By Billy G. Baker Publisher Florence —Saving their best game of the season for the third game tiebreaker in the SCISA AA softball finals, The Carolina Academy Bobcats defeated The Kings Academy 14-1 on the Florence Christian softball field to win their second straight state title. The Kings Academy had won game one in Lake City while the Bobcats won game two on the road, so a third game tiebreaker was needed. For Bobcat head coach Scotty Phillips, it was his 7 th state title in 27 seasons as the team’s head coach.  The Bobcats pounded out 16 hits, from 8 different players in their line-up, and their five- run spot in the first inning set the tone for the rest of the game. After the game, Coach Phillips told the HSSR, “I will tell you what we did on the way over here on the bus,” said Coach Phillips. “We sang to Jesus, one song was Gratitude, plus several others and this team truly believes in the Lord. I will tell you that this is a great group of girls who have a lot of faith and they also have a lot of faith in each other. “Getting five runs in the first inning was huge for us and I will take that every day,” said Coach Phillips. “ Carlie Ann ( Smith ) had a fire cracker tonight (went 5-for-5) and she played a great tournament along with EllaHam (3-of-4 & 2 RBI’s) played here tail off and came on strong late in the season and she was the tournament MVP in Sumter as far as I am concerned and she had a great game tonight. “I feel awesome for the team winning two in a row and they worked their tails off to have success,” said Coach Phillips. They have been up and down throughout the season, and we kept telling them that they could be an awesome ball club and they came over here (Florence Christian) and put it all together tonight.” Carolina Academy senior pitcher/center fielder Raeley Frye will be named the HSSR-SCISA AA Softball Player of the Year when the publication’s softball all-state team is announced around June 1. She has been the ace pitcher in the circle for the Bobcats the past two seasons. Coming into the game she had pitched 84.2 innings with 108 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.48. At the plate she batted .352 with a team leading 32 RBI’s and seven home runs. Frye was a happy senior captain after the game. “If you had told me years ago (7 th grade), when I first started playing softball under Coach Scotty, that we would be where we are today, I probably would have told you no way,” said Frye. “It has been a lot of hard work.” Frye was asked what the difference was between game one, when the team lost 5-2 to The Kings Academy, and this third game that they dominated? “In the past two games we just started playing better as a team, and we started trusting each other more,” said Frye. “You can’t have a team not trusting everyone and you can’t play well if you are divided. This team has been together for a long time and we trust each other.” Frye went 1-of-2 in the game including an inside the park home run that produced the Bobcat’s first two runs in the first inning after Smith led off with one of her four doubles and five hits during the game. In the circle Frye worked four innings, allowed five hits with three strikeouts before being relieved by Ham for the final two innings when the Bobcats had built an 8-1 lead. Other Bobcat hitters in the state championship win included center fielder Ham, a sophomore, who went (3-of-4 & two RBI’s) and in her two innings of relief in the circle Ham allowed one hit while striking out three batters. Sophomore third baseman Lauren Sims went (2-of-4 & 2 RBI’s). Sophomore first baseman Lexi McCutchion had a hit and two RBI’s, while freshman shortstop Paisley McCutcheon went (2-of-4). Freshman second baseman Natalie Brayboy contributed a hit and senior right fielder Savannah McCutcheon had a hit with two RBI’s. After the game, The Kings Academy head coach Jennifer John told the HSSR. “I am really proud of my team, and this was the first time we have been in the state finals,” she said. “Our two senior starters are our third baseman Lauren Mills and out first baseman Kate Buckley and our two senior subs are Maddie Cottrill and Maddie Creveling and we will miss all four of them. “ We really have a young team and with this game today it will fuel our returners to want to play harder and get back here again with a better result,” said Coach John. “We will have seven starts back including our sophomore pitcher Addison Bescher .” While the bobcats had perhaps their best overall game of the season this game was certainly not one of the better ones for The Kings Academy. “We got behind early and we just never recovered from the five runs they scored in the first inning,” said Coach John. “I feel like, you know what, that this game will motivate us to come back stronger next season.” The Lions got six hits in the game. Bescher led the team with two hits. She also had 9 strikeouts in the circle. Center fielder Emma Taflinger had a hit as did catcher Emma Atkinson . First baseman Kate Buckley and shortstop lead-off batter Ava Grace Keefe provided a hit. For the season, Carolina Academy had six starters bat .292 or better. Prior to the state championship game, the top hitter was Ham at .459 with 28 RBI’s. Smith was next on the hit index at .432 and 10 RBI’s. Fyre was at .352 with a team leading 32 RBI’s and seven home runs. Sims came into the final game batting .328 and 15 RBI’s for the Bobcats. Sophomore OF/Catcher Paisley Coker was batting .317 with 17 RBI’s while Braveboy was at .315 with 14 RBI’s. Paisley McCutcheon came into the final game batting .292 with six RBI’s. Other members of the Carolina Bobcat team include junior Katherine Holliday , left fielder Ema Amos , and 9 th grader Kaylee Lyerly . Ham had 53.1 innings with 78 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.41 coming into the final game.

