Gray Collegiate sophomore shortstop Aspen Boulware has a .608 batting average, 14 HRs and 33 RBIs.

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Gray Collegiate baseball lost a big part of its baseball success with the retirement last year of head coach Charlie Assey . Assey, who had coached the War Eagles since 2018, led the team to two Class 2A state championship series appearances in 2021 and 2022. He took the team to the upper state semifinals in his final season, falling to Strom Thurmond. “Gray Collegiate has been a huge part of my life the last six years,” Assey said in a statement last year. “The baseball program is one of the top teams in the state. This has been the most difficult decision to make in my life. To hang up my hat forever from something that has been my entire life dream is tough. Please know that I will always be appreciative of this opportunity to be a War Eagle.” Assey won a state title at Brookland - Cayce in 1998, and won four SCISA state championships, coaching at Orangeburg Prep , Mims Academy , Willington Academy , and Heathwood Hall . In looking to fill Assey’s shoes, Gray Collegiate found a natural choice—longtime Assey assistant Matt Hornsby , whose son M.J. Hornsby stayed at Gray while his father went to rebuild the baseball program at Dreher . “We had some really good years, and during that time we had some good players and good parents and a good program,” Hornsby said about his three years at Dreher, where he led the Blue Devils to two region championships in 2022 and 2023. “But it just killed me when I couldn’t see my son play. I was going to come back to Gray and stay until my son graduated, then when Coach Assey retired, I was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time.” Gray lost six seniors from last year’s 30-7 team, including Blaine Redmond , the team’s No.1 pitcher and centerfielder. The War Eagles have a good core returning, Hornsby said. Among those returning are Junior shortstop and pitcher M.J. Hornsby, junior second baseman/shortstop Garrett Blankenship , sophomore pitcher and catcher Riley Huggins . “He’s our No.1 guy at pitcher and he’ll catch some but not just yet,” Hornsby said. “He plays outfield as well and is a really good player.” Coach Hornsby said the infield is really strong with M.J. Hornsby and Blankenship sharing time at shortstop and second base, junior Cole Adams at third, and senior first baseman and pitcher Zeb Taylor coming back. Taylor hits in the cleanup spot. “The infield has been our strongest part of the year so far,” Coach Hornsby said. Junior J.P. Sweat is in centerfield and junior Kaleb Holmes in rightfield, and senior Judson Decell is in leftfield. “J.P. is batting over .700 right now and kaleb has been batting around .600, a nice surprise for us.” Competing in what Hornsby calls “the gauntlet” of the 8-team Region 4-4A, which include Brookland-Cayce, Gilbert , Airport , Aiken , South Aiken , Midland Valley , and North Augusta , will be a big challenge this year. Fortunately for the War Eagles, Hornsby shares a great deal of baseball philosophy with his predecessor. I just want to build basically on what we’ve established here. He’s got them on a good foundation,” Hornsby said. “Our offensive approaches are a little different, I’m a little more free-swinging and he’s a little more old school than I am. We’re still going to bunt and do all the things he said, but I don’t think I’ll take as many pitches as he did and don’t want to wait as much (for good pitches). We’ll be a little more aggressive on the bases, but our philosophies are very similar.”

