By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon —Entering the last third of the 2025 baseball season, the Dillon Wildcats baseball team (4-9, 1-7) has been set-back by injuries to key players as head baseball coach Keith Coward continues to work around the situation. “ Hank Grider would be our number one pitcher but he has not thrown yet in a game due to an injury, but he is able to bat and play in the field and we are thankful for that,” said Coach Coward. “We were also counting on the defense of freshman JJ Campbell, who can play second or any position in the outfield, but due to an injury he is being used as a designated hitter.” The leadoff for Dillon is senior Dan Graves who is currently batting .343 with 8 RBI’s. Grider, a junior, bats second and he leads the team at .436 and 14 RBI’s. Junior Jaden Williamson bats in the three hole and he is batting .436 with 8 RBI’s. The clean-up hitter is Austin Miles who is batting .300 with six RBI’s. In the 5 th slot is catcher/first baseman Jamison Pittman who is currently batting .409 with three RBI’s. Cambell, the DH bats 6 th and he is at .300. Freshman Bryson Davis, batting .306 with six RBI’s out of the 8 th spot, provides pitching depth and he usually starts at third base. Eighth grader Aiden McAlister bats in the 9-hole and he is the starting shortstop. “Every team in AAA makes the baseball play-offs and we are hoping Grider can pitch some in the playoffs,” said Coach Coward. “We have seven more games before the play-offs start and our goal is to finish strong and have a good showing in the play-offs.” Dillon will play at Aynor on April 15 th , travel to Marion on the 22 nd , and then host the Foxes the nest day. Aynor comes to Dillon on April, 29. The Wildcats close out the regular season at Latta on May, 1st. Coach Coward is assisted by Coley Bohachic , Steven Reeves , and Austin Moody , Sr.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon —The Dillon Lady Wildcats softball team (9-11,4-4) has seven middle schoolers on their varsity roster this season, and it easily the youngest team head coach Stevie Grice has worked with nearing the end of his 5 th season as the head coach at the school.  “We played Aynor the other night, with all of their six seniors going on to college softball, and our young team is 0-0 with them after four innings,” said Coach Grice. “We did eventually get beat 13-1 but I was proud of how we hung tough with them, only trailing 3-0 after five innings.” Dillon is 4-4 in the region, with two region games left against Marlboro County (April, 29) and at Loris (May, 2). “If are fortunate enough to win those two games there would be a three-way tie for second place in the region behind Aynor,” said Coach Grice. “This would be a great achievement for such a young team. In AAA, we only have 32 teams so every team makes the play-offs.” Dillon’s biggest win of the season was a 6-2 win over Loris on April, 1. “Our sophomore pitcher Zoee Chavis had 10 strike-outs in that game and we only gave up one walk, made just one error in the field with one hit batter,” said Coach Grice. “When we have played games with few walks and errors we have won the majority of those games. “Against Loris, freshman Wanaysia Hughes went two-for-two with three RBI’s to lead us at the plate,” Coach Grice. “ MaKayla Huggins and Makenna Meekins each had two hits in that game and Cierra Grice had a hit, one RBI and a walk. The Loris game was the best we have played all season.” Grice, a PC signee in her sixth season on the Dillon varsity, leads the team with a .561 average including 10 doubles, three triples, and five home runs with 26 RBI’s. Grice recently collected her 100 th career RBI at Dillon in a game against Hartsville . “Cierra has carried us on offense all season and we have played her between shortstop and third base this season,” said Coach Grice. “She is five hits away from having 200 hits in her career at Dillon and she already holds the school record for hits in a career.” Senior catcher McKayla Huggins is committed to Florence-Darlington Tech and she is currently batting .424 with 9 doubles and 22 RBI’s. Junior Makeena Meekins, who bats second in the line - up , starts in center field and she is hitting .382 with six games left in the regular season. After getting past these three veteran players for Dillon, the Wildcats are very young. Chavis bats cleans-up at .259. As the team’s ace pitcher, she is 6-6 with 70 K’s in 63.2 innings of work in the circle. “Zoee Chavis is getting better and better every time she gets in the circle,” said Coach Grice. “She has a nice change-up and curve ball and she is throwing 57-to 59 as a young pitcher. She has a solid future.” Jayla Wright is a 7 th grader starting at first base and she is the team’s