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By Dennis Brunson Hssr.com Associate Editor Manning – The Dorchester Academy baseball team came into the SCISA AA state playoffs with a 7-13 overall record. The Raiders’ run in the playoffs came to an end on Thursday with them sporting a 13-15 record – oh, yeah – and the state championship trophy. DA beat defending state champion Lee Academy 9-5 in the third and deciding game of the best-of-3 championship series at Laurence Manning Academy’s Tucker Belangia Diamond . “These guys here we struggled all season long, but we never lost our composure,” said Dorchester head coach Brent Jackson . “We just came out here in the playoffs and started playing baseball like we should have.” The Raiders won their second title in three years, claiming the 2024 crown. Jackson pointed out an important distinction. “We just had one guy back from that (’24) team,” he said. “This was a new bunch of guys who did it.” The Cavaliers, who finished the season with an 18-6 record, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. However, DA broke through for four runs in the third. LA got within 4-2 in the fourth only to see Dorchester match the run in the top of the fifth. Lee put up two in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 5-4. That set the stage for Raiders senior third baseman Wyatt Byrd . DA’s Reed Almers reached on an infield single to start the top of the sixth. He was forced out on a fielder’s choice, and it appeared Cavaliers relief pitcher Myles Frye had the second out when he got Landon Holly to pop up in foul territory down the first base line. The ball wasn’t caught though, thus extending the at-bat. That would be fatal for LA. Holly came through with a single before Warren Judy struck out for what would have been the third out. Instead, it was just the second and that brought the right-handed swinging Byrd, the No. 5 hitter, to the plate. He lofted a fly ball right down the right field line. The outfield on Tucker Belangia Diamond is pretty spacious with the exception of down the two lines, with right reaching 295 feet. Byrd’s poke ended up clearing the fence for a 3-run home run that made it 8-4. “When I hit it I thought I had a double,” said Byrd, who not only hit his first homer of the season but also hit a homer in his final high school at-bat. “I just got very excited when I saw it was a homer.” Lee head coach Danny Price couldn’t undersell the significance of that scenario. “If we make that play we’re getting out of the inning without them scoring,” Price said. “If we do that, then we really have the momentum going for us. But baseball can be a funny game.” Dorchester would add another run as John Quattlebaum drew a walk, went to third on an Abe Shuler single and stole home to make it 9-4. Lee got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but Judy retired the side in order in the seventh to get the complete game. “I was just out there competing,” said Judy, who finished the game with 90 pitches. “I wasn’t getting a lot of strikeouts. I was just relying on my defense, and they did a great job.” Judy allowed seven hits, but didn’t walk a batter while striking out four. “Warren pitched a heck of a game,” Jackson said. “He just went out there and battled.” The Raiders finished with 12 hits, all of them coming over the last five innings. Shuler led the way in terms of hits, going 3-for-4 with one run batted in. Byrd was 2-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored. Holly was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Judy was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Austin Varn had a hit, two runs and an RBI, Carter Beeks had a hit and two runs, and Almers had a hit, a run and an RBI. “We got the clutch hits when we needed them,” said Jackson, whose team didn’t hit a home run in the regular season but hit four over the course of the eight playoff games. Olson had two of LA’s seven hits to go with a run and an RBI. Chance Entzminger had a hit, two runs and an RBI, Andrew Bowers had a hit and an RBI, and Cash Holloway had a hit and a run. Tucker Rogers and Aiden Fitzgerald each had a hit, while Frye scored a run and picked up an RBI. “We had a great season,” Price said. “We hit and pitched well most of the season, but we just didn’t seem to play our best in this series. You have to tip your cap to them (Dorchester). They played well.” Lee got out to the 1-0 lead in the first when Entzminger reached on a 1-out error, stole second and scored on an Olson single. Tyler Gilbert started on the mound for the Cavaliers. He walked Almers to open the game before retiring six batters in a row. However, he walked Beeks to begin the third and wasn’t as lucky this time around. Gilbert struck out Bryce Marchant before getting Almers to hit a ground ball. All hands were safe on an error, and Varn and Holly followed with RBI singles to make it 2-1. Judy had a ground-rule double to drive in a run, and Byrd followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1. LA cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth. Olson singled with one out, reached third on an Aiden Fitzgerald single and scord on a sacrivifce fly by Frye. Dorchester got the run back in the fifth when Judy and Byrd started the inning with singles. Shuler followed with a 1-out single to score courtesy runner Graham Varnadoe . Holloway led off the Lee fifth with a single and was sacrificed to second by Cary Privette . Entzminger delivered Holloway with a 2-out single, and Bowers followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-4.