Gray senior Quan McDuffie , who averages 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher  Moncks Corner —In AAAA of the SCHSL, the Westside (9-0) Rams finished the regular season undefeated and they are favored to defend the state title they won a year ago with a fourth quarter rally to defeat South Florence . The AAAA state title game will be played at South Carolina State University on Friday December, 13 at 7:30 p.m. While Westside has the horses to pull another state championship wagon in a future victory parade, “we” can’t rule out Daniel, as the spoiler if the two teams keep winning in the play-offs, when could meet at Westside on December, 6 for the upper state AAAA championship. After going a combined 8-14 in his first two seasons at Daniel back in 2016 and 2017, head Daniel coach Jeff Fruster , has said he was thankful that he was not fired at the time. What a great decision school officials made to retain him. Since 2018, under Coach Fruster, Daniel has a collective record of 82-5, including three state titles as they prepare to play host Dreher High this week in the first round of the AAAA play-offs. Daniel’s only loss was to AAAAA member JL Mann (28-23) early in the season. To date Daniel is 9-1 and they have defeated teams 496-153 at the end of the regular season. Daniel won the Region 2-AAAA title with a 6-0 record after beating Seneca 42-21 in the regular-season finale last week. Daniel was trailing 14-7 late in the first half before coming up with a pair of long touchdown passes in the final minute to take a 21-14 lead to the locker room. That started a run of 35 straight points. Quarterback Grayson Clary had a monster game, completing 19 of 27 passes for 374 yards and five touchdowns. Trey Wimbley had a big night, catching four passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns. Jason Bish had seven catches for 147 yards and the other two touchdown receptions. Clary’s performance put an exclamation point on what was a tremendous regular season for him. Heading into the Seneca contest, the sophomore had completed 120- of-162 passes for 1,847 yards and 26 touchdowns. That means he has 31 touchdown passes on the season when you add in his performance against the Bobcats. Bish had 29 catches for 481 yards and six scores while Wimbley had 21 receptions for 405 yards and five scores. Quint Cumbie had 30 catches for 354 yards and five scores, and Elijah Lipsey had 23 catches for 438 yards and six touchdowns. Clary had also rushed for 240 yards and five touchdowns. Tremaine Davis Jr. was the leading rusher with 332 yards and five scores on 29 carries. The Daniel defense is led by senior linebacker Spencer Conn and junior defensive end Dexter Johnson . Conn has a team high 78 tackles to go with nine tackles for loss. Johnson has a team 14 ½ TFLs among his 57 stops. Johnson is also the sack leader with 6 ½. Junior Bryson Freeman has 4 ½. Davis and Christian Chancellor Jr. led in interceptions with two apiece. They had both returned an interception for a touchdown as had Conn. When the Lions can’t get the ball in the end zone, they have pretty good opportunity to get some points. Placekicker Bruce Brown, a North-South pick , was 9- of -11 on field goal attempts with a long of 48 yards. He’s also made 48- of 49- PAT’s. extra points. Westside will host Lakewood this week in the first round of the play-offs. Woods, a South Carolina football commitment, was also chosen for the Shrine Bowl. After 8 games of the season Woods had completed 107-0f-164 passes for 2,045 yards and 24 TD’s. His top WR targets are fellow Shrine Bowl member Chamarryus Bomar who had 777 receiving yards on 77 catches and 11 TD’s after 8 games. The leading rusher for the Rams is senior Sharode Richardson with 650 net yards on 80 carries and 9 TD’s after 8 games. On defense the rams are very stout. They are led by junior MLB Jaxx Wilson (55 tackles) and senior OLB Jameson Wilson (50 tackles), Soph LB Malachi Peterson has also contributed (42 tackles, 1 TFL). MLB Jaydon Hall (5-10, 190) has 44 tackles and the sack leader is junior DT Kwon Simpkins with four. A favorite to win the lower state AAAA is ball control Hartsville (8-1-1) who is ranked third in the current HSSR AAAA ranking. The Red Foxes have out-scored teams 453-181 this season and they have a quality win over Dillon on their resume this season. Hartsville has pounded out 2,628 rushing yards on 348 carries. Their top three running backs are Hakeen Watters (119-1,053-17 TD’s) along with Kylif Miller (102-696). Dual threat QB EJ Smith has completed 66-0f-123 passes for 1,302 yards and as a rusher he has gained 535 yards on 78 carries and 9 TD’s. (Please see feature story on Hartsville on page 55 of this issue) South Pointe is also loaded with a lot of talent and they have state championship tradition on their resume as well.

By WORTHY EVANS HSSR Contributing Writer Columbia - The Gray Collegiate volleyball team is loaded with talent and experience, but this season brings more challenges to the school as it enters the first year at the 4A classification. The War Eagles, 8-9 overall and 3-4 in Region 4-4A and are currently in fifth place behind first-place Aiken , second place South Aiken , third place Gilbert and fourth place North Augusta , look to the second half of the region slate to fight for a slot in the postseason. “I keep reiterating now that the first half of the region is over and in my mind we’re going to win against teams we lost to and hold the wins we had before to give ourselves a fighting chance,” second-year head coach Shonda Wallace said. “We have to do it now, make the hits, and we have to be in the moment and play with no regrets.” Gray returned 10 seniors from a team that finished 8-0 in Region 4-2A last year. Wallace said in the offseason that she was better able to bond with her players, and added that while the season has had some tough losses, she knows her girls have toughness and experience to make a late-season run. “Their experience is unmatched from what I’ve seen on the court,” Wallace said. “We’re in a new region and it’s been a challenge, but our girls are definitely fighting. We’ve come close to winning a lot of games, and we’ve all got to figure out how to put the pieces together. I can’t be more proud of them for putting in a fight an giving people a run for their money.” Leading the way for Gray have been seniors Kyah Shephard , Alaina Timmerman , and Weslen McDowell . Shephard, a middle hitter is among the top 10 in total blocks in the region and leads the team in hitting percentage at .215 and total blocks with 46, , and she’s second to junior Taylor Dukes (2.0) with 1.7 kills per set. Timmerman, the team’s defensive specialist libero, leads the War Eagles with 3.2 digs per set and is second in aces with 24 and second with aces per set at 0.6. McDowell, a center leads in aces with 36 and aces per set with 0.9 and is second in digs per set with 2.7 and second in hitting percentage with .205. “Kyah is a huge presence on the court for us. She’s my tallest player and once she connects with the ball she’s going to rip it. When she takes the court she means business,” Wallace said. “Alaina is a vocal leader and she leads by example as well. Weslyn and her twin sister Whitlie have both been her for five years now, and they’ve been a steady presence on the court. Weslen helps us tremendously and is learning how to take control of the game with a calm presence and a defensive leadership.” In cross country, the War Eagles have had good leadership from captains Joey Sullivan of the boys team and Marydavis Hallman of the girls. In all, 33 girls and 22 boys are running with the teams this year. Freshman Kaylee Anderson (personal record 23 minutes, 17 seconds) has been the top runner, finishing first in all four competitions to date. The boys team is working to be consistent. Sophomore Bryce Sharperson (PR 20:23) is the top runner, followed by sophomore Jess Stone (PR 20:38). The War Eagles will battle with region leaders Aiken and Gilbert for a top spot in both girls and boys teams as the season leads to the state cross country championships at the Farm in Newberry Nov. 21-22.