back-up pitcher. She has seven RBI’s batting out of the five- hole. Madelyn Willis is an 8 th grader starting at second base while 8 th grader Marsiah Bethea plays in the outfield and she is the team’s designated base runner. Kanyla Tanksley is an 8 th grade shortstop who has started at short, and the outfield, and she is a solid utility performer batting in the sixth spot. Hughes is a freshman starting in right field and she is batting .261 with seven RBI’s. Sophomore Ansley Villagomez starts in left field and she has seven RBI’s. Madelyn Willis is an 8 th grader starting at second base. Other key reserves on the team include sophomore catcher/outfielder Addison Villagomez, Seventh grader Ashlyn Wallace who sometimes starts at second or third base. Seventh grade reserve pitcher Emorie Williamson is 1-0 in the circle and she was the winning pitcher against Knox, Ky earlier in the season with 5 K’s. Sophomore Haiden Eller has started some at first while sophomore Tristen Dove has provided depth at third and first during the season. “I feel like we will have a strong finish to the season and these younger players all have bright futures in the program,” said Coach Grice. “Next season is going to be really interesting for sure.” In Coach Grice’s first season as head coach in 2021, Dillon went 25-10 and played for the state title against Seneca, losing out in the third game of that series. In 2022, the Wildcats were 21-8 and advanced to the Lower State championship game before losing to Aynor. In 2023, Dillon was 21-10 and lost out to Aynor once again in the AAA Lower State finals. Last year the Wildcats went 18-7 and advanced to the Lower State finals, once again, before losing out to Aynor. To date, Coach Grice is 94-46 at Dillon and the future is very bright for the program.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon —Starting his third season as the Dillon head baseball coach, and first year as the school’s athletic director, Keith Coward feels strongly that things are looking up for the program this season. The Wildcats began the season with a 7-2 win over Carvers Bay before losing to Conway 11-8. In game three of the season Dillon prevailed 10-4 over Green Sea Floyds. In their most recent game, they lost to Lamar 4-0. “Right now, Hank Grider , our best pitcher, is out with an injury and we hope to have him back in the next few weeks,” said Coach Coward. “Hank was all-region two years ago. “ Dan Graves was our all-region center fielder last year and we are glad to have him back,” said Coach Coward. “Hank is the anchor of our pitching and we are at our best when he’s on the mound. Austin Miles has done a good job keeping us afloat until we can hopefully get Hank back. “This is most definitely our most experienced team I’ve had over the past three seasons,” said Coach Coward. “We return 8 starters from last year so we have plenty of familiarity there. We just need to keep working and getting better.” Graves bats lead-off for the Wildcats. In the two-hole is freshman second baseman/outfielder JJ Campbell . When Grider is healthy he bats in the third slot and when he is not on the mound, he is a designated hitter or shortstop. Miles is a middle infielder who bats clean-up. Senior catcher Jamison Pittman is back and he backs in the number five hole. Senior Ryan Carter returns and he plays right field and also serves as the team’s designated hitter. Jaden Williamson bats in the 7 th slot and he is a junior pitcher/first baseman. Freshman pitcher/third baseman Bryson Davis bats 8 th in the order and junior wide receiver football prospect Zay Robertson bats 9 th and can play anywhere in the outfield. Also seeing plenty of action is 8 th grader Aiden Lancaster who is an up-and-coming infielder for Dillon. Dillon has around 35 hits as a team in four games, a vast improvement over the previous two seasons. Robertson has a 1,000 on base percentage and he is batting 1,000 on the season, including a triple. Pittman is at .556 including two doubles after four games. Campbell is hitting .500 with two doubles and four RBI’s. Lancaster is at .500 including one double. Graves has scored seven runs while hitting .438 with four RBI’s and one double. Miles is at .385 with two RBI’s and one double. Before Grider got hurt he was batting .385 with seven RBI’s and one home run. Carter is batting .364 while J. Bohachic is batting .333 with two runs scored. On the mound Miles is 1-1 with a 2.10 ERA. Davis is 1-0 on the bump. Remaining games in the month of March include a home game against Darlington on the 14 th before playing an away region game at Georgetown on the 18 th . Dillon will host Georgetown on the 21 st . Dillon will host Loris on March, 25 and they travel to Loris to close out the month of March on the 28 th .