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Orangeburg – The Orangeburg Preparatory School girls track and field program has now started putting state championship rings on the other hand. The Indians won their sixth consecutive state championship on May 1, winning the SCISA Division II crown at the Orangeburg Prep Athletic Complex . Orangeburg Prep head coach Brooks Smith said bringing home state title trophies never gets old. “tt’s always nice to win,” Smith said. “This one was a little tougher for as coaches because we knew we had a strong team. It was hard for us to lose on paper, so that made it more stressful for us as coaches whereas we were able to use the underdog role the last couple of years.” The Indians won with 130 points with First Presbyterian of Shannon Forest finishing second with 112. Spartanburg Day School was third with 91while Thomas Sumter Academy finished fourth with 40 and Greenwood Christian School fifth with 28. Orangeburg Prep used its depth to pick up the victory as 13 athletes scored points. The Indians were led by junior Mary Legare Delaney , who was the high point scorer in the state meet for the second consecutive year. Delaney won two events and finished second in two others to score 36 points. She won the 400-meter dash in a time of 1 minute, 00.48 seconds and won the long jump with a distance of 17 feet, 1 inch. She finished second in the 200 in 26.61 seconds and second in the triple jump in 33-05. “Mary Legare brings a lot of points to the table,” Smith said with a laugh. “She’s just such a competitor. She trains hard and expects to go out and win.” Smith said Delaney’s victory in the 400 along with sophomore Naomi McCutchen’s fifth-place finish were pivotal in Orangeburg Prep coming away with a comfortable victory. “When we were trying to figure out who to put where, we the 400 is where we decided she needed to be,” Smith said of Delaney, who owns the school record in the 400 but didn’t run it as much this year as in years past. “The coaches said, ‘We need you there.’ We have a vigorous 400-meter program that we do. “Picking up 12 points (10 for Delaney and 2 for McCutchen who also had a fifth-place finish in the javelin at 88-09)) in that event was huge. It took the pressure off of when it came to the final even of the 4x4(00-meter) relay.” Freshman Blakely Garrick had the Indians’ other first-place finish. She won the 400 hurdles in 1:09.80. She finished second in the 100 hurdles in 17.88 and fifth in the triple jump at 29.05 1/4 to finish with 20 points. Sophomore Gee Gee Riley finished second in points with 22. She finished second in the 400 hurdles (1:10.31) and third in both the long jump (16-02 7/8) and the triple jump (31-08). She also ran a leg on the second-place 4x100-meter relay team (52.53) along with seventh-grader Carson Cue , McCutchen and junior Emmaline Dangerfield . “Gee Gee is like our Swiss Amry knife,” Smith said. “We’ll try her at one event this week and have her in our back pocket when we might need her for something else.” Morgan Newsome was the lone senior to score points. She finished second in the pole vaul with a height of 08-06. Eighth-grader Jordyn Baldwin was fourth at 06-11 7/8 and freshman Ella Sarvis was fifth (06-11 7/8). Eighth-grader Kennedy Lawtson finished third in both the 100 hurdles (18.15) and the 400 hurdles (1:14.19. Cue finished fifth in the 800 run (237.22). The 4x400 relay team of McCutchen, eighth-grader Erika Martin , Lawton and Cue finished second (4:26.16) and the 4x800 team of Cue, Laston, eighth-grader Delilah Howe and eighth-grader Hannah Bair finished third (11L01.56). Smith said the secret to Orangeburg Prep’s success is how it works together as a unit. “There is no doubl that this is a team that works together,” he said. “These girls all pulled for each other, believed in each other and helped each other out.”jUNI LIVINGSTON, WILLIAMS, JUDY BASDEBALL ALL-REGION Junior Marshall Livingston , junior Maxx Judy and sophomore Cholly Williams were selected to the All-Region 1-AAA baseball team. Livingston led the Indians in hitting with a .360 batting average. Judy finished with a .325 average and Williams finished at .320. After losing its entire starting lineup from last year’s AAA state runner-up team, Orangeburg Prep finished the year with a 13-13 record. The Indians went 1-2 in the state tournament. They lost to Hilton Head Prep , the team they lost to in the championship series, 5-0 in their first game. Orangeburg Prep rebounded to beat Patrick Henry Academy 5-4 in an elimination game. Freshman Cam Jolley hit the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning for a game-winning home run. The Indians were eliminated with a 4-3 loss to Spartanburg Christian Academy . SCHURLKNIGHT, LAMBRECHT, HARTZOG SOFTBALL ALL-REGION PICKS Senior shortstop Prestan Schurlknight , senior catcher Hannah Lambrecht , junior second baseman Calee Hartzog and sophomore pitcher Natalie Hall were named to the All-Region softball team. Schurlknight, who will be playing collegiately at Lander, was chosen as the Co-Region Player of the Year. She finished with a .521 batting average. Lambrecht batted .491, Hartzog hit .449 and Hall batted ,421, Orangeburg Prep finished the season with an 11-14 record. The Indians went 1-2 in the state tournament. They beat Spartanburg Christian 10-6 in the opener before falling to now 5-time state champion Pee Dee Academy 12-2 in five innings and fell to Williamsburg Academy 8-7.

