The