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon —Starting two 7 th graders, and two 8 th graders, was not in the plans for Dillon head softball coach Stevie Grice as he made plans for the 2025 team. after a 2024 deep play-off run, that saw the Wildcats lose to Aynor , 1-0, in the AAA lower state finals a year ago.  “We had three experienced players decide not to return to the program for various reasons,” said Coach Grice, who also runs a very successful summer travel softball program. “In my four years as the head softball at Dillon this is by far our youngest team. “We are very young, and we are making way too many errors right now,” said Coach Grice. “We have had very close games with several teams through five innings, or so, and then we give up four runs in the 6 th inning like we did against Heritage, Tennessee. In our game against Chesterfield , we are winning 4-3 late in the game and then we give up 8 runs, late in the game when we made six errors that contributed to those unearned runs, and we ended up losing 14-4. “Our goal is to keep working hard every day in practice, and control the things we can control,” said Coach Grice. “We must shore up our defense, and work on helping the younger players get more comfortable in competition. I realize, with some player departures we have had to throw some 7 th and 8 th graders in the fire, so to speak. Hopefully, we will be playing our best softball come play-off time.” After 8 games of the season Dillon is 4-4, despite only having two seniors on the team. The Wildcats have wins over Socastee , Wilson Hall , Carolina Academy and St . Johns out of Washington DC. Their four losses have come against SCISA AAAA champion Laurence Manning , East Clarendon , Heritage Hall of Tennessee, and Chesterfield . The team is led by senior “Coach on the Field” Cierra Grice , a four-time HSSR all-state selection who is among the most versatile players in South Carolina. Grice is a signee to the softball program at Presbyterian College where her older sister, Logan , is now playing. Cierra was recruited to college as a third baseman and she is also an excellent catcher. The younger Grice is a six-year member of the team. She is the starting shortstop and currently she is batting 558 including 9 RBI’s and three stolen bases. “No doubt with such a young team Cierra is like our Coach on the Field,” said Coach Grice. “She can play multiple positions and our younger players have relied on her for guidance and even instruction.” The only other senior on the team is all-region returner McKayla Huggins who is catcher batting .450. Huggins, a commitment to Florence-Darlington Tech is a top catcher behind the plate with a 1,000-fielding percentage to date. Junior all-region returner MaKenna Meekins has missed a few games with a minor injury and the speedy center fielder is currently batting .500. When you get past the “Big Three” roll call of Grice, Huggins, and Meekins the youth movement begins. Sophomore Zoee Chavis is the number one pitcher on the staff having to fill the shoes left behind by graduated record setter Paige Sherman who recently got her first win at Lander University, where she is a freshman. Sherman had 704 K’s in her five- year career at Dillon where she won 75 games and compiled a 1.32 ERA. “Zoee is getting better with every outing,” said Coach Grice. “She has a good breaking ball and is working on developing other pitches also. In 22.2 innings in the circle this season she has 25 strike-outs and a 0.78 ERA.” Chavis can play second base when she is not pitching. Haiden Eller is a sophomore part-time starter at first depending on who is pitching . Another sophomore starter is speedy center fielder Ansley Villagomez who is batting .333. Her 9 th grade sister, Addison Villagomez, is a reserve catcher. Kanyla Tanksley , an 8th grade starter in the out-field, who is batting .400 and she leads the team with six stolen bases. Marsiah Bethea is a 7 th grader playing in the outfield and batting in the 8- hole. Ashlyn Wallace is a 7 th grader starting at third base. Freshman Wanaysia Hughes is starting in right field. Jayla Wright is a 7 th grade back-up pitcher. Madalynn Willis , was just pulled up from the junior varsity and she is seeing action at second base. Emorie Willimson is a 7 th grade reserve pitcher and Tristen Dove is a sophomore reserve first-baseman. Dillon will play at Georgetown on March, 19 th , before playing at Green Sea - Floyds the next day. On Friday March, 21 st the Wildcats host Waccamaw Coach Grice is assisted by Will Clark , Twin Lester and Johnna Jones .