By Rob Gantt Special to The HSSR HANAHAN - Making solid contact at the plate and, with it, winning games has become contagious for Hanahan High School's softball team. The Hawkettes completed a dominant run through the district tournament Wednesday, May 13, with a 10-0 victory over visiting Georgetown High School . Hanahan took control from the outset, plating eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Hawkettes, who won for the 11th time in 12 games, finished off the victory by mercy rule with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. "We've been talking about it since Friday, that we need to get right on it from the start," Hanahan coach Katrina Bezdek said. "I think it took us a little bit more time in our other games because we hadn't played for a while. Now that we're playing more consistently, they were really fired up. They jumped on it first thing." The Hawkettes, who have tallied 60 runs in their past five games, recorded six hits in their initial set of hacks. Infielder Camryn Fowler sparked the scoring with a RBI single. After going up 3-0 on a wild pitch and fielder's choice groundout, Hanahan pitcher Maggie Priddy dropped a RBI single into shallow right field to make it 4-0. Outfielder Briar Mros and infielder Dria Tolbert then connected on two-run triple to make the home team's advantage a very comfortable 8-0. "That first inning, it felt like it was everyone pretty much," Bezdek said. The uprising was plenty of run support for Priddy, who hurled a one-hitter for the Hawkettes with five strikeouts. "We decided to go with Maggie because they hadn't seen her yet, and I thought she threw really, really well," Bezdek said. "She was hitting her spots. She was moving the ball, and then our defense backed her up." First baseman Aubrey Cribb singled in Hanahan's ninth run in the bottom of the fourth inning and Tolbert ended the game with a RBI double in the fifth inning. Mros, Tolbert and Riley each collected two hits for Hanahan. Mros scored three times from the leadoff spot. The Hawkettes also blanked Marlboro County (14-0) and cruised by Georgetown (12-5) in their first two district games. The postseason district title was the eighth for Bezdek. Hanahan (19-6) hosts Dillon High School in the first game of the Lower State tournament Friday, May 15. "It feels like every year we play Dillon," Bezdek said. "They're always good competition. The way we're playing right now, I feel like our confidence is growing. That's going to be the key going into the next round." Dillon secured its district crown with a 3-0 win over Waccamaw Wednesday. The Wildcats (14-12) also knocked off Battery Creek (8-0) and Silver Bluff (9-6) in their district.

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Swampcats complete a three-peat in SCISA AAAA softball.

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Walterboro – It’s official. The Pee Dee Academy softball program can now say it has been able to bear the title of state champion for the past half decade. The Golden Eagles won their fifth consecutive state crown on Tuesday, beating Colleton Prep Academy 8-1at the CPA field to sweep the best-of-3 SCISA AAA championship series. PDA, which beat the War Hawks 10-0 in five innings on Monday in Mullins , finished the season with a 28-2 record. This is the ninth straight season Pee Dee played in a state title series. It also claimed a championship in 2017. In Monday’s win, senior Maddie Coward tossed a 1-hit shutout. Coward, who has started in the circle for each of those five title teams, struck out nine, walked one and hit a batter. She threw 52 pitcheas, 43 for strikes. Pee Dee scored two runs in the first inning, one in the second, three in both the third and fourth and closed it out with a run with one out in the fifth. Dinah Johnson had a 2-run single in the first inning, while Lilly Grace Rowell had a sacrifice fly that scored Carly Carroll in the second. e The Eagles scored three runs in the third before Addison Hasty had a 2-run double in the fourth followed by an RBI double by Azeleigh Arnette to make it 9-0. The game-ending run came on a triple by Careoll Hasty and Arnette both had two hits to lead PDA’s 8-hit attack. Coward added a double, and Rowell had a single to go with her sac fly. Carroll and Johnson had the other hits. Carolina Academy beats The King's Academy 8-7 to force deciding game in AA Carolina 8 The King’s Academy 7 Florence – Carolina Academy kept alive its hopes of defending the SCISA AA title with an 8-7 victory over The King’s Academy on Tuesday at the TKA field. The deciding game in the best-of-3 series will be played at Florence Christian School on Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. Raeley Frye and Ella Ham did the work in the circle for the Bobcats, who improved to 15-10. Ham smacked a home run, while Paisley Coker had two multiple-run hits. Addison Bescher had 12 strikeouts in the circle for the Lions. Bescher also had 12 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in The King’s Academy’s 5-2 Game 1 win on Monday in Lake City . TKA head coach Jennifer John said Emma Atkinson had a great game catching Bescher, and that Emma Taflinger , Scarlet Rose Rivers and Chloe Ritter backed her in the field with great catches.

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Winnsboro – It wasn’t an easy path, but Holly Hill Academy is the 2-time defending SCISA Class A softball state champion. The Raiders tied the game in the top of the sixth inning and then scored four runs in the seventh to defeat Richard Winn Academy 12-8 on Tuesday at the RWA field to sweep the best-of-3 series. “I’m worn out,” said a happy HHA head coach Kally Knigh t. “We had two crazy games (winning the opener on Monday 11-8), and it was wild on Saturday (in the state tournament. I’m just proud of this team and the way it battled and fought back, really all season long.” Holly Hill tied the game at 8-8 in the sixth. Senior Shelby Hinson came on in relief of starting pitcher Taylor Wright in the bottom of the inning and held the Eagles scoreless the rest of the way. Senior Kinlee Steigler had the go-ahead double in the 4-run seventh. Wright was 2-for-3 with three rusn batted in. In the circle, she worked into the sixth before being relieved by Hinson, who got the victory. Senior Kayley Bell was 2-for-3 with a triple. On Monday, Hinson got the victory as well. She started and worked the first four innings, allowing two hits and one earned run. Wright worked the final three innings, giving up three hits and three runs while earning the save. Milly Kate Prescott led the offense, going 4-for-4 with three RBI. Senior Abbigail Burleson had a hit and three RBI. Freshman Kaila McLean and sophomore Megan Guzzi led Richard Winn, both going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman Hayley Ann Prevatt was intentionally walked five times.

