Category Archives: Sports
Lions bash Berea to stay unbeaten in region
By Eric Sprott
Courtesy The Journal
sports@upstatetoday.com
CENTRAL — Suffice to say the Daniel High School girls’ soccer team holds itself to a high standard.
In their first action in a week-and-a-half due to spring break, the Lions feel like they showed some signs of rust early in their return to the pitch Monday evening at home
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Daniel sweeps county track meet
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — Heading into the home stretch of their seasons, Pickens County’s four public high schools took to the track at Daniel High School on April 2 for the Pickens County Track and Field Championships.
For the second year in a row, it was a clean sweep for Daniel High School with its boys’ and girls’ teams both taking first place at the meet.
While the Lions controlled the final standings, the Easley girls had the best day on the track winning nine events.
Aamari Kelly was the biggest winner for the Green Wave, proving to be one of the county’s finest athletes with first place finishes in the 100-meter dash as well as the
Red Devils, Lions boast meet MVPs
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Out of the more than 100 athletes who traveled to Daniel High School for the Pickens County Track and Field Championships, six were lauded for their achievements and presented with awards following the completion of the meet.
Liberty’s Reid Finley and Ciairra Hester, Easley’s Aamari Kelly and Daniel’s Dodson Broussard, Christian Chancellor Jr. and Lizah Williams and Trey Wimbley were named
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Scholarship recipients named
Above: Easley’s Aamari Kelly was awarded the inaugural King of the Pit Scholarship by the King family at the Pickens County track meet last week. The scholarship is awarded to an outstanding jumper from Pickens County. Below: Easley’s Acie Vincent, Liberty’s Reid Finley and Liberty’s Brayden Bagwell were each awarded the Abraham Balawi Memorial Scholarship by Shannon Balawi. The scholarship, named in honor of Liberty great Abraham Balawi, is awarded to standout track and field athletes in Pickens County each spring.
Lady Lions take down Blue Flame
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — With both teams looking to pick up their first region wins of the season, 
the Pickens High School softball team hosted Daniel on Wednesday night.
The Lions were able to take a commanding 7-0 lead in the opening inning and never looked back as they picked up a 13-2 win over the Blue Flame.
“We’ve been struggling and we haven’t been able to get all three phases of the game to happen at the same time,” Daniel head coach Tony Qualkinbush said. “Tonight, we did and we set the tone. Overall, this is what we’re capable of. They just have to start
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AWL Pro Wrestling returns to the Market at the Mill this Saturday
PICKENS — The stars of the American Wrestling League (AWL) are set to return to Pickens this Saturday for one of the organization’s featured events, “Spring Break 2026.” The AWL has quickly adopted Pickens — and the Market at the Mill — as one of its premier stops, bringing some of the most exciting independent professional wrestling action in the region.
The night’s card opens with a clash between “The Frat Daddy” Bryce Cannon and the always‑tough Jessie Alexander Carter, a matchup expected to deliver plenty of hard‑hitting intensity. High‑flying action follows as Chris Young squares off with Alexander Moss, promising fast‑paced aerial offense.
Championship gold will also be on the line. AWL Juniorweight Champion Saint Julious will defend his title against Buddy Wright, renewing a heated rivalry as both competitors return from suspension. In another standout bout, Chris Valo makes his return to Pickens to face the legendary Blackcat Leon Johnson in a one‑on‑one
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Central girls win state title
The Central-Clemson Recreation 10U girls’ basketball team secured the first-ever state championship for Central-Clemson in the age division. The girls started off with a 29-12 win over Richland County, then beat North Charleston 31-24 in the semifinals. They then beat North Charleston once again by a final score of 32-18 to claim the title.
Devils fall short against West-Oak
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Taking a 2-0 first inning lead over West-Oak on Friday night, the Liberty High School baseball team looked like it was on its way to picking up its second 
consecutive win.
Instead, unforced errors allowed the Warriors to recover quickly, and the Red Devils were unable to match them in the batter’s box, leading to a 9-2 loss.
“We’ve got young guys all over the field for us and they make great plays, but when you have young guys there are going to be growing pains,” Liberty head coach Trey Ulmer said. “We know these guys are going to be stud players and we’re going to keep working.”
The Devils looked great in the opening inning with starting pitcher Carson Garrick taking down the Warriors in order before Liberty went to work in the batter’s 
box. A one-out double from T.J. Borow and an Ethan Carroll walk put runners in scoring position, where Garrick was able to drive them home with a single to center field.
West-Oak quickly answered in the second inning taking advantage of errors, passed balls and wild pitches, as well as an RBI-single from Cole Dobbs to take a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the inning.
Liberty went down in order to end the second and West-Oak added even more insurance in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly from Eli Hayes. Liberty seemed like it might have an answer with back-to-back two out singles from Carroll and Garrick only for the inning to end on the basepaths with pinch runner Chase Smith getting caught stealing.
Things were quiet for both sides in the fourth, but West-Oak was able to add three more runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Graham Campbell and a two-RBI single from Parker Gibson. The Warriors weren’t done there, with Grant Smith adding another two-RBI single in the sixth inning to give Liberty a 9-2 deficit.
The Red Devils found a little offense late with Daniel Belan drawing a walk and Jacob Melton picking up a two-out single. However, Liberty was unable to match the Warriors with Nolan Burgess drawing the game-ending ground out to give West-Oak a 9-2 victory.
The loss was the latest in a sting of ebbs and flows for the youthful Liberty baseball team which had run-ruled region 1-2A favorite Landrum the previous week followed by a loss to county rival Pickens. In spite of some of the early season struggles, Ulmer believes the Devils will be ready to bounce back.
“We have high hopes and high expectations for this group once we get through the ebbs and flows and start to figure some things out,” Ulmer said.
Wave take down rival Pickens
The Easley Green Wave were able to pick up a massive rivalry win over county foe Pickens on the diamond last week, with a 17-1 road win over the Blue Flame. Green Wave first baseman Katie Marchbanks had a sensational day in the batter’s box in the win going 4-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI’s, while Easley pitcher Abby Wade gave up just three hits and struck out nine Pickens batters in a complete game win. Pictured above, Easley’s Rachel Spoden slides into second base, while Pickens shortstop Kynlee Ray attempts to apply a tag.
