The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Laurence Manning's Hodge caps off spectacular high school career with 3-peat
Every senior athlete has the same dream heading into their final season in high school sports. They want to be the last one standing, cradling a championship trophy before taking the stage to walk at graduation. For most seniors, their final game doesn't come with the same happy tears. Laurence Manning's Ashley Rae Hodge got that and more.
Rae's time as a Lady Swampcat ended about as perfectly as possible. During her final basketball season, she eclipsed 1,000 career points just before her best friend and teammate, Lyza Prickelmyer, hit the milestone. The pair moved into softball, capping off one of the most spectacular runs of high school softball with their third consecutive SCISA 4A state title. Rae was in the on-deck circle as Prickelmyer smashed a go-ahead home run in the top of the eighth inning at Pinewood Prep before the LMA defense secured the victory in the bottom half of the frame. After playing for a state title in every single year of her high school career, Rae left on the mountain top as part of a massive senior class at LMA that made history with the only three-peat in the history of the softball program.
"You couldn't have written a better script," said Lisa Ard, Rae's head basketball coach and assistant softball coach. "I don't think she really realized what she actually accomplished in her high school career. She took it as normal because that's what she expected out of herself, but when you go through a season, make it to a state championship and play for a state championship year after year and win three, that is a feat for anybody. It's hard to go back to back; it's hard to get to the first one. And here she is finishing up, and she's played for four and won three in a row. It shows they've come together, they were determined; they put in the work and saw it through."
BUSY BEE
Ashley Rae's athletic success was built on a few key tenets.
The first is a family that lives and breathes sports. Her dad was a college athlete, as were two of her aunts. When Rae considered dropping basketball as she graduated out of cub ball, her grandma was so heartbroken that she picked up right where she left off. Rae's aunt, Maria Rowland, won eight state titles as the head softball coach at LMA throughout the 2000s and 2010s.
"It's born in her," current LMA head softball coach Buddy Truett said.
The second is a tireless work ethic. Ashley Rae began her journey in sports at an extremely young age, as she started to dance. As she grew up, softball and basketball were added to the fold, and Rae had to balance all three throughout the year until she finally decided she needed to hang up her dancing shoes after her sophomore year because of the taxing workload.
"On B-team and JV, and even varsity, after I'd have basketball practice, I'd have to go to dance afterwards and then I'd be getting home at, like 9, which would leave me like no time for studying or anything like that. After that, I realized it's just too much for me to do with sports and dance," Rae said. "As much as I love to do dance, I can't give up sports. I love sports; I've played with these teammates like my whole life. I grew up playing with Lyza and Marlee (Black) and Maggie (Welch), Lily (Wellborn), all of them."
Rae credits her family for helping her juggle that crazy schedule, especially before she was able to drive herself to practices.
"My mom always took me to Florence or wherever it was for extra lessons. I'd
always have something extra to do, but that's what I wanted because I wanted to use my ability to play sports to the best of my ability that God has given me," Ashley Rae said. "She had to pick me up and take me to and from practices, my grandparents would pick me up, same thing. Before I could drive, it was a struggle balancing dance, softball and basketball."
Even when she dropped dance, basketball and softball kept Rae busy, especially as one sport transitioned into the other.
"Towards the end of basketball, we'd go to hitting lessons. Me and Lyza would go over to Sumter a handful of times, and we'd always go out to eat after," Rae said. "Then we'd come out here to softball, and I'd work out with my Aunt Maria with softball defensively and offensively. It's definitely not the easiest transition, but it was a little bit smoother because of hitting lessons and working with my Aunt Maria."
LEARNING AS A FRESHMAN
Ashley Rae made the jump to varsity in both basketball and softball as a freshman, but the latter almost didn't happen from the jump. Buddy thought Rae was ready for varsity, but she was unsure.
"I was nervous for varsity; I was scared. He took me down to the fence, and I started crying. He did, too, because I just didn't know what to do. I was so torn; I just didn't know," Ashley Rae said. "I talked to my mom and she said, 'Rae, you need to do varsity. You can do it. All of your friends are on the team. Even if you don't play, it's the experience.'"