Pee Dee, Laurence Manning, Holly Hill softball, Calhoun baseball win titles on Tuesday.

Calhoun Academy wins first baseball title since 2016 Lee, Marlboro force deciding games; Hilton Head Christian, Cardinal Newman rained out Kingstree – Calhoun Academy won its first SCISA baseball state championship since 2016 by beating Williamsburg Academy 6-4 in eight innings on Tuesday at the WA field to sweep the best-of-3 AAA title series. The Cavaliers finished the season with a 26-1 record. The Stallions closed out with a 20-4 record. Lee Academy 5 Dorchester 3 Bishopville – Lee Academy kept alive its hopes of defending its AA state title with a 5-3 victory over Dorchester Academy on Tuesday at the LA field to even the best-of-3 series at one game apiece. The third and deciding game is scheduled to be played on Thursday at Laurence Manning Academy’s Tucker Belangia Diamond beginning at 7 p.m. Andrew Bowers picked up the victory for the Cavaliers, who improved to 18-5. Landon Olson led the offense, going 3-for-4 with two doubles. The Raiders won the opening game on Monday in St. George by a 6-2 count. DA is 11-15. Marlboro Academy 13 W.W. King 7 Bennettsville – Marlboro Academy evened the best-of-3 Class A title series with a 13-7 win over W.W. King on Tuesday at the MA field. The deciding game will be played on Thursday at Wilson Hall’s Tommy Jones Field in Sumter at a time to be determined. Landon Edge was the winning pitcher for the Dragons, who evened their record at 11-11. Nolan Caulder was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in to lead the offense. Elizabeth Sheppard had five stolen bases. Tucker McGinty and Casen Buzhardt both had a hit and two RBI for King, which finished with eight errors. Greyson Rikard was 2-for-4. The Knights won Monday’s opener in Batesburg by a 9-3 count. WKA scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break the game open. Elijah Hutto picked up the win, striking out eight in six innings. Hutto was also 2-for-2 with a double, and Rikard also had a double. Edge and Matthew Taylor both had two hits for Marlboro. Colson Smith pitched five innings, allowing two earned runs. Hilton Head Christian vs Cardinal Newman rained out Bluffton – The second game of the AAAA state championship series between Hilton Head Christian Academy and Cardinal Newman scheduled for Tuesday at the HHCA field was postponed due to rain. The game has been rescheduled for Wednesday with a 7 p.m. start. The Eagles are after a third consecutive state title. They opened the best-of-3 title series with an 11-5 win in Columbia on Monday. Slaide Burd hit the first pitch of the game for a home run and Hilton Head Christian rolled from there. It finished with 11 hits led by by Chip Hetzel , who was 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Jackson Richardson had two hits with three RBI and two runs, Roman Colella had two hits, one a double, with two RBI and a run, and Will Mahl had two hits and two runs. Burd finished with the homer, two runs and an RBI, and Dylan Gehm had a home run and three RBI. Eli Morgan scored twice. Tucker Nelson got the win, scattering six hits over six innings. He allowed four runs while striking out eight and walking two. The 16-11 Cardinals finished with seven hits. Will Spotts and Dylan Williams both homered for their lone hits. Williams had three RBI. Chaplin Cox had a hit, a run and an RBI, while Sam Realman and Connor Catteneo both had a hit and a run. Connor Hooks had a hit.

A.C. Flora captures the Class AAAA boys state championship title at the Cayce Tennis Center.

Scores, schedules, start times from each of the eight series.

Summerville pitcher Daphne Frady has more than 300 strikeouts this season. (Photo by Roger Lee)

