Category Archives: Sports
COVID-19 changes the game
On Sunday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced that all schools statewide would be closing from March 16-31 to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. With no school, high school 
athletics have also been shut down and with the South Carolina High School League cancelling all spring sports until April 5 on Monday, who really knows when or if high school sports will be allowed to come back this school year. With this decision, like any decision that affects and changes a great number of lives, there will be some form of derision.
I am no expert on disease and for that reason alone, I am not in a place to definitively say whether this ban is
Late Seneca surge proves costly
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — Following a walk-off loss to the Seneca Bobcats just two days prior, the Daniel Lions softball team looked for revenge against their heated foe on Thursday night.
That revenge never came though, as the Lions gave up two late runs in a 3-1 loss.
“We fought Tuesday when Seneca scored late on us,” Daniel head coach Mary Cate Garrett said. “But tonight, we just kind of laid down and that’s just not the kind of team we want to be.”
“I told them we have to change our attitudes — tomorrow is a new day, and we just have to bounce back by playing innning to inning.”
Things started off pretty slow in the first inning, with
Pickens falls short against Bobcats
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
ANDERSON — After beating eventual tournament champion T.L. Hanna just days before, the Pickens Blue Flame varsity baseball team entered Friday’s matchup with the Seneca Bobcats in prime position to continue their winning ways in their final game of the preseason Shock City Invitational.
However, the Blue Flame bats just couldn’t get going as Seneca pitcher Carson Smith went all seven innings in a 4-1 win.
“I’ve got to give credit to Seneca’s pitcher,” Pickens coach Matt Smith said. “He came out throwing strikes. We competed hard, but giving up four runs in the first few innings (hurt), and we just couldn’t get anything more than a couple hits going.”
Unlike Seneca, the Blue Flame had some early mound trouble that set the pace for the game. Starter Tanner Tinsley only made it through two innings as he struggled with
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Rodeo draws big crowds
The T. Ed Garrison Arena hosted the Clemson IPRA World Championship Rodeo last Friday and Saturday, with great attendance for both events. Above, Kameron Merck of Easley rides a bull on Saturday.
Daniel boys take first at Liberty track scrimmage
LIBERTY — The Daniel High School boys and the Powdersville High School girls placed first among five area teams at a scrimmage track meet at Liberty High School on March 3.
The Daniel boys took first place, followed by Powdersville and host Liberty. Walhalla and Pickens rounded out the pack, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
For the girls, Powdersville reigned supreme, with Daniel finishing second. Walhalla, Liberty and
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Green Wave lose tourney title game despite no-hitter
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
ANDERSON — With the tying runner on third, Bennett Simon came up to the plate for the Easley 
Green Wave with the inaugural Shock City Invitational tournament on the line.
The Green Wave, 3-0 in tournament play, trailed region foe and tournament host T.L. Hanna 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and needed the offense badly.
However, a base hit was a big ask for either team on a night where Easley had only managed one hit and held the Yellow Jackets to zero, but it was now or never for the Green Wave.
The hit never came, though, as Simon grounded out to end the last-second rally, allowing Hanna to become the first-ever Shock City Tournament champions in a 1-0 win.
“There’s a lot of different ways to win baseball games,” T.L Hanna head coach Daniel Crenshaw said. “Luckily
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Easley’s Hill wins state
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
ANDERSON — This time last year, Easley High School wrestler Josh Hill entered a stratosphere 
unknown to any wrestler in the history of the Green Wave program.
Hill, then a junior, battled through the bracket at the state individual championship and became the first state champion for Easley in the 51 years of statewide wrestling competition. Now, Hill will enter the record books once again for two amazing feats he accomplished over the weekend.
After taking first in last week’s upper state qualifier, Hill became the first two-time wrestling state champion in Easley history on Saturday at the Andeson Civic Center and finished his career as the all-time wins leader in Green Wave history with 158
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Pickens soccer dominates Liberty in season opener
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — High school soccer season started with a matchup of county foes on Monday night as the Pickens Blue Flame took on the Liberty Red Devils.
The Pickens boys team had no struggles at all with the co-ed group from Liberty, taking a decisive 7-0 win.
“This is a good group,” Pickens head coach Jon Davit said. “We had a strong preseason and they
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Wave take LHS softball tourney
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Spring fever hit Pickens County over the weekend in the form of a softball tournament hosted by the Liberty Red Devils.
The Red Devils hosted county foe Easley alongside Walhalla and Westside in a battle for preseason supremacy.
Tournament play began on Friday night, with Easley taking on Westside.
The Green Wave got off to a hot start on the night with Olivia Durham getting them out of the first
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Daniel’s Benson to play in North/South game
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — High school basketball season has finally come to an end in Pickens County, but one local athlete will have a final chance to represent his alma mater on the hardwood.
Daniel’s Brenton Benson was named last week to the North/South All-Star game, where he will compete against some of the best basketball players in the state of South Carolina.
The game will be held at Lexington High School on Saturday, March 21.
“It’s very exciting,” Benson said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
Benson, a 6’6″ senior forward/center, was one of the driving forces behind one of Daniel’s most successful seasons in the past decade, averaging more than 12 points and eight rebounds a game, while the team went 23-6 and won its first playoff game in seven years.
“He’s a monster on the glass,” Daniel coach Ben Touchberry said of Benson earlier this season. “He
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