LMA's junior CB/WR Zy Dennis

Hammond Head Coach Jon Wheeler holding a pep talk with his team

Robbie Briggs back for second run as AD, football coach

By: Gerald Doolittle Goose Creek, S.C . - The South Carolina Independent Schools Association is preparing to open its 55 th football season with a new two-year alignment. Can Hammond (4A), Hilton Head Christian (3A), Bethesda Academy (2A), Patrick Henry Academy (1A) and Jefferson Davis Academy (8 Man) defend their 2023 titles? Hammond will be playing for their 8 th straight title in Class 4A. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 4A : 1. Hammond 2. Laurence Manning 3. Porter-Gaud 4. Northwood Academy 5. Cardinal Newman. Laurence Manning was runners-up to Hammond in 2023. Augusta Christian, Ben Lippen and Heathwood Hall will earn a playoff spot by finishing in the top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 3A : 1. Hilton Head Christian, 2. Wilson Hall, 3. Pinewood Prep, 4. Florence Christian and 5. Trinity Collegiate. Hilton Head Christian defeated Wilson Hall for the 2023 title. John Paul ll, Palmetto Christian and Camden Military will earn a playoff spot if they finish the regular season in the top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 2A : 1. Bethesda Academy, 2. Clarendon Hall Academy, 3. St. Johns Christian, 4. Orangeburg Prep and 5. Pee Dee Academy. Bethesda Academy defeated Williamsburg Academy (now in 1A) for the 2023 title. Greenwood Christian, Spartanburg Christian, Calhoun Academy, Dillon Christian, Thomas Sumter Academy, Hilton Head Prep and Christian Academy all will earn a playoff spot by finishing in the Class 2A top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 1A : 1. Williamsburg Academy 2. Patrick Henry Academy 3. Lee Academy 4. Dorchester Academy 5. Thomas Heyward Academy Patrick Henry Academy defeated Lee Academy for the 2023 title. Colleton Prep, Beaufort Academy, Faith Christian, Andrew Jackson Academy, and Carolina Academy can get playoff spots by finishing in the top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Eight Man are: 1. Jefferson Davis Academy 2. Holly Hill Academy 3. Richard Winn Academy 4. Wardlaw Academy 5. Laurens Academy W.W. King Academy, Newberry Academy and Oakbrook Prep can earn playoff spots by finishing in the top four of Region One. Cathedral Academy, Cross Schools and Conway Christian can earn playoff spots by finishing in the top four of Region Two. The Kings Academy is a new comer Region Two moving to 8-man play this season.

Four baseball players named to All-Region team

Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Softball Championship play kicked off on May 13th, 2024, with teams playing an intense two days of games hoping to make a sweep to victory in the best of three game series to crown State Champion this week. The HSSR photojournalist was at Laurence Manning for their home stand in the Softball Championship Game 2 against Hammond on May 14th. LMA won a very exciting Game 1 at Hammon 5-4. For Game 2, the Swampcats were home hoping for a sweep to close the deal for the State Title. LMA won 9-0 to earn another State Championship. 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.

LMA claims ninth state championship, first since 2017

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Sumter — The good news was that no rain fell on Sumter’s Patriot Park on May, 11 providing for some great games in the annual SCISA softball playoffs with 8 teams qualifying to compete for AAAA, AAA, AA and Class A state titles starting on Monday. Game two will be played on Tuesday at the opposite site of the home team on Monday. If a third game is needed it will be played at a neutral site on Wednesday. One notable highlight from the games on Saturday was junior Mandy Wells of Clarendon Hall hitting three consecutive home runs in her team’s 15-0 win over Calhoun Academy to advance the Saints to the AA finals on Monday against Colleton Prep . Wells hit her two home runs to dead center field and her second homer was a base clearing grand slam. Her third home run was a line drive over right center field. Wells came into the SCISA tournament batting .481 with 28 RBI’s. Game one between Clarendon Hall and Colleton Prep is schduled for 6pm on Monday in Summerton. Laurence Manning defeated Hammond 5-3 to advance to the AAAA finals. The lost sent Hammond to the loser’s bracket finale against Wilson Hall and Hammond the defeated the Barons 14-4 to earn the right to play Laurence Manning for the title starting on Monday at 6 p.m. in Manning. “We started out hitting the ball right at people and Hammond gave us a great game,” said LMA head coach Buddy Truett . ´We didn’t like having to get up at 7 a.m. to get over here by 9 a.m. and it took us awhile to get going. We are excited to playing for a state championship. It should be a very competitive series and having finished runner-up the past two seasons we are focused on winning it all this year.” LMA trailed Hammond 3-3 going into the bottom of the 6 th inning. Lily Welborn led off with a single and made it all the way to third on a throwing error. An RBI single by Kaylee Avins scored Welborn to tie the score at 3. The difference in the game was a two- run homer from 8 th grader Karly Bjork the next batter up for LMA. “I told her after she hit the home run that I didn’t think I could love her anymore but I do now,” said Coach Truett. “I am very proud of the girls. We made some errors early in the game we do not normally make but we came back from being down and I very proud of all of them. ”We know that Pee Dee has good pitching and they are a solid hitting team also so we are expecting quite a series against them,” said Coach Kinard. “We went over there last year and kicked the ball around a bit. Our goal is playing better defense against them. Defense wins championships.” In Class AAA action, Orangeburg Prep defeated Thomas Sumter 15-0 to advance to the AAA finals. The Class AAA championship games for Pee Dee and Orangeburg Prep start Monday in Mullins at 6pm. Pee Dee Academy head coach Wes Eskridge told the HSSR after his team’s big win over John Paul II Saturday: “We have been fortunate to win three state titles in a row and we are competing in the finals for the 7 th straight time and I could not be prouder of this team,” said Coach Eskridge. ”Jo Jo Perritt is just a sophomore and she gets the job down in the circle for us. “Orangeburg Prep is a tough team and the key for us is for us to play our game and not theirs,” said Coach Eskridge. “We know we have to keep working hard.” In Class A action Jefferson Davis Academy will compete against Cross Schools , who defeated Laurens Academy 4-3 to advance. Jefferson Davis earned the right to play for a Class A title by defeating Cross School 7-1 on Saturday. Head JDA head coach Bart Owens told the HSSR , “Regan Still did a great job pitching all three games in the tournament and she is headed to Florence-Darlington Tech to play next season,” said Coach Owens. “We beat Wardlaw 16-3 and Laurens Academy in our other two tournament games ”Regan is an outstanding pitcher and she is the best that I have ever had at JDA,” said Coach Owens. “Super proud of the whole team today. Or goal now is to win the state championship next week.” The Class A championship series starts Monday at JDA game time is 6pm.

Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Softball Tournament play kicked off in Sumter, SC with teams from around the state playing an intense two days of games to determine the top teams in each class to challenge each other for the final championship that will decide each Class' State Champion later this week. This photo gallery is just some of the Seniors who will be on the diamond and giving it their all one more time for a championship. More photos from the softball games, at Palmetto Park and Patriot Park from Friday and Saturday 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.