By Rob Gantt Special to The HSSR HANAHAN - Gratification delayed is certainly better than gratification denied.  The Hanahan Hawks baseball team needed a second game May 11 to finally put away Aynor High School , 10-6, for the district championship in the Class 3A playoffs at HHS. Following Aynor's 6-3 victory in game one that forced a decisive clash, Hanahan came out hot in game two. The Hawks erupted for five runs in the bottom of the first, then added a single run in the second inning and added four more in the bottom of the third inning to seize control. "It's been a long day for sure," Hanahan coach Skylar Hunter said. "I've been out here since 8 a.m., doing field work the whole time. And we lose game one, and really lose it in a way where we gave them a bunch of free passes. They didn't find a lot of barrels. We gave them a bunch of runs from errors, passed balls and walks." In game two, the Hawks came out and swung the bats like they were supposed to, Hunter said. "I'm just proud of them for competing," he said. Hanahan (16-14) loaded the bases in its first at-bat and infielder Richard Atencio delivered a two-run single to right field to open the scoring. Outfielder Tripp Gallus , who reached on a bunt single earlier, scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Hanahan pitcher Chris Polm kept the uprising going and helped himself with a two-run home run through the wind to left field as the lead grew to 5-0. That was plenty of run support for Polm, who earned the win on the mound. The hard-throwing righty hurled three one-hit innings with seven strikeouts. He only threw 59 pitches so he is available to pitch Thursday at Dillon if the Hawks opt to use their ace. In the second inning, Atencio's bases-loaded walk gave the Hawks a 6-0 lead. In the third, RBI singles off the bats off Brendan Moll and Gallus, and a two-run double from Will Muirheid made it 10-0. "It's easy for young teams to fold and they didn't fold at all," Hunter said. "They kept working, kept fighting, kept grinding and got the job done." Aynor (21-7) continued to battle, though, and refused to go away. The Blue Jackets plated four runs in the top of the fifth inning to avoid being mercy ruled, then tallied single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. "I want to make sure I give props to Aynor," Hunter said. "They're a very good team and very well-coached. They're a tough matchup for us every time we play them." Gallus, Atencio, Muirheid and Moll collected two hits each for the Hawks. Outfielder Layton Suggs and infielder Brady Lavin led Aynor with two hits in game two and third baseman Heath Huggins knocked in two runs. In game one, designated hitter Nolyn Nickels ,Gallus and Atencio had two hits for the Hawks. Atencio drove in two runs. Outfielder Xavier Dukes powered Aynor, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI. Suggs and Lavin chipped in two hits.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Lake City- During the 2026 softball season “The Carolina Academy ” Bobcats defeated region rival “The Kings Academy” Lions twice (7-3 and 1-0), so when the two teams won their respective SCISA AA brackets in the post-season tournament at Lexington (May 8-9), fans of both teams knew the best-of-three finals that began in Lake City on May, 11 was going to be like a prize fight, likely to extend to all three rounds. The Lions took advantage of numerous Bobcat errors, including 8 walks, to take game one 5-2. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday (May 12) in Florence for game two. TKA is hoping to sweep and earn a state title. “The Carolina Academy” are the defending SCISA AA state champions so this is not their first rodeo, and in all honesty, they did not play one of their better games of the season on Monday. The difference in this game was TKA sophomore pitcher Addison Bescher who recorded 12 strikeouts, while allowing just five hits. Her best stat might have been “no walks.” After all you need base runners to score runs and free passes glare at you in the stats totals. Ater the game, TKA head coach Jennifer John shared her thoughts. “Addison is pitching with a lot of confidence, and she knows exactly where she is locating her pitches,” said Coach John. “I also think like our girls were really disciplined at the plate. They waited for their pitch, and when they put it in play, they were smart about it. I think that made a huge difference in getting the runs we needed to win. “Addison and Emma (catcher Emma Atkinson ) have been a great pitcher/catcher combination all year and they are two of our best leaders,” said Coach John. “We know that Carolina Academy will come ready to play on Tuesday. We just need to stay focused and not beat ourselves.” Veteran Carolina Academy head coach Scotty Phillips spent a long time in his huddle talk with his team after the game. “I reminded our players that they are better hitters than they were tonight, and they were not attacking the ball very well in this game,” said Coach Phillips. “They have to come out and swing the bats better in game two. They are not getting on base through walks with their pitcher.”  Coach Phillips talked about his own veteran senior pitcher Raylee Frye who has been very impressive over her five- year career . “Raylee, for some reason, has started pulling up her arm a little bit when she pitches over the past couple weeks and we have to get that fixed before game two tomorrow,” said Coach Phillips. “Their pitcher pitched a good game. We will likely go with Raylee in game two and we are confident she will have better control and focus in this game.” Coach Phillips was very complimentary (once again) about veteran catcher Carlie Ann Smith. “ You do not get many like her in a coaching career,” said Coach Phillips. “She’s a very special player.” The Bobcats were limited to five hits in the game from five different players. Frye and Smith had hits along with freshman second baseman Natalie Braveboy , outfielder Paisley Coker and Ella Ham had a double in the 6th inning. As far as what he hopes to expect from his team in game two, Coach Phillips said, “It looked like we were not very confident tonight and I feel like we will be more alert and focused tomorrow,” said Coach Phillips. “We will be ready to play I promise you.” Both pitchers started off the game lights out with each of them retiring the first six batters they faced. Fyre had three of her five K’s in the first two innings. Bescher also had three strikeouts in the first two innings. Left fielder Hannah Allison led off the top of third for TKA with a single. She advanced on a ground-out by and scored on a throwing error to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats pushed across their only two runs of the game in the bottom of the 4 th to take a 2-1 lead at that point. Smith led off with a single. Paisley McCutcheon advanced Smith to second on a sac bunt. Frye drove in Smith with a well-hit ball to center field to tie the game 1-1. Fyre advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Paisley Coker to make it 2-1. In the 6 th inning the Lions added two runs to take a 3-2 lead. Emma Atkinson reached on a one-out double and then the team benefited from a hit batter, and two straight walks with Atkinson tying the game on a bases load walk. Lauren Mills also scored on a bases loaded walk to put her team for good 3-1. Ham got out of the jam with two straight K’s to end the inning. The Lions added two insurance runs in the 7 th inning. First baseman Kate Buckley reached on a one-out single and then three straight walks to Atkinson, Mills, and Haley Griggs led to the Lions plating two more runs to win the game 5-2. The five hits by TKA came from Bescher, Buckley, E. Atkinson, Mills and H. Allison..

