Johnsonville playing for Class A football state title again by overcoming graduation losses

Tournaments to be played Friday, Saturday at Palmetto Park, Patriot Park in Sumter

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Stallions play host to Hilton Head Christian on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Eagles have to make two trips to Bluffton complete game

Okebe wins 400 hurdles, finishes second in 100 hurdles

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. Other starters of the Lewisville team include first baseman Aubrey Smith (.340/15 RBI’s), freshman RF Laney Lambert (.320/10 RBI’s), freshman LF Kylee Waggoner (.255/6 RBI’s) and Kylie Flecther holds down third base (/264/11 RBI’s). The D-H is 8 th grader Kinley Lambert (.278). Abby Barnes is a gold type second baseman who tracks down bunts very well. The team's only other senior, who starts as a flex sometimes, is hard-working Emma Dorsey . “Right now, we are sitting back waiting on who wins between Dixie and Wagener-Salley on Monday,” said Coach Thomas. “If we win on Wednesday (May, 8) it looks like we will be playing either Whitmire or McBee next, depending on what they do.” Class A is divided into 8 four team districts for the play-offs. At press time McBee was in the winner’s bracket in District 1. Whitmire was in the winner’s bracket in District II followed by Lewisville in District III. Dixie was in the winner’s bracket in District four to complete the upper state bracket. In the Lower State, Lake View was in the winner’s bracket in District 5 while Hannah-Pamplico had the upper hand in District 6. Johnsonville was in the winner’s bracket in District 7 and Latta was in the winner’s bracket in District 8. HSSR-SCHSL Class A Softball Ranking - (As Of 5-3-2024) 1. Hannah Pamplico 2. Lewisville 3. Latta 4. Dixie 5. Lake View 6, Whitmire 7. McBee 8. Johnsonville 9. Green Sea Floyds 10. Bamberg Ehrhardt 11. Branchville 12. East Clarendon 13. Lowcountry Leadership 14. Wagener-Salley 15. R-S-M

Moncks Corner – Any team that is able to advance into the second week of the high school baseball state playoffs should be considered to have as much a chance to win it all as any other team. However, while there are teams more favored to win, there also can be a dark horse contender, or two. Or three. The Class AAAA baseball talk this spring has been about a few teams that most consider to be the team or teams to beat. Defending state champion Catawba Ridge is certainly near the top of the list as a veteran, talented team should be. The Copperheads have slipped a time or two, including in district play when they were knocked off by Laurens. Catawba Ridge will have to beat Laurens twice on May 6 to continue their title defense. Laurens, while certainly a solid team all season, would likely be in the dark horse category simply because a lot of fans outside of Laurens know a lot about the Raiders. Laurens has won more than 20 games and won the region two championship so there is certainly championship level talent and coaching. Another Upper State team with a great record but very little fanfare is Easley. The Green Wave have quietly won 24 games with a roster that includes eight seniors. Easley is hitting .360 as a team with a team ERA under two, certainly two major pluses. Senior Kaleb Owens is a candidate for AAAA player of the year as he has contributed both on the mound and at the plate. Owens is hitting .418 with 18 RBI while boasting an 8-1 pitching record and a 1.03 earned run average. Owens, however, has tons of help. Easley will soon have six players in their lineup with at least 20 RBI. Junior Aaron Tolbert leads the club with 34 runs driven in while hitting over .400. Senior Braxton Patton his hitting .409 with 26 RBI and sophomore Ayden Beeco is hitting .340 with 20 RBI. Aiding on the mound is a bevy of arms, led by Brayden Owens, another senior. Want a few more dark horses? Keep an eye on Lucy Beckham in the Lower State and Indian Land in the Upper State. Again, two talented teams that hardly anyone talks about during the season. Two teams normally in the conversation, Airport and AC Flora, have been eliminated in the district play. When looking at the favorites to win the Lower State look no further than defending Lower State champion North Myrtle Beach and James Island. Both teams have been dominant since day one of the season. The Chiefs of North Myrtle are 24-2 after three playoff wins while James Island is 24-2-1 with a preseason tournament tie on their ledger. The wise baseball sage says it takes talent and some luck to win a championship. James Island has talent, that’s for sure. Lady luck also has been on their side in the playoffs. The Trojans trailed Hartsville, 2-1, in the sixth with two outs before sophomore Trip Ostergard delivered a two-run single to push the Trojans to a 3-2 win. Against West Florence, James Island trailed 5-1 early, rallied to take a 6-5 lead but entered the bottom of the seventh down, 7-6. After the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch, James Island bunted. An errant throw to first rolled down the right field line, allowing the tying run to score. Then, as the batter, Grayson Bennett, headed for third, an errant throw got past third and he scored the winning run. “Our guys are just so competitive. They never think they are out of any game, no matter the score or the situation,” James Island coach Matt Spivey said.

Moncks Corner – The wild, wild west that is Class AAAAA baseball continues into the second week of the state playoffs. While many of the teams that were expected to still be playing into the first full week of May are still very much alive, a few have some work to do. That makes for what should be a fun few weeks. Already, one region champion has bitten the dust as region six champ Wando is done. The Warriors, after beating River Bluff, lost to Ashley Ridge and were eliminated by River Bluff on May 4. Speaking of Ashley Ridge, the Swamp Foxes of coach BJ Bellush won only seven games during the regular season and limped into the playoffs. None of that mattered once the postseason began as Ashley Ridge sits one win away winning a district title. Despite losing their ace pitcher Carson Messina to a season-ending injury, the Summerville Green Wave have been the hottest team in AAAAA since spring break. Summerville has won 10 straight games as they host Stratford in the district finals. Thayer Tavormina, Drew Hayes and Jayce Stone have been very good on the mound since losing Messina. The Green Wave also have started getting more offensive production even with MLB prospect PJ Morlando seeing tons of walks. West Ashley and Berkeley are sitting in the district championship game as well, setting up what could be four Charleston area teams in the final four bracket of the Lower State. Berkeley, like Summerville, has found ways to win without their ace, USC signee Cole Greer, who injured an ankle in early April and had surgery. Connor Barham and Gavin Gaskins have been really good down the stretch on the mound while senior leaders Gavin Edens and Mason Salisbury have raised their level of play offensively. Chapin will have to come from the loser’s bracket and beat West Ashley twice to keep their season alive. The Eagles are 21-6 but lost to West Ashley earlier. If any team is capable of going on the road and winning twice, it would be Chapin. The Eagles have an impressive lineup offensively but were shut down by West Ashley in their first meeting. The Upper State brackets have some familiar contending teams still in the mix. Perennial contender Lexington is in the district finals having won 13 of their last 14 games. The Wildcats are likely to be one of the final four teams in the Upper State. If one was to bet, Lexington looks good to come out of the Upper State. Fort Mill has been ranked No. 1 this season but took an early playoff loss to Dutch Fork. The Yellow Jackets will have to beat Dutch Fork twice to have a shot at playing for the Upper State. Blythewood and Dorman are still in the mix to advance to the Upper State bracket.

Tigers No. 2 in HSSR poll behind top-ranked Gray Collegiate