Photos from March 6th, the SCHSL Class A Girls Championship Game between Walhalla and Dillon . Enjoy this sample of images, follow this link for the full gallery.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Florence —The Dillon High and Walhalla High girls’ basketball teams were ranked 1-2 in the HSSR AAA rankings a month ago, so it was no surprise that the two teams met in the SCHSL championship game at the Florence Center on March, 6. After the game, Walhalla head coach Byron Wimphrie commented, “Our goal at the start of the season was to compete for a state title, and every day was an opportunity to get better and prepare for a game, and a moment like this,” said Coach Wimphrie. “After we were tied at the half, I told the girls to go out and win the first four minutes of the third quarter. “ I think they did a good job of doing that and staying together and not getting emotionally upset,” said Coach Wimphrie. “This game had a lot of contact and it was a very physical game. “I knew we were the taller team so we wanted to get the ball down into the post as much as possible,” said Coach Wimphrie. “We tried to slow the pace of the game down also because Dillon was very quick with a guard focused team.” Coach Wimphire paid a tribute to his key players. “ Annie Campbell , Kami Roach , Gianna Ortiz , Miley White , and Mara Chappell have been playing together for a very long time, including AAU in the summer, so this is a great moment for them,” said Coach Wimphrie. “They have been preparing for games like this one today for a long time.” Roach, a very talented junior who is under HSSR consideration for AAA Player of the Year shared her feelings after the game. “We wanted this state championship so bad,” she said. “It was a day one goal of ours when the season began. “We started the game slowing things down, and I felt like we were forcing passes early in the game,” said Roach. “We settled down in the second half, focused better, and I feel like that is what helped us come out on top in the game.” Dillon head coach James McMillian completed his 9 th season in the state finals against Walhalla. “In our win over Oceanside the other day we had fewer fans from Dillon in the stands and the girls seemed to not be as emotional or nervous as they were in this game,” said Coach McMillian. “Today we had many more fans in the stands like proud relatives of our players and this seemed to make them play more nervus for some reason. The moment was a little big for them. “We needed some key baskets and some key rebounds to finish the deal today but we missed a lot of shots that we normally make,” said Coach McMillian. “We knew coming into the game that Walhalla was the much taller team. At half-time we decided to put Alyssa Lee (5-10) in the line-up to start the third quarter to give us more height in the paint. “Then when they got a big lead, we went with five guards to pick up the tempo but turnovers and there three-point shooting hurt our chances to get back in the game,” said Coach McMillian. “We are a very young team and I am very proud of this group winning the first Lower State championship ever for Dillon girls’ basketball, and to compete for a state championship is also very special.” Next season the team will continue to grow around talented freshman Treasure Davis who scored 18 points in the game. “Treasure is just a freshman with a very bright future and we will continue to grow the team around her next season along with our talented sophomore Khw’Nylahi McKinnon . These two players give us a solid foundation for next season.” Coach McMillian also cited the contributions of graduating seniors Za’Daiya Moody , Ayonna Lester , and Mariah Campbell as they move on. After the two teams battled to a 18-18 deadlock at the half, Wahalla used their height advantage for numerous second chance shots in the paint, and they connected on seven three pointers to pull away for a 52-37 win, earning their school their first ever girls’ basketball state title. A huge crowd of Walhalla supporters made the 182-mile trip from the upstate to the Florence center and they were loud and proud throughout the contest. In the third period Walhalla outscored the Lady Wildcats 15-9 to enter the final quarter with a 33-27 lead. After Dillon’s Khw’Nylahi McKinnon began the third period with a three-point shot to put Dillon ahead 21-18, the Razorbacks went on a 7-0 run to take a 25-21 lead with 4:40 left in the quarter. During the run Walhalla scored two inside baskets from Gianna Ortiz and Annie Campbell before junior Kami Roach nailed a dead-eye “nothing but net” three- point shot from well beyond the top of the key arc. Walhalla’s next basket was a three-pointer made by Campbell that gave her team a four-point lead at the time. When Miley White scored either team’s final