By WORTHY EVANS  BLYTHEWOOD — Spartanburg hit the road to Blythewood in the 5A Division 1 upper state District 2 baseball tournament Monday, and came home with a 7-5 victory over the Bengals—and the top seed in the championship game Friday. The Vikings (21-9) await the winner of Wednesday’s Boiling Springs - Blythewood matchup. The Bulldogs eliminated Mauldin 12-4 Monday night. “Blythewood is a great program, a great head coach. We knew we had our work cut out for us,” Spartanburg head coach Jessie Dyar credited his team’s maturation after battling through Region 2-5A. The Vikings finished fourth in the region with an 8-7 mark, and the 8-team region field champion Dorman , second-place Boiling Springs, and third place James F. Byrnes . All of the top four teams have posted 20 wins this season. “We’ve got a really resilient young group that got really battle tested over the last month playing some really good teams,” Dyar said. “They’re a testament to resiliency with how hard they go and how hard they play.” Starting pitcher Connor Mode got the win, giving up three runs on four hits, striking out four and walking two. Alex Bright came on to start the fifth inning and pitched three innings of 2-hit ball, striking out seven. “Connor Mode came out there and gave us a great chance to win,” Dyar said. “Alex Bright came in and gave us a chance to close the door and did an outstanding job. He’s a USC-Sumter commit and did a really good job.” Chris Colin went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs, Walker McCrory , Connor and Bolen Fields had two hits apiece. Juan Aguiar hit a 2-run home run in the first inning to put the Vikings on the scoreboard. Later in that inning Parker McCrory scored when Colin reached base on an error to make it 3-0. Blythewood (24-4) scored a run in the bottom of the first inning when Sergio Melendez tagged up and scored on Brandon Bolton’s fly out to centerfield. Melendez struck again in the bottom of the second with two out and Caleb Blackwell on base after a walk. He evened the score at three with a 2-run home run over the centerfield fence. Spartanburg retook the lead with two out in the third with Colin’s bases-loaded single that scored McCrory and Aguiar and give the Vikings a 5-3 lead. Colin was out at second to end the inning. Blythewood walked in a sixth Spartanburg run with one out in the fourth, but Charlie McCrory and Parker McCrory both hit into flyouts to retire the side. Fields smashed a hard ground ball into centerfield with two out in the top of the fifth, and scored Colin for the seventh run. Bright grounded out to end the fifth inning, but he retook the mound in the sixth and seventh frames and struck out five more batters. Bright’s only mistake came early in the seventh inning with nobody out—surrendering Melendez’s second home run of the night, this one a 2-run shot to cut the Vikings lead to 7-5. “He had a great night,” Dyar said. “He handled it really well in the situation they were in and hit a really good pitch.” The homer reignited the Bengals’ bench. Blythewood had a string of games that ended with late-innings heroics in April, but that end was not to be Monday night. Navy Strickland grounded out, and Bright struck out Bengals sluggers Amare Counts and Bolton to close out the win. “We were outplayed, they were a better team. There ain’t nothing else to say,” Bengals coach Travis Poole said. “It starts with me and it trickles down. They were better than we were today. The better team won today.”

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor  Manning -- After losing to Pinewood Prep 3-1 on Friday in the SCISA AAAA softball state tournament at Patriot Park SportPlex in Sumter ,, Laurence Manning Academy had to do yeoman's work on Saturday to keep alive its hopes of being a 3-time state champion. It did just that, beating Heathwood Hall 6-1 and Wilson Hall 12-0 and 6-4 to win its bracket and advance to the best-of-3 state championship series. Awaiting the Lady 'Cats on Monday at Julie Skolar Field was the one and the same Pinewood Prep, which came into the game undefeated at 27-0. LMA broke through for four runs in the bottom of the third inning and went on to a 6-4 victory. "There again, it goes back to the tournament," said Laurence Manning head coach Buddy Truett . "It was just a case of hitting and passing the bats on down and believing in themselves. We had a good tournament on Saturday and it carried over." Laurence Manning, now 18-4, will be trying to wrap up its third consecutive AAAA state championship on Tuesday in Summerville . The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Wednesday at Orangeburg Prep beginning at 6 p.m. The Lady 'Cats scored their only run on Friday against Panthers frehsman pitcher Morgan Everitt in the top of the first. They didn't score for the final six innings of that game and the first two innings on Monday. The 4-spot in the third put the momentum squarely in LMA's favor. "That was huge for us," said Truett, whose team is playing in its fifth straight championship series. "We had the midneset going in to have the same pitching and . play the same defense and believe in ourselves at bat. We wanted to play the mental game, play some small ball and mix it up The girls held to it and it worked out for us. " PP scored twice in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit in half, but Laurence Manning answered with two in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-2. Pinewood Prep rallied in the seventh. scoring twice, but it wasn't enough. Senior Caroline Welch got the win in the circle, going 6 1/3 innings. Seventh-grader Avery Floyd came in to record the final two outs and get the save. Welch scattered eight hits and and walked seven. Seventh-grader Avery Floyd came in to record the final two outs and get the save. To Welch's defense, four of the seven walks were intentional passes to Everitt. She hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the first on Friday to supply the Panthers' offense. "You take that home run away it's probably a different game," Truett said. "We took the bat our of hands. We just felt like if we can play defense we'd be OK. I didn't want that one person to beat us again." The Lady 'Cats were outstanding on defense. They turned four double plays behind Welch. LMA finished with seven hits, three of them going for extra bases. Seniors Marlee Black and Ashley Rae Hodge had two hits apiece. Black had a double and scored a run, while Hodge also had a double to go with two runs batted in and a run. Welch had the other extra-base hit, a triple, to go with an RBI. Senior Lyza Prickelmyer had a hit and scored twice, and senior Lily Wellborn had the other hit.Freshmen Kendall Tanner and Mcree Holcombe each scored a run. Everitt didn't record an out in Laurence Manning's 4-run third. She worked two innings, allowing four runs, only one of which was earned. She allowed three hits and two walks while striking out two. Alexis Buso pitched the final four innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk while striking out four. PP finished with eight hits with seventh-grader Sarah Grace Wickersham picking up two. Eighth-grader Kensley Gibbs had a hit , a run and an RBI, while sophomore Makayla Sullivan , seventh=grader Sofia Reed and freshman Grace Snyder each had a hit and a run. Sophomore Juliet Sussman had a hit and an RBI, and Buso had a hit. Reed and Sussman each had a double.

