BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. — The Marlboro Academy Lady Dragon softball program won its second South Carolina Independent School Association 2A state title in three years earlier this week.
A part of the team were six Richmond County natives, and for several of them, it was their second time hoisting the postseason hardware.
Those players were: Jenna Greene (senior, pitcher), Ragan Liles (junior, third baseman), Mattie Liles (freshman, left fielder), Madison Carriker (sophomore, shortstop) Savanna Barber (senior, second baseman) and Makalya Parks (eighth grade, infielder).
No. 1 Marlboro Academy swept No. 2 Pee Dee Academy (Mullins, S.C.) in the three-game championship series. The Lady Dragons took game one 4-2 over the Lady Golden Eagles, and capped their championship season with a 9-0 victory at home.
“This team is very deep offensively,” 12th-year head coach Boyd McLaurin said. “If we could put up three or four runs a game, Jenna could get us the win. That was the difference with this team — we could score with anybody. Our one through nine (batters) can hit it.”
The 2019 title made it the fourth time Marlboro Academy has won the SCISA 2A championship under McLaurin. The other seasons were 2012, 2013 and 2017.
Unlike public high school softball, which sees playoff fields of 48 or more teams, Marlboro’s road to the title saw it play three games, against two different teams, ahead of the championship series. The SCISA 2A bracket had eight teams in it.
Playing in the Upper Bracket of the 2A playoffs, the Lady Dragons opened with a pair of 5-0 wins over No. 3 Williamsburg Academy and No. 4 Thomas Heyward Academy. To cap off the two-day opening round tournament played in Sumter, S.C., Marlboro Academy faced Williamsburg again, defeating the Lady Stallions 8-1.
“This team was 32-2 this season, and we won three big tournaments to get to the championship,” McLaurin noted. “Overall, this senior class, which includes Jenna and Savanna, has gone 132-26 in a five-year span. That’s pretty impressive.”
Greene, who is a Presbyterian College softball commit, got her final playoff run started with a bang. In the first-round game against Williamsburg, she recorded her 1,000th career strikeout.
“It was so bittersweet and rewarding,” Greene said of capping her career with a state title. “My goal before I graduated was to win two championships. It was so rewarding because we had all worked so hard this year and were determined to win it.
“My journey to 1,000 strikeouts started when I was moved to varsity in eighth grade,” she added. “I never saw it as a possible goal until last season when I reached 700. I’m super proud of the accomplishment because it shows the hard work and commitment I’ve put in all these years for our team.”
In the opening game of the championship series on Monday, Marlboro Academy hung a three-spot in the first inning on the road to take an early lead. Carriker hit an RBI triple and was brought in on a Ragan Liles single. Greene came up and also hit an RBI single to cap the inning.
In the top of the third, an error by Pee Dee’s third baseman allowed Ragan Liles to score the team’s final run. Greene finished with a complete game, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out six batters.
A night later at home, Greene threw a one-hit shutout in her final high school start. She took a no-hitter into the seventh and gave up a two-out single to Bailey Elvington, while also striking out 11 batters.
Marlboro Academy used a four-run bottom of the second and a pair of two-run homers to open the game up. Abigail Ridge hit a two-run shot to make the game 3-0, and Laney McLaurin stepped in two at-bats later and cleared the outfield fence.
Barber, Carriker, and Ragan (a Wingate University softball commit) and Mattie Liles would all record one RBI in the final game.
“Jenna’s been flawless since her sophomore year,” Coach McLaurin said. “I can’t say enough about her — she’s a lights out pitcher who is easy to coach. Jenna is very respectful and as a coach, I don’t get them like that a lot. She’ll be missed.
“I really enjoy coaching all of them,” he added of the Richmond County players on his team. “Ragan has been flawless defensively and is rock solid everywhere. She swings a good stick and she’ll be our pitcher next year and look to defend the state title.”
McLaurin added that Barber has earned the nickname “Clutch,” having batted .700 in the weekend series to open the state playoffs. He said she’s the kind of player who “has come up with the big hit when we needed it the most this season.”
Mattie Liles and Carriker, along with Parks, still have some years ahead of them, and McLaurin said he’s looking forward to see what they can do in the future to help the program.
