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Despite Being Winless The AJA Baseball Program Pointed In Right Direction

Billy Baker • Apr 03, 2024

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

EhrhardtAndrew Jackson Academy is fortunate to have a head baseball coach (Jason Mathys) who spent five seasons in the New York Yankees farm system, as a pitcher, after being a noted player on the Iowa State baseball team.


Coach Mathys and his family was brought to the area by the Navy a few years ago, where he served as a dentist. His family also maintains a hay farm in the area. He is also very proud of his junior daughter Elena Mathys who is now attending the Governor’s School in Hartsville. She is allowed to play on the Hartsville varsity softball team where she is the ace pitcher with a 3-2 record, an ERA of 1.46 and she has 39 K’s in 38.1 innings pitched.


Although the AJA baseball team is 0-11 coming into Spring break, Coach Mathy’s, is very confident about future success. “I over-see our “B” team, our junior varsity, and our varsity baseball teams and we have a lot of talent coming along in the 6th though 8th grades,” said Coach Mathys. “Our B team has only lost one game this season. The vast majority of our 7th and 8th graders are year-round baseball players. We have no seniors on the varsity team at all.”


Coach Mathys is a straight-forward tell it like is type coach. “We have been competitive in about half of our varsity games, and in the other half we have not played up to our potential,” said Coach Mathys. “This team has really improved over-all over the team from last year.”


One very bright spot for the Warriors has been the play and leadership of junior pitcher/third baseman Jack Walling. He leads the team in batting at .455 with six RBI’s and two doubles. He has also pitched 12 innings on the mound as well.


“Jack Walling has really improved a lot over last season and I think it has a lot to do with his confidence level,” said Coach Mathys. “He is the leader of this team and he is playing with a lot of confidence and I am played of his commitment towards improvement.”


The clean-up batter for the team is sophomore pitcher/utility player Walker Terry who is batting .292 with four RBI’s and two doubles. Junior center fielder Tim Williams bats in the second slot, and he is batting .260. Blayson Donehue starts at second base and he is currently batting .278 with two RBI’s and a double. Junior starting first baseman Landon Stanfield bats in the 5th spot in the order.


Junior Russell Kinsey is the starting catcher. Freshman Elias Mathys is a freshman starting in left field. Sophomore Hall Sease rotates starting at shortstop and third base when he is not on the mound. The tall righty has six strike-outs in 11 innings on the mound. Thomas Hutto is a junior starting in right field.


Key reserves on the team include junior second baseman Hunter Zorn, sophomore designated hitter Colton Chavis, and sophomore first baseman Tanner Chassereau.


Coach Mathys is assisted on the varsity by Kip Terry. Auston Richard and Kevin Kinard team up to coach the junior varsity. John Paul Jones, recently named the head varsity football coach at AJA, works with the B team baseball program.           

 


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By Billy G. Baker Moncks Corner - All signs point to number one HSSR rated Hannah-Pamplico , the defending Class A softball champions in South Carolina, eventually engaging with a rematch in the state finals against Lewisville when the gold medal round starts later in May. Last year it took a third game neutral site tie-breaker at McBee High for the winner to be crowned. Hannah-Pamplico earned the school’s first ever state softball championship with an 8-4 win over Lewisville. The Lady Raiders hit four home runs in the third game with three of them being two-run homers and the victory celebration on the field registered like low level seismic activity. Anything can happen in this competitive world of high school sports but H-P and Lewisville have dominant pitching, consistent hitting throughout their line-ups and good coaching staffs. H-P has steam-rolled over their first two playoff opponents Whale Branch (17-0) and Carvers Bay (10-0) and they should little problems winning their district on May, 8. H-P is head coached by alumni Amber Knight . “Our focus right now is being all-business and staying focused on our goals,” said Coach Knight. “I will put up op our top four to six batters against anyone’s in the state. We have never worked harder and everything is all about taking care of business. “I hope we have good weather throughout the playoffs,” said Coach Knight. “Having a bunch of rain slows down your momentum. We know what is in front of us. No softball team in Class A is fortunate to have two quality pitchers like the Lady Raiders who are 18-1 on the year with their only loss to Aynor early in the year. Sophomore Kadence Poston is 9-0 in the circle with a sterling .036 ERA. Poston, who would love to play at Clemson one day, has 126 strike-outs in just 57.2 innings of work with only 14 walks. She and fellow senior pitcher Isabella Davis alternates at first base. Davis is 8-0 with 76 strike-outs in 45 innings of work. At the plate K. Poston is hitting .289 with 14 RBI’s and four home runs. Davis is at .317 with 11 RBI’s. Junior Jaden Lee is a complete shortstop for H-P both in the field and at the plate. She is batting .510 with 33 RBI’s including four doubles six triples and 5 home runs. Lee has speed with 14 stolen bases also. Next on the hit index is soph left fielder Savannah Owens at .364 with 10 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases. Soph third baseman Chloe Cooper is at .340 with 10 RBI’s. Speedy junior center fielder Peyton Poston is batting .315 with six RBI’s and she has 14 stolen bases. Meredith Stone is the sophomore catcher batting .283 with 7 RBI. Senior RF Karah Turner is hitting .271 with 11 RBI’s. The HSSR recently talked to Lewisville head coach Jerry Thomas after his team’s two play-off wins over Thornwell (15-0) and R-S-M (19-5). “Losing to Hannah-Pamplico last year ,in a very competitive three game series, does not haunt us, and we are not seeking revenge on anyone,” said Coach Thomas, who has been the Class A runner up the past two seasons after the Lady Lions won the school’s only state softball championship in daughter when his daughter was the Class A Player of the Year. “You certainly have to have a dedicated team with solid pitching, hitting and defense, but a little luck and getting a break at the right time is a huge part of winning championships also.” The team’s only senior starter is shortstop Saleen Rollins and she is currently batting .492 with 22 stolen bases and three home runs. “She’s our team captain,” said Coach Thomas. “She’s either broken or is about to break the school’s all-time stolen base record. I know she is well over 70 stolen bases right now.” She’s a hard worker and I promise you she experienced some hurt feelings over being in the runner-up spot the past two seasons,” said Coach Thomas. “She is focused on her main goal of leaving Lewisville with a state championship.” Sarah Owens is the Lion’s sophomore pitcher. To date she has hurled 152 strike-outs in 96.7 innings of work with a 1,68 ERA. At the plate she is hitting .431 with 31 RBI’s and two home runs. “She has worked hard at becoming a good pitcher and her goal is to continue to develop towards her focus on being a pitcher at the next level. She is more balanced and focused in the circle this year and she keeps improving all the time.” Championship teams need a good battery and junior catcher Jordyn Miller is starting for the second year behind the plate. She is batting .400 with 17 RBI’s. All-region junior Sydney Rollins is a gold glove type center fielder and after two games of the playoffs she is batting .395. 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