Colleton Prep senior, Sydney Stivender pitched all but one inning in the games the Lady Warhawks played in the May 8-9 tournament.

Berkeley High School Junior, Henry Rivers launched a three homer to seal the win against Lugoff-Elgin.

Pee Dee softball after 5th straight title; Laurence Manning softball, Hilton Head Christian baseball after 3 in a row.

Lady Cats to face Pinewood Prep for SCISA AAAA crown.

Orangeburg Prep girls came out strong in game one of the SCISA tournament games.

HSSR-SCHSL Div II AAAAA Softball Top 10 (As of 5-1, 2026) 1. Summerville 2. Byrnes 3. Clover 4. Fort Dorchester 5. Lexington 6. Boiling Springs 7. Lexington 8. Blythewood 9. Carolina Forest 10. Cane Bay HSSR-SCHSL Div II AAAAA Softball Top 10 (As of 5-1-2026) 1. St. James 2. West Florence 3. TL Hanna 4. Catawba 5. Indian Land 6. Nation Ford 7. Riverside 8. Woodmont 9. Greenville 10. Berkeley HSSR-SCHSL AAAA Softball Top 10 (As of 5-1-2026) 1. Gray Collegiate 2. South Florence 3. North Augusta 4. Fountain Inn 5. AC Flora 6. Seneca 7. Blue Ridge 8. Hartsville 9. Darlington 10.Westside HSSR-SCHSL Class AAA Softball Top 10 (As of 5-1-2026) 1. Aynor 2. Crescent 3. West Oak 4. BHP 5. Loris 6. Palmetto 7. Mountain View Prep 8. Fox Creek 9. Hanahan 10. Union County SCHSL AA Softball Rankings ( As of 5-1-2026) 1. Barnwell 2. Andrews 3. Saluda 4. Batesburg-Leesville 5. East Clarendon 6. Ninety-Six 7. Buford 8. Chesnee 9. Mid Carolina 10. North Central HSSR-SCHSL Class A Softball Top 10 (As of 5-1-2026) 1. Lewisville 2. Bamberg-Ehrhardt 3. Hannah-Pamplico 4. Dixie 5. Abbeville 6 Lamar 7. Green Sea Floyds 8. RSM 9. Charleston Math & Science 10. Branchville HSSR-SCISA AAAA Softball Rankings (As of 5-1-2026) 1. Pinewood Prep 2. Laurence Manning Academy 3. Wilson Hall 4. John Paul II 5. Heathwood Hall 6. Augusta Christian HSSR-SCISA AAA Softball Rankings (As of 5-1-2026) 1. Pee Dee Academy 2. Calhoun Academy 3. Clarendon Hall 4. Dillon Christian 5. Colleton Prep 6. Williamsburg HSSR-SCISA AA Softball Rankings. (As of 5-1-2026) 1.Dorchester Academy 2. Carolina Academy 3. Andrew Jackson Academy 4. Cross Schools 5.Marlboro Academy 6. Lee Academy HSSR-SCISA Class A Softball Rankings. (As of 5-1-2026) 1. Holly Hill Academy 2. WW King Academy 3. Richard Winn 4. Jefferson Davis Academy 5. Wardlaw

ACA Senior hurler, Logan Newcomb on the mound against East Clarendon.

Cane Bay Coach Shane Todd Poses with Senior Starters After 4-3 win Over Berkeley To Conclude The Regular Season.

Complete scores from Thursday's SCISA baseball state playoff games with updated schedules

Laurence Manning to play host to Hammond Thursday at 6 p.m. in AAAA elimination game

Complete list of Tuesday's scores along with roundups, updated brackets and schedules with starting times available here

All of the scores from Monday's games along with roundups, updated schedules and start times available here

Wolverines put themselves in position to secure Region 7 No. 1 seed in AA state playoffs

Wolverines score five runs in bottom of the first to cruise to victory

Check here for full brackets on the four classifications and start times for most of the games

Some images from the Softball and Baseball games at East Clarendon as Atlantic Collegiate came for a two field match up in Turbeville.

South Florence having another strong softball season

Indians baseball team had to replace entire lineup from AAA state runner-up

Saints baseball team has eight wins after going winless last season

Barons baseball team finishes 6-4 in region play