Category Archives: Sports
Red Devils pull out crucial region win
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — When Christ Church pitcher Lujack Cole overthrew his third baseman during Liberty’s matchup with the Cavaliers last Tuesday night, Red Devil 
catcher Camryn Gambrell wasn’t sure what to do as he moved toward third base.
“I saw it fly over him, but I didn’t know if I could get home,” Gambrell said. “I was just waiting on coach to let me know.”
Luckily for the Devils, the errant throw gave Gambrell plenty of time to cross the plate and complete
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Easley girls shut out Blue Flame to stay undefeated in region play
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Coming off a huge region win over Travelers Rest, the Easley High School girls’ soccer team seemed sluggish and fell behind early against county 
and region foe Pickens on Friday night.
The Wave didn’t stay that way for long though, as they blasted the Blue Flame 6-2 to
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DWD’s Owens, Taylor ink with Bob Jones, Newberry
By Eric Sprott
Courtesy the Journal
news@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — For Bobby Taylor, all the time he’s spent honing his craft on the court — often in empty gyms and out of the spotlight — has placed him in rare air 
in Daniel High School basketball history.
For Caleb Owens, the success he’s enjoyed in the relatively short time he’s spent in the gym — his love for football was too great to focus on a single sport — has Lions head coach Ben Touchberry
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Pickens volleyball receives state rings
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Just a few months removed from their Class 4A state championship win over Aiken, the Pickens Blue Flame volleyball team received their state
championship rings in a ceremony at Pickens High School on Thursday afternoon.
The 2021 state championBlue Flame were the first Pickens team to win state since 2014, and the first to win a
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Daniel can’t capitalize against Wren at home
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — Facing Wren in a crucial Western 3A matchup on Friday night, the Daniel High School baseball team struggled to muster run support throughout the night and headed to the seventh inning down 6-0.
There, Brodey Conn managed to finally put the Lions on the board with a two-out double, but it proved to be too little, too late as mistakes and missed opportunities resulted in a 6-2 loss.
“It’s tough to win ballgames when you’re playing a team like Wren that’s always going to be
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Green Wave fall against Science Hill
EASLEY — After a late-inning loss to Laurens last week, the Easley Green Wave looked to rebound against the Science Hill (Tenn.) Hilltoppers on Saturday.
However, the Green Wave were unable to get back on track against their out-of-state opponent in a 4-0 loss.
Turning to Kaleb Owens on the mound, the Green Wave saw the sophomore deliver, giving up just one hit in the
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Thornall’s arm, bat help lead Flame to third straight win against Liberty
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Coming off two straight region wins, the Pickens Blue Flame softball team hosted county foe Liberty on Monday and kept the momentum going in a 7-2 win.
The Blue Flame win was made possible by a strong day from freshman Kylie Thornall, both in the circle and in the batter’s box.
“She played awesome,” Pickens head coach Lizzie Fela said. “She’s just a freshman, so her coming in
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Daniel sweeps Pickens County meet
LIBERTY — For the second consecutive season, Daniel High School boys’ and girls’ teams swept the Pickens County Track Championship.
In the boys’ events, the Lions were led by a standout day from Jaylen Brown-Wallace. Brown-Wallace finished first in both the long and triple jumps and took third in the high jump to earn boys’ field MVP honors.
Brown-Wallace wasn’t the only multi-event winner for the Daniel boys, with Jeffery Davis winning both the 100 and 200 meter dashes alongside the 4×400 meter relay. Gabe Smith and James Taylor
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Pickens team wins Palmetto Region championship
PICKENS — The Pickens Carolina One 18 Elite volleyball team won the USAVolleyball Palmetto Region 2022 Championship on Sunday at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center.
The Pickens Carolina One club volleyball team, which goes by the name “Pride,” won seven matches during the March 25-27 tournament. In the championship final, Pride defeated the Sumter Juniors Volleyball Club in two sets, 25-16, 25-17. The Pickens team did not drop a set during the Rock Hill tournament.
With the win comes a bid for Pride to play in the USAVolleyball Girls 18s Junior National Championship April 22-24 in Phoenix, Ariz.
“This group of young women continues to amaze and impress me,” Pride coach Nikki Anthony said. “They were fierce competitors on the court and a class act off the court this weekend. This team handedly won the Palmetto Region Tournament, as no team scored more than 17 points against us all weekend. The work they have put in all season prepared them for this final Palmetto Region Tournament, and all players contributed in the championship match.”
Pride also recently captured the tournament championship at the Shamrock Scuffle March 12-13 in Suwannee, Ga.
Pride features 11 upper-level players from five area high schools: Pickens, Belton-Honea Path, Easley, Walhalla and Wren. Players from Pickens High are Calie Covey, Alaina Craigo, Lauren Dow, Macie Gentry, Caroline Lucas and Emma Van Daele. Emmie Williams plays at Belton-Honea Path High, and Polly McCollum comes from Easley High. Payton Burkett is from Walhalla High, and Karson Haley and Ashley Stein play for Wren High.
Carolina One Volleyball is a locally owned nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting volleyball in Upstate South Carolina. Carolina One is now in its 15th season and is the longest-running volleyball club in the state of South Carolina.
Blue Flame take region series over Westside
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — A dominant day on the mound gave the Pickens Blue Flame their first region series win on the season on Friday as they took down Westside, 5-0.
Senior pitcher and Coker University commit Ryan Ford got the start for the Blue Flame and took down the Rams with ease, surrendering just two hits and adding eight strikeouts in five innings.
Even when Ford was taken out of the game after hurling a gem, the Blue Flame didn’t miss a step as Aidan Stewart closed out the rest of the game without surrendering a hit to the Rams.
Stewart proved to be too hard to handle for the Rams all week, with a win on Monday and the savc
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on Friday.
While getting a great day on the mound was essential to the Blue Flame effort, the win was made possible by the Pickens bats getting hot early.
C.J. Martin led the Flame off with a walk, and an error by the Rams shortstop allowed Kase Lewis to reach first base. With those two on base, Cooper O’Sullivan wasted no time bringing them home on a double to give Pickens a 2-0 lead.
Westside pitcher Elijah Grant settled down from there, striking out three straight Blue Flame batters to escape the inning.
A quick three-up, three-down inning by Ford put the Blue Flame right back in the batter’s box, and once again they were able to get on the scoreboard.
Tanner Tinsley picked up his first hit of the night and was quickly moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Brody Miller. Then, a Westside error not only allowed Tinsley to score, but also gave Martin a trip home as he rounded the bases in his second at-bat to bump the Pickens lead to 4-0.
Both offenses stalled out the rest of the way, with the lone exception coming in the sixth inning as Tinsley came to bat for the third time. For the second time on the night, Tinsley was able to get ahold of one of Grant’s pitches, picking up a hit and allowing eighth-grader Ayden Beeco to come home and score to give the Blue Flame the 5-0 advantage.
With the win over Westside, the Blue Flame turned their sights to region foe Walhalla. In game 1 of the series on Monday night, the Blue Flame fell 7-3 to drop to 4-2 on the season.
Pickens 5, Westside 0
WHS 000 000 0 0 2 4
PHS 220 001 X 5 5 0
WP: Ford 5 IP, 2H, 3BB, 8K
LP: Grant 6 IP, 5H, 5R, 2BB, 8K
PHS: O’Sullivan 3-3, 2 RBI, 2B; Tinsley 2-3, RBI, R.
WHS: Clark 1-3, 2B; Brownell 1-2, BB.
