Could Catawba Ridge be on the path to another AAAA softball state title?

           Sumter – It turns out Catawba Ridge High School softball head coach Michael Kidd had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about after the Copperheads beat South Florence for the AAAA state title last season.

           “The program is growing,” Kidd told High School Sports Report following Catawba Ridge’s 10-7 win in Florence that gave it a sweep of the best-of-3 championship series. “These girls are hungry enough, and they're looking for something else. They're in. They're trusting the process, what we're giving them. They work hard every day, lift in the mornings, work out in the afternoon on the ball fields. They've earned every opportunity they can get.”

           And it looks like the Copperheads have their sights set on a second straight championship. After going 25-3-1 last season, they were off to a 15-1 start this year, which had them at the top of the High School Sports Report AAAA poll,.

           Not only does Catawba Ridge have three key performers back on this squad, each one is an All-State performer with one of them being the reigning AAAA Player of the Year.

           Sarah Rochleau was selected as the Player of the Year by the South Carolina Association for Women’s Sports. She was joined on the organization’s AAAA All-State team by Chloe Burger, the Copperheads’ pitcher, and Audrey Wilson.

           Catawba Ridge is close to having the Region 3 title locked up with its 6-0 record. It had four region games remaining after spring break with every other team having at least two losses. It would take a major collapse on the Copperheads’ part not to claim the region, even though that is obviously one of the low-hanging goals for the defending champions.

           A AAAA region in which anything is far from secure is Region 6. It possesses the Nos. 2, 3 and 5 teams in the HSSR poll in West Florence, South Florence and Hartsville.

           West Florence was in the driver’s seat heading into spring break with a 4-0 record. More importantly two of those wins came in their meetings with South Florence (8-4) and Hartsville (9-1).

           Hartsville was 5-2 and South Florence was 4-2. Those two have already played each other twice, South Florence winning the first game 4-3 and Hartsville the second, 9-8 in nine innings.

           West Florence won the region title last season but lost to South Florence in the best-of-3 lower state championship series 2-1.

           With a 10-game region schedule, there is still plenty of softball left to be played.

           South Florence is led by All-State selection Payton Perry, the Bruins’ No. 1 pitcher and a major offensive leader.

           West Florence has returning All-State selections in Mia Boykin and Annie Ruth Eliason. Though she had a rather pedestrian .280 batting average, Boykin had two home runs and two doubles and led the Knights with nine runs batted in.

           Eliason was having a dominating start in the circle. In 58 innings pitched, Eliason had a 0.72 earned run average with 108 strikeouts against 10 walks and 17 hits allowed.

           Talyn Weatherford was hitting a blistering .480. Charisma Williams was batting .333 with a team high 11 runs scored, while Ava Gainey was hitting .333 with a homer.

           Hartsville also has a returning All-State selection in sophomore Myah Harvey. After batting .529 as a freshman, Harvey has been slow out of the gate this year. She was batting just .185 but had a double, a triple and a home run among her five hits, seven runs batted in and seven stolen bases.

           Junior Carter Shumate was ripping the ball, hitting an even .500 with nine stolen bases and 11 runs, both team highs.

           Sophomore Mary Ellen Hickey and eighth-grader Aliyah Smith were both hitting .444. Smith had two doubles, a triple and a home run to go with nine runs batted in, a team high. Hickey had three doubles, a triple and a home run.

           Junior Elena Mathys had a 1.46 ERA in 38 1/3 innings.

           Of course, one can never count out North Augusta. The Yellow Jackets, ranked fourth, were off to a 12-4 overall start and a 6-0 start in Region 4.

           North Augusta won the 2022 title before losing to Catawba Ridge in last season’s upper state championship series.

           Freshman Ayla Holmes was zeroed in at the plate with a .614 average. She had five doubles, three home runs, 13 RBI and 18 runs.

           Senior Sarah Henry was batting 526.