstop Eduardo Dominguez bats second behind Shaw while sophomore designated hitter Bryson Burnett bats third. In the 5 hole after Williams is freshman first baseman Abraham Del Valle followed by junior leftfielder Tristan Daniels, Matthew’s sophomore second baseman Cash Martin and freshman third baseman Javier Sorcia.
Daniells was batting .429 with a 520 OBP, Del Valle was hitting .370 with a .393 OBP, Burnett was at .308 and .410, Dominguez was at .275 and .383, and Martin was at .235 and .386.
Mills has a pair of freshmen as his region starting pitchers in right-hander Cayden Rogers and left-hander Westan Rowe. They have been highly effective so far with Rogers possessing a 1.45 earned run average and Rowe a 1.50 ERA.
Dominguez has a 1.67 ERA, while Costain was at 1.70, Burnett at 1.11 and Will Wideman at 2.63.
What is Mills’ one wish as the playoffs draw near?
“As we head into the back half of the season, one thing I'd like to see us improve on is our defense at times,” he said.
Watch out for teams like Clinton and Philip Simons in the playoffs also.
Batesburg-Leesville won their first baseball title since 1948 last year when they beat Philip Simmons in a third game tie-breaker at Founders Park in Columbia. The panthers are currently (12-4, 5-1) and well coached under veteran Rob Bouknight.
