South Florence, Johnsonville prepare for state title series

For coach Bobby Jones and the South Florence Bruins, playing in the state championship series has become something of a tradition during the last few seasons.

For coach Ryan Poston and the Johnsonville Flashes, though, it will be a welcomed new experience for the players, the coach and the program.

The high school softball state championship series begin today.  South hosts Gaffney in game one of the Class 4A final, while Johnsonville welcomes Buford to town in the Class A final.

The Bruins are vying for their third championship in the last four years. South has competed for the state crown in five out of the last six seasons, winning titles in 2006 and 2007.

“It’s basically about having good kids that work real hard and believe in what we’re doing,” Jones said of his program’s success. “There’s no one thing you can point to. It’s a combination of different things.”

One thing that has been a constant is the pitching, no matter who’s been on the mound. The Bruins have had four different aces in the last four years, but have continued to thrive.

The latest is Kaiti Harper, whose 22-0 record speaks for itself.

“She’s done a great job for us all season, and the defense behind her has played well, too,” Jones said. “As long as you have that, you’re going to be in most ballgames.”

The Bruins’ offense has been solid all season as well. Against Stratford, it showed the ability to come through when the game was on the line.

Kylie Cribb’s RBI single in the seventh inning of Friday’s lower state championship helped tie the score. Abby Yarborough’s RBI single in the eighth finished off the comeback.

“It’s key people in key situations coming up with big hits,” Jones said. “It goes back to the experience. We have four girls who were on our last state championship team, so it’s been there, done that for them.”

South now turns its attention to Gaffney, the team that knocked off defending state champion Wren.

“We know they have a good pitcher and the fact that they beat Wren shows that they’re obviously a very good team,” Jones said. “We just have to make sure we play solid defense and put the ball in play on a consistent basis. That will give us the best chance to win.”

While the title series might be old hat to the Bruins, the Flashes are gearing up for their first title appearance in school history.

But you wouldn’t know that watching or talking to the team, Poston said.

“This is a pretty loose group,” Poston said. “They’ve been that way all season. They haven’t let their nerves or the big-game pressure overwhelm them.”

That bodes well for a team that Poston has seen grow considerably since he started with them five years ago.

“I think it helped that the girls were able to see the improvements every year,” Poston said. “Last year was the first time we beat Latta and Lake View, and this year we were able to beat a lot of good
teams on the way to state.”

The Flashes, who are unbeaten in the playoffs, beat Lake View once and East Clarendon twice en route to the lower state title.

Pitching has been one of the major catalysts for the team. Starter Rachel Gaster was near perfect in two games against East Clarendon and has five shutouts this postseason. She’s allowed just one
earned run in six postseason games.

“Rachel has obviously stepped up her game tremendously in the postseason,” Poston said. “I think part of that has to do with her competitiveness, and part of it has to do with our No. 2 pitcher, Ashlyn
Cribb. She pitched so well for us in the regular season that Rachel only had to throw about 90 innings. So, she’s pretty fresh.”

Johnsonville’s bats have gone through a transition this postseason. After slugging out 34 runs in the District VIII playoffs, the Flashes were able to get timely hits in order to advance in the lower state
bracket. Johnsonville scored two runs in the sixth inning of game one against East Clarendon and then scored in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to beat Lake View.

“I think we’re still getting good swings and getting good at-bats,” Poston said. “It’s just that the pitching and the defense have gotten so much better now. We’ve just got to continue to take advantage of
the opportunities when we get them.”

The Flashes will see more good pitching against Buford, Poston said, and perhaps one of the most potent lineups they will have seen this postseason.

“They scored (21) runs in their final three games against Landrum and Indian Land,” Poston said. “They swing the bats well and they’re aggressive on the base paths like us.

“We’re very similar in a lot of ways.”