basket in the third period, on a lay-up, it gave Walhalla a 33-27 entering final quarter and either team still looked strong enough to win the game. Dillon’s Treasure Davis scored on an inside move to cut the deficit to 33-29 on the first basket made by either team to start the quarter. However, Walhalla went on an 11-2 run after the Davis basket to lead 44-31 with 4:20 left in the game. Campbell started the run with a three pointer from the corner. Thirty seconds later (6:31) she “banked in” a second three-pointer from the deep corner, and the way the ball banked in off the glass from the deep corner might have made fans at the game feel like basketball god was smiling on Walhalla for some reason. After the 11-2 run, Dillon scored on back-to-back baskets by Azyriah Ford and Davis to trim the lead to 46-35 with 3:11 to go. From that point Walhalla finished the game out-scoring Dillon 6-2, for a final victory of 52-27. The top scorers for Walhalla were Miley White with 14 points, including 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Annie Campbell was next on the score index with 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Kami Roach finished with 10 points, 9 rebounds, four assists, one block, and a team high seven steals. Gianna Ortiz contributed 9 points for Walhalla including 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots, and one steal. Mara Chappell contributed four points and five rebounds and Ashlyn Frick closed out the scoring for the Razorbacks with two points. Dillon was led by talented freshman Treasure Davis with 18 points, 8 rebounds, three assists, six steals, and two blocked shots. McKinnon was next on the points index with 9, including five steals, four rebounds, and one assist. Ayonna Lester contributed seven points, five rebounds, and four steals to the Wildcat efforts. The remaining two scorers for Dillon were Ford and Alyssa Lee who contributed two and one points respectively.

Day 1 - of the SCHSL Championships Games: 4 games with 8 teams going for the gold! Thursday, March 6 2:00pm - Lee Central vs. Military Magnet - Girls Class A State Championship 4:00pm - Abbeville vs. Denmark Olar - Boys Class A State Championship  6:00pm - Dillon vs. Walhalla - Girls Class AAA State Championship 8:00pm - Powdersville vs. Keenan - Boyss Class AAA State Championship Tickets are available at the gate at The Florence Center for $15. . Gates open 1 hour before the first game. If you want to watch at home, the SCHSL announced coverage from stations in these markets on March 6th, 7th, and 8th : Asheville, NC / Greenville, SC WMYA (My40 Asheville-Greenville ) Columbia, SC WACH.2 – (TBD Network) – the network is called TBD Charleston, SC WCIV (MyTV Charleston) Myrtle Beach, SC Thursday – Friday: EPDE(CW21 Myrtle Beach) Saturday: HPDE (WPDE-4)

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Florence —In high stakes athletic events, games have defining moments, and when Oceanside Collegiate’s Ella Mae Schepp fouled out mid-way through the fourth quarter, in the Landsharks AAA Lower state championship game against Dillon, at the Florence Civic Center, her team lost the services of their best press breaking guard and the Wildcats rallied for a 59-57 win. Dillon (23-2) will now challenge Walhalla (26-3) in the AAA state finals scheduled at the Florence Civic Center for 6 p.m. on Thursday March, 6 and 6 p.m. Walhalla defeated St . Joseph’s 47-41 to advance. After the come-from-behind win, long-time Dillon head coach James McMillian told the HSSR, “This has been a long time coming,” said Coach McMillian. “This is my 22 nd year in coaching so we are looking forward to playing one more game. “I tell my players not to get too high or too low, and to learn how to play through adversity,” said Coach McMillian. “I am so happy right now, I do not know what to do. “Everybody on the floor stepped up today and I am so proud of our senior leader Mariah Campbell because she has given her heart and soul to Dillon High basketball,” said Coach McMillian. “ Treasure Davis has already scored 1,000 points and she is just a freshman and McKinnon, who is just a sophomore, scored 24 points today. It was just a great team effort and a great team win.” Oceanside Collegiate head coach Mandy Harrison shared some thoughts after the game. “She (Schepp) is a player we do not want to leave the court so it was unfortunate she fouled out,” said Coach Harrison. “We knew their press was coming and we had prepared for it all week. “My message to the team after the game, and they were down and sad, but I told them not to hang their heads because they had a lot to be proud of,” said Coach Harrison. “I reminded them that they had played a heck of a ball game and that they had made some big shots throughout the game.” The Dillon girls are patently