Williamsburg Academy baseball team off to fast start despite changes

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • March 31, 2025

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Williamsburg baseball off to fast start despite changes

 

By Dennis Brunson

           hssr.com Associate Editor

 

           Kingstree – The Williamsburg Academy baseball team lost six seniors from last year’s 19-7 squad that reached the semifinals of the SCISA AAA state playoffs. All of that group -- Greyson Moore, Blake Hedrick, Wes Smith, Conrad Balder, Landon Strong and BJ Davis – were major cogs last season, but many of them had been a major part of the program’s recent run of success.

 

           Any thoughts the Stallions’ success rate this season wouldn’t be as strong with the changes have yet to be proven. It appears they haven’t skipped a beat, winning their first seven contests of the season.

 

           Williamsburg head coach Tyler Boyd is surprised/not surprised by his team’s start.

 

           “I guess I’m a little bit surprised,” Boyd said. “We’re counting on a lot of sophomores this year and we hoped they would be able to step up. A lot of these sophomores had to play junior varsity last year because we had so many seniors and they were great. We only lost one game on JV last year.

 

           “We thought they would be successful for us on the varsity this year, and so far that has been the case.”

 

           However, while the newcomers are certainly helping out, Williamsburg returns senior Bryce Blackburn and senior Layton Morris. Boyd deems them as the top two players from last year’s squad.

 

           “It’s big for us to have them back,” the veteran head coach said. “Even with all the seniors we had last season, Bryce and Layton were our two best overall hitters and two of our three best pitchers.”

 

           The right-handed swinging Blackburn owned a .370 batting average last season while having eight doubles and three home runs among his 27 hits. He also had 19 runs batted in and scored 16 runs while stealing seven bases. The left-handed hitting Morris batted .362 with seven doubles and four homers among 25 hits. He led the team in both RBI and runs with 24 and 30, respectively, to go with six steals.

 

           Morris finished with an on-base percentage of 495 while Blackburn had an on-base percentage of .447.

 

           Blackburn and Morris both throw right-handed. Blackburn had an 8-1 win-loss record with a 1.63 earned run average in 38 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out 29 while allowing 22 hits and walking 21.

 

           Morris was used more out of the bullpen last season, but is one of the top two starters. He pitched 22 innings last year, posting a 2-1 record and a 0.32 ERA. He recorded two saves while striking out 28 against three hits and eight walks.

 

           The duo will be holding down third base when either one is pitching.

 

           The Stallions will be counting on a quartet of sophomores in Ethan Jones, Hall Dukes, Sammy Tomlinson and Charlie Caulder to provide major innings. Boyd sees Dukes as his No. 3 starter with Tomlinson, Jones and Caulder coming out of the bullpen.

 

           Senior Wyatt Floyd and junior Jay Kellahan will also see time on the mound.

 

           “The pitchers have been doing a good job of throwing strikes so far,” Boyd said. “We’re hoping that’s something that will continue. Just the amount of strikes we’re throwing will be important for us to be successful this year.”

 

           The other returners to the starting lineup are Kellahan at shortstop and Floyd at first base. Kellahan batted .250 in 28 at-bats with a double, six runs, five stolen bases and 10 runs batted in Floyd also had a .250 average in 36 at-bats with three double, a home run, nine runs batted in, six steals and 10 runs.

 

           Kellahan and Floyd both had strong on-base percentages though. Floyd had an OBP of .438 while Kellahan was at .382.

 

           Boyd likes the way his team has played defense so far. He believes if the Stallions continue to play stellar defense, it will be hard for the opposition to put up runs.

 

“As long as we’re making those plays we’ll be OK,” Boyd said.

 

           Dukes, a left-handed swinger, will be splitting time at both second base and in left field with junior Micah Balder. Junior Conner Morris and sophomore Grant Small will be splitting time at catcher. Caulder will be the centerfielder with Jones, senior Kayden Carter and senior Billy Williamson in the mix in the outfield.

 

           Blackburn, Layton Morris and Conner Morris have been hitting the baseball with great authority all season, according to Boyd. He just needs the remainder of the lineup to do its job.

           

           “We have three guys hitting the ball really well, and I’m not going to be asking them to change anything,” he said. “Throughout the rest of the lineup, I want them to be making contact, not striking out and putting the ball in play. If we can do that, we’ll score a lot of runs.”

 

           The Stallions are part of SCISA Region3-AAA along with longtime foe Pee Dee Academy, Florence Christian School, Dillon Christian School and Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach.

 

           After winning the AA state championship in 2021, Williamsburg finished as state runner-u to Pee Dee the next two years. The first year, 2022, came in AA, while it was for the AAA title the following year.

 

           Boyd hopes losing to eventual AAA state champion Hilton Head Christian Academy in the semifinals last year has the Stallions hungry.

 

“I think they have the desire to do so,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get back to where we wat to get, especially with this senior group.”

