Kinard proud of Orangeburg Prep's 2-year run in AAA softball

           Orangeburg – The Orangeburg Prep softball team finished as the runner-up in SCISA AA for the second straight year, losing to Pee Dee Academy both times.

           While the Indians didn’t reach the ultimate goal, head coach Marty Kinard pointed out to his team all of the good things it has accomplished the past two years.

           “I told the team that we accomplished a lot in those two seasons,” said Kinard, who has been in charge of the Orangeburg Prep program over that time frame. “It’s been a fun ride. We won 19 gamers this season, have won 36 games the last two seasons. We won back-to-back region (4) championships., we stole over 100 bases as a team. We accomplished a lot.”

          The Indians finished with a final record of 19-4. They were swept by Pee Dee in the best-of-3 state championship series, losing by the scores of 3-0 and 6-5. One of the other losses was by a 5-4 count to eventual AAAA state champion Laurence Manning Academy. The other was a 2-1 defeat at the hands of SCHSL Class A Branchville High School.

         Orangeburg Prep was a dominant team, both offensively and defensively. The Indians scored 240 runs, meaning they averaged over 10 runs a game. Opponents only scored 40 runs for an average of less than tw9o runs allowed per game.

         Senior Payton Schurlknight was a dominating force in the circle as well as at the plate. She had a 1.78 earned run average in 82 2/3 innings pitched. She struck out 144 batters while walking just 15 and allowing just 46 hits. Offensively, she had a .482 batting average and shared the team lead in runs scored with 35. She had eight doubles, three home runs and 26 runs batted in.

        Because of her outstanding numbers, the Lander signee was selected as the Region Player of the Year.

        “Payton just had a tremendous season for us,” Kinard said.

        Schurlknight was joined on the All-Region team by her sister, sophomore Prestan Schurlknight, junior Lauren Ballew, freshman Calee Hartzog, senior Katherine Lambrecht and sophomore Hannah Lambrecht.

        Offensively, Orangeburg Prep finished with a .426 batting average as a team. The Indians averaged just under 10 hits a contest and almost one-third of the team’s hits went for extra bases.

        “We were more disciplined at the plate this year,” Kinard said. “They were a great group to coach this year. They were willing to work to get better every day.”

        Shortstop Prestan Schurlknight led the team with a .569 average. She also led in hits with 37, home runs with seven, triples with three and tied with her sister for the lead in runs with 35. She also had 29 runs batted in.

        Four other Indians finished with averages above .400. Hannah Lambrecht batted .483, Hartzog had a .455 average, Ballew hit .452 and Katherine Lambrecht had a 441 average.

        Ballew led the way in runs batted in with 37 and doubles with 11 to go along with three homers and two triples. Hannah Lambrecht scored 21 times and had eight RBI, Katherine Lambrecht had 30 runs, five doubles and 10 RBI, and Hartzog had seven doubles, three homers, 23 RBI and 33 runs.

        Senior Juliann Griffith finished with a .340 average, junior Jane Walker Yonce batted .321 with four homers and 14 RBI, and junior Layla Garrick batted .233.

        On the stolen base front, Orangeburg Prep finished with 108. Katherine Lambrecht led the way with 27 steals while Payton Schurlknight finished with 24. Prestan Schurlknight had 18. Hannah Lambrecht had eight, while Yonce and Hartzog both had seven.

         FOUR OP BASEBALL PLAYERS MAKE ALL-REGION

       The Orangeburg Prep baseball team had four players selected to the All-Region 4 team in junior Charlie McCutchen, junior Tadd Jameson, junior Maddison Burroughs and sophomore Tilden “T” Riley.

      McCutchen, the catcher, had a monster season for the Indians, who finished with a 13-13 record and went 2-2 in the AAA state playoffs. He batted .485 with 39 runs, nine home runs, nine homers and 12 stolen bases, all team highs. Ahe tied for the lead in RBI with 31.

      Riley batted .455 and tied for the team lead in RBI with 31. He scored 32 runs and had eight doubles with a team high four triples and four homers. Jameson batted .222 with 23 runs and five RBI, and Burroughs batted .213 with 14 RBI, three doubles and two homers.

      OP HAS ABBREVIATED SPRING FOOTBALL PRACTICE

      With the Orangeburg Prep baseball team making a deep run in the state playoffs, that hindered the football team from getting a lot of work in spring practice. Indians head coach Don Shelley said the team had just three practice sessions.

      “We did start lifting the first of May,” said Shelley, who is preparing for his second season in his second stint as head coach. “You have basketball, then you go to baseball. It’s difficult to get them in. With three days you ain’t going to get a whole lot done. It allowed us to get organized and see what we’ve got in terms of numbers. Also, it gives us a chance to try to get them excited about it.”

      Shelley said he had 28 players out for the practices, 10 of them being seniors. There are five starters returning on offense and seven on defense from a team that went 4-7 and lost in the first round of the AA state playoffs.

      “We’ve got some pretty good athletes coming back,” Shelley said. “We’re going to be able to get a lot more done because we don't have to teach new vocabulary. When we want to go twins plus, the kids will know what we’re talking about, they’re not going to have to think about it. With total installment, there will be more of ‘I remember that from last year.’ “

      OP will be looking for a new quarterback after the graduation of Austin Hall. Competing for the job are Walt Mims and Brayden Gramlin.

     “They kind of complement each other,” Shelley said. “It might be a situation where we use both of them. Gramlin has the better arm. He can throw it through the shower without getting the ball wet.”