famous for their second half full-court, in-your-face, pressing defense, taking advantage of their quickness and tenacity to convert steals into lay-ups. The Wildcats were down 37-27 at the half when they released their wrath of defensive pressure on Oceanside to start the third quarter. By the start of the fourth quarter Dillon had cut the deficit in half to 47-42 when Schepp got her 4 th foul with 6.3 seconds left in the third period. Dillon had built a 14-11 first quarter lead, but in the second period Oceanside erupted for 26 points as senior Teagan Scott scored 10 points, junior Ella Hunter scored 8 points, while Schepp added four points in the second quarter, to give OC a 10-point lead at the half. During the third period, Dillon began the quarter with a basket from the corner by sophomore point guard Khwnylahi McKinnon who would go on to finish with a team high 24 points. At the 6”15-mark McKinnon nailed a three-point shot from the corner and with 3:50 left in the period she hit another three-point shot that cut the deficit to 43-36. Seconds later a steal and lay-up by talented freshman Treasure Davis narrowed the score to 43-38 and OC called time out to regroup. As the third quarter ended Dillon senior forward Zadaiya Moody scored on an inside basket to make the deficit 47-42 going into the final period. Dillon out-scored OC 17-10 in the final and Schepp fouled out with just under four minutes left in the game. Dillon took a 56-55 lead with 1:25 left in the game on a steal and lay-up from McKinnon. OC came right back and regained the lead (57-56) with 47 seconds left on a basket by junior forward Chole Millard . Then with 26 seconds left senior guard Maraih Campbell hit the game winner on a three-point shot that gave the Wildcats a 59-57 win. OC called time out with 1.7 seconds on the clock but was unable to convert as time expired after a challenged inbounds pass.  For the game McKinnon led Dillon’s scoring index with 24 points followed by Davis with 17 points. Campbell contributed seven points with Ayonna Lester getting five points rounded off by two points each from Azyiah Ford and Moody. Oceanside was led by Scott, a senior power forward, along with Schepp with 14 points. Ella Hunter had 9 points, while Millard added 8 points along with junior Henley Hanks who scored six points.

Top Ranked Dillon Girl’s Focused On AAA State Basketball Championship By Billy G. Baker Publisher— Dillon —It wasn’t until the first of January that the top AAA ranked Dillon High Lady Wildcats (17-3, 8-0) were able to play with a full roster, and they are currently on a 9-game win streak with two games left in the regular season. “One of our losses was by one-point to Scott’s Branch early in the season when we had three starters out with various injuries,” said veteran head coach James McMillian . ”Freshman Treasure Davis is our best player and she missed four or five games with vertigo issues in December. We have also been without point guard Khwnylahi McKinnon and guard Mariah Campbell due to nagging injuries earlier in the season. We are healthy once again and we are playing our best basketball right now.” In Dillon’s most recent win over Waccamaw on the road (50-41) Davis did not play due to a severe case of the flu. McKinnon stepped up and scored 18 points in the win. Junior forward Jiana McGill stepped versus Waccamaw and scored seen points and Campbell contributed 13 points. “The win over Waccamaw was indicative of how things have gone most of the season,” said Coach McMillian. “When a player goes down others step up. We have a deep roster as a result of the injuries and health issues we have dealt with this season.” Davis is leading the team scoring 18.5 points a game with 6.,8 rebounds, three steals and 2.5 assists a game. “Treasure handles the ball very well and she is very quick,” said Coach McMillian. “We used her in many roles depending on the opponent.” McKinnon has improved her points average to 15 points a game including 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.5 assists a game. Campbell is averaging 10.1 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. Senior guard Ayonna Lester is averaging 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds a game. Dillon uses a four-guard attack in most games. Junior guard Zynijah Pernell is often the first person off the bench along with sophomore shooting guard Azyriah Ford who contributed seven points in the recent win over Waccamaw. Some other hard-working players include Jaziyah Leggette , Zadaiya Moody , Alyssa Lee , Jaleah Bethea and Kiasia McLeod .  “I honestly believe that with a completely healthy team we are capable of making a deep play-off run and competing for a state championship,” said Coach McMillian. “These girls have it within themselves to make that happen.”