So, Rae made the leap. At first, she served as a reserve but eventually earned a spot in right field and finished second of the team with a .329 average, right behind her best friend. Rae also led the team with 14 RBIs and scored 22 runs. The stakes on that team were high. LMA played for a state title during Rae's eighth grade season, starting a streak of five consecutive championship appearances. They ultimately came up short against a veteran team from Wilson Hall. By the end of her freshman season, that same Wilson Hall team was waiting for them in the state finals.
The spring of 2023 delivered one of the most exciting championship series between rivals. Wilson Hall took Game 1 on a walk-off homer from Talan Griffin before the 'Cats took Game 2 at home 7-4 to force a decisive third game. The finale came down to the wire, as Wilson Hall pulled out a 2-1 victory to topple their rivals for the second year in a row. It was a tough pill to swallow for a young Ashley Rae.
"It was very devastating because we came so close. I still think about it to this day; me and Lyza and Lily and Marlee, we all can break down those three games. It is stuck in our minds, and we cannot get them out," Rae said. "It's just so sad to think about it, that we came so close, but it also gave us motivation in the years to come. We know how losing is; we don't want to lose again. We know how sad that is, how rough that is, how devastating it is, and we cannot do that again. I think losing gave us that motivation to win the next three."
RUN OF A LIFETIME
Rae and the Lady Swampcats came back the next spring and put all of the pieces together. LMA went 18-4, sweeping Hammond in two games to claim the SCISA 4A state title, finishing the series at home with a 9-0 victory. That set off a chain reaction, as Laurence Manning became the powerhouse of 4A softball. A year later, they found Wilson Hall on the opposite end of the bracket and took the first game 5-1 before again celebrating a title on their home field with a wild 5-4 victory.
Each title let Laurence Manning send their seniors off on the right note. Buddy watched his daughter, Hailey, finish off her high school career with a ring in 2024. A year later, assistant Coach George Kosinski watched his daughter, Laini, close her high school career with a win in the circle before playing college ball for Francis Marion. The pressure was on to make sure this senior class, most of which was on varsity as freshmen, ended their careers on the right note this spring.
"That first one was special because it was my daughter's senior year, and the second one was George's daughter's, but I wanted this one badly because I felt like this was the tail end of what we started with the JV going up to varsity. It felt like I had eight daughters on the team, and I wanted them to go out and feel that experience that Laini and Hailey felt," Buddy said. "To graduate and have them going out winning a state championship means a lot. A lot of people go through their entire high school careers without the chance to win one, and these girls won three, so that's something they can cherish for the rest of their lives."
That road was a little more challenging this spring. Laini Kosinski and Kayleigh Parmenter-Avins were co-aces as the Lady Swampcats started their miracle run, but both graduated in 2025. That meant some new pitchers would have to shoulder the load throughout the spring. LMA also had some odd scheduling quirks, as they went a full two weeks without games. They came back from that break with an absolute sprint to the finish line, which included their busiest SCISA state tournament in recent years. LMA had to take the long road back to the state championship series because of a newcomer, Pinewood Prep, who seemingly came out of nowhere to build a powerhouse. Pinewood handed Laurence Manning a 2-1 loss in the second round of the state tournament, which meant LMA would need to win three games in one day, including two against their rivals from Wilson Hall, if they wanted to punch their tickets back to state.
"Everybody was 100% in; they weren't going to let this opportunity go," Lisa said of Rae and the Lady Swampcats rallying the troops after a tough loss. "We came out and, even if we were down or if we didn't do something perfect, they let it slide and stayed behind them. Rae and Lyza kept setting the tone for what's next, and pretty soon everyone was following them. Buddy's favorite thing is hits create hits, positive brings positive behind it, and they kept on until they did it."
Laurence Manning hit the field on Saturday, May 9, and took down Heathwood Hall 6-1. They followed with a hit parade against Wilson Hall, piling up 12 runs in a shutout win. They were one win away from another trip to state, but the Lady Barons didn't go down without a fight. A five-run first inning put LMA ahead for good, but Wilson Hall got the tying run to the plate before Caroline Welch was able to seal the deal on a 6-4 win.
"We were all so tired," Rae said of the sprint to advance to the state championship series. "We got on the bus, came back here, and I think all of us went home, got ready for bed and we were in bed by like six o'clock because we were just so tired. It was so exciting, but it was also tiring at that moment. We got a kick of adrenaline and excitement, and then when we got on the bus, we just crashed."
