By Thomas Grant Jr.
“Championship Saturday” was celebrated in the town of West Columbia.
Earlier on Saturday, the Lady Eagles defeated York 5-2 in the deciding game of the Best-of-Three series. This was the first in the new classification after winning in Class 2A last year and in 2022.
Aspen Boulware set the tone in her team’s first at-bat. She sent the first pitch over the rightfield wall for her school-record 22nd home run of the season.
After the Lady Cougars scored a run in the second and third innings to take the lead, Gray Collegiate answered with a pair of 2-run homers. With reliever Makenzie Sease on base following an error, starting senior pitcher Maddox Long cleared the bases with a home run to centerfield to make it 3-2 in the fourth inning.
It was déjà vu in the fifth inning. The only difference this time was fellow senior Kaley Anderson clearing the wall to extend the lead.
Sease retired the final six York batters in order to clinch the victory.
“We’ve been in (Class) 2A and people said we couldn’t play in (Class) 4A,” Gray Collegiate head coach Doug Frye said. “We knew we could. We’re a good team.”
Gray Collegiate finished the season with a 32-3 record. Over the past four seasons, it has gone 29-3 in the playoffs and were 8-1 this year.
Gray Collegiate photo by S.C. High School League
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