Reclassification has 2 State Champions & 3 Runners Up vying for Class AAAA Title

By WORTHY EVANS Columbia - In Gray Collegiate Academy’s last year in the 2A classification, the War Eagles did all it could to make the final year count, winning two state championships in softball and girls track and field, a runner-up in boys soccer, and long postseason runs in girls soccer and baseball. The softball team (33-2) won its second state championship in three years with a 2-0 series victory over Marion . “It means a lot to win it again,” Gray head coach Doug Frye told the High School Sports Report after the sweep. “We work hard. My girls work hard every day. We don't take days off. We work hard and get after it.” Gray Collegiate wasted no time getting after the Swamp Foxes. In game one May 20, the War Eagles trounced Marion 9-1, and two days later they took on the Swamp Foxes at their new ballpark on the Gray campus, clinching the best-of-three series with an 8-4 victory. Freshman Aspen Boulware , who wasn’t a part of the team’s 2022 state title run, was the top slugger on a team loaded with power at the plate. She finished with a .651 batting average, 19 home runs, 10 triples, six doubles, 40 runs batted in and 56 runs scored. Boulware said the team’s approach was different than last season, when the War Eagles fell short of the state championship with a playoff loss to Mid-Carolina . “We had that hard loss last year, so I felt like we all wanted to win,” Boulware said. “We came out with a ‘let’s get to it’ mindset. I felt like that carried us a long way to this point.” Moving up to the 4A classification shouldn’t bother the Gray girls, who have regularly played higher-classification teams over the years, Frye said. “This team went 33-2,” Frye said with the losses coming to 2-time 5A state champion Summerville and 2-time 4A state champion Catawba Ridge . “You come back and look at our record, look at the teams we beat. They’re all AAAAA and AAAA teams and some of them went deep in the playoffs. This team has showed up. They respect everybody, but they fear nobody." In track and field, the girls team collected its first state title, scoring 75 points to runner-up Bishop England’s 72 points. Individually, Aubrey Guy won gold in the 100-meter hurdles, Tresta Miller won the 400 dash, and Tamara Steward won the 400 hurdles. “The good thing is that we won as a team, and it was not just from one person,” head coach Jackie Robinson told the High School Sports Report . “It was everybody collectively, and all season long these ladies have sacrificed, and they did not complain while putting in the work. They came to work every practice and it paid off for them today. For the boys, Gray Collegiate sophomore Caleb Raysor won individual gold medals in the 110 hurdles (14.81) and the 400-meters (55.92) plus he ran a leg on the winning 4X100 relay team that included Justin Pauling, B.J. Montgomery, and Demarcus Gaither to account for 22.5 points for the War Eagles. In boys soccer, the War Eagles (27-6-3) reached the 2A state finals for the third straight year. Unfortunately, Gray ran into Oceanside Collegiate for the second straight year, and the Landsharks shut them out 3-0. “Oceanside’s the best team in the state two years running, to be honest with you,” Gray head coach Kevin Heise said after the state championship game May 11. “We knew we had to play an almost perfect game for us to have success here today.” Despite the loss, Heise considers the season a great one, with the team fortunate to make it to the state final. “You don’t know the next time you get back,” Heise said. “Every year is a challenge to get here. You have got to stay healthy. You have got to be a little bit lucky. You have got to be good. I mean, you don’t get to the final without being a good team and having an above-average year. And I think we’ve done that three straight years.”

Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCHSL Softball Championship play from May 22nd, 2024, with teams from Gray Collegiate and Marion dueling it out in a game two, winner takes the trophy contest. The HSSR photojournalist was at Gray Collegiate for their home stand in the Softball Championship Game 2 hosting Marion. Gray won to sweep Marion, 2 games to none, in the best of three series. More photos from this game are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.

War Eagles take Game 2 8-4 to sweep best-of-3 series