Then came a rematch with Pinewood Prep. LMA opened the series at home, and they were determined to take Game 1 before moving on to Game 2 at Pinewood.
"Our goal was to win the first game here, and if we got that first game, we could play relaxed the second game," Rae said. "We've been in that situation before - my ninth-grade year - where we lost that first game and we had to win that second game, so we knew what it was like both ways. We were telling all of the underclassmen that our main goal was to take it game by game, but we need to win this first game. You have to play the best you can, dive for every ball, do 100% in everything. If you get out, it's OK; don't dwell on that and go to the next thing. We can do this if we play as a team."
LMA was able to hold off a late rally to win that first game 6-4 behind a big game from Rae. She finished with two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs.
"She comes through when the times need it, her and Lyza," Buddy said. "That's what's going to be missed the most is the go-to. When situational spots come up and we need that certain hit, that certain run or certain out, that's the two that we've been depending on this long."
The second game, however, did not get out to an ideal start.
When Laurence Manning made the trip to Summerville for Game 2, they immediately dug themselves a 5-0 hole. They rallied in the fourth to score three runs but needed a two-out, two-run single by Marlee Black to force extra innings. There, Prickelmyer smoked a two-run homer with a broken hand, setting up an 8-7 win for the title.
A week later, Ashley Rae still feels the excitement of another state title, but the feeling of finality hasn't set in.
"I don't think it's hit a lot of us yet," she said. "In the moment, when we won, we didn't even know what to think. We were just there, I think we were all crying; it hadn't hit us yet, both that we're not going to play together again and that we had just won state. It's bittersweet, but I think we'll definitely look back at it like, 'Wow, that was definitely a great accomplishment that we did all together.'"
DYNAMIC DUO
Rae and Lyza have been at the heart of so much success at Laurence Manning. Their friendship started as many do. Their moms grew up playing sports together, so naturally the daughters followed suit.
Laurence Manning's dynamic duo found success despite being so different on the field and court. Rae's name is fitting, because she is a ray of sunshine at all times. She's competitive but also knows that sports comes with ups and downs. She has a great ability to move on to the next thing and keep her big smile on her face.
"She's one of the sweetest kids you could ever imagine," Buddy said. "I don't think she's ever had a bad day, and that is refreshing. When I would have a bad day, come to practice and that's the first thing you see is her smiling face, those are the moments I'm going to miss the most."
Lyza, meanwhile, is the ultracompetitive counterpart. She'll celebrate when the win is secured; until then, she's all business. Together, they formed the perfect pair for leading a team to success.
"They fed off each other in every sport they played," Buddy said. "They're best friends, do everything together. There wasn't any animosity towards each other, but if one of them did it, the other one had to one-up her."
Lisa added, "That kind of chemistry can't be taught."
It was fitting that the dynamic duo both scored their 1,000th career point within weeks of each other.
"Being able to play with her and get (a milestone together), it was a great accomplishment, it was exciting; it was a blessing to get to do that with her because she's my best friend," Rae said before quipping, "I wouldn't be able to do it without her because she was the one who passed me the ball most of the time so I could score."
Rae hit 1,000 points first, scoring the first seven points of their matchup with Augusta Christian to hit the milestone. She then made sure that Lyza was able to match the career mark a few games later.
"Those were two high points of the season. They work so hard, so to see them reach those moments and be able to be a part of it was amazing. And they did it for each other," Lisa said. "They knew Rae was just a few points away from 1,000, so who got the first passes of the game? Who scored the first seven points? They made sure she had the ball. We turned around and it was Lyza's turn, and they made sure she had the ball. They're competitive, but they love each other and they're going to make sure everybody succeeds. It's not just about me; it's about the team."
Now, Ashley Rae will put sports in the rearview mirror. She ended her career with a perfect cherry on top, winning one more state title with her best friends. While she has the talent to keep going, capping off her final season with a .429 batting average and a team-high 32 RBIs, she is happy to finish off her time on the diamond with the perfect final memory.
"I'm just going to focus on school. It would be a big change from playing with the same people, I think that's where my holdup is with playing because I'm so used to playing with all of my teammates that I've been playing with for years," she said. "That's how I want it to end, with us playing together and winning a state championship."