By Billy Baker April 23, 2025
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Bamberg —The Class AA HSSR third ranked Barnwell Warhorses and the Class A Bamberg - Ehrhardt Raider baseball teams have both already won region titles, and they will both host four-team district play-offs in early May, so they met in a play-off tune-up game on Tuesday night with Barnwell winning 12-1. The two teams also met on April, 9 with Barnwell prevailing 3-0 in that game. Barnwell senior ace pitcher Cameron Austin, a five time all-region and four-time all-state honoree , improved his record to 5-2 on the season working five innings against the Raiders. Austin had six K’s and allowed only four hits. On the season, Austin has worked 39.1 innings with 58 K’s with a 1.23 ERA. The top hitters for Barnwell in the win were outfielder Tommy Reid with two hits, while Austin collected three RBI’s and scored two runs. Three players, Hayden Pierce, senior catcher Kaleb McCormack, and third baseman Trey Boleman , each had one hit and one RBI respectively . Carl Hines added a hit also. Bamberg was hampered by giving up 10 walks and four errors during the game. The Raiders were led at the plate by left-fielder Weston Stokes who went 2-of- three. He also saw late action on the mound. The team’s other two hits came from second baseman Dakota Black and center fielder Brent Amaker . The starting pitcher for B-E was Cooper Sandifer who worked 4.2 innings, giving up three hits with six K’s. After the game, Barnwell head coach Cody McCollum shared some thoughts with the HSSR. “We always have a good chance of winning with Cameron on the mound, especially when he is throwing strikes, and the guys are playing good defense behind him; and we are swinging the bats well,” said Coach McCollum, who played baseball at Barnwell where he graduated in 2012. “They walked a lot of guys tonight and that helped us too. “Winning the region was something I talked about with the boys at the beginning of the season because I felt like this team was good enough to go undefeated in the region,” said Coach McCollum. “We fell a little short last year, losing a region game to Edisto, and that stuck in the back of our heads, and this year our expectation was to go 10-0 in the region. “Our other internal goal is to win at least 20 games before the playoffs start and we are 18-4 right now, with four games left,” said Coach McCollum. “We need to win at least two more. We play Batesburg - Leesville tomorrow, (April, 23), South Aiken twice next week, and Woodland one more time. We are going to try hard to get two more wins.” Coach McCollum said that Austin, batting .468 with 26 RBI’s and six home runs, has played more third base, when not pitching this season. “Before I came back to Barnwell last year, I was at Hampton, and I had to coach against him, and I glad he is now on my team. He’s a very good player.” Coach McCollum said Barnwell has relied on Austin, and three other seniors for most of the load this season. “We have a sophomore and a freshman starting in the middle, and we have two sophomore starters in the outfield, and a junior started in center field tonight,” said Coach McCollum. “We are kind of young and old at the same time. “The other seniors are Kaleb McCormack , our catcher, who has improved his hitting this season along with and Trey Boleman who started at third tonight and Hayden Pierce was at first tonight, and he hit a double off the wall. Kaleb is a very good on defense behind the plate and we feel good about him, behind the plate, regardless of who is pitching.” Case Davis is a freshman starting shortstop with a .411 batting average. Pierce is at .390 and McCormick is at .289 with 16 RBI’s and a .999 fielding percentage. Joe Huggins is the DH and he is hitting .367. Sophomore Dakota Black starts at second. Tommy Reid is a junior center fielder currently batting .333.  Vincent Gibson is a sophomore in the outfield for Barnwell. Jax Mead is a sophomore starting at second base. Caiden Roland is the sophomore starting right fielder. Some additional Barnwell pitching depth has come from, Pierce (5-0, 35 K’s, ERA 2.54), along with Bradley Richardson (2-0, 9 K’s), Boleman (26-K’s) and Davis (24 K’s with a 1.07 ERA). After the game, Bamberg Ehrhardt (8-6) head coach Gene Schwarting told the HSSR, “We have three 8 graders who start for us, two 9 th graders, one sophomore, a junior and two seniors so for the most part we are a young team,” said Coach Schwarting. “Our two seniors, Weston Stokes and Brent Amaker are co-captains” Stokes is the team’s number one pitcher. Stokes started in left against Barnwell and batted lead-off. Amaker started in center and batted third. Nasi Singleton, an 8 th grader , will typically start in the outfield and Garrett Wade usually starts at third base. Chip Brewer, or Stokes, will start at short and Dakota Black is at second while 8 th grader Chase Collins holds down first. Asiel Graham is usually the starting B-E catcher, backed up by Davis Ehrhardt . Singleton is the top hitter for the Raider at .477 and 8 RBI’s. Stokes is at .410 and 12 RBI’s. Black is third on the hit index at .333 and 15 RBI’s. Other top hitters include: Amaker (.317 with 17 RBI’s & a HR), Wade (.306 & 10 RBI’s) along with Cooper Sandifer (.300 & five RBI’s). Stokes has 26 innings pitched with 48 K’s. Sandifer has worked 22.1 innings on the mound with 38 K’s, and Brewer has 14 innings pitched to date with 25 K’s. “In terms of our pitching this season, it has been pretty good, but at times it has also been like a roller- coaster,” said Coach Schwarting. “We will pitch well one game, and not so well the next game. We also need to improve on our timely hitting before we start the play-offs also. “The other night we lost to Orangeburg Prep 6-3, and we left the bases loaded in the second, third, fourth and 5 th innings,” said Coach Schwarting. “”We have to get stronger in our hitting, up and down the line-up, one through nine. “Our pitching has been outstanding, our defense has been solid, and we just need to do a much better job getting hits with runners on base,” said Coach Schwarting, a Bamberg-Ehrhardt graduate now in his 7 th season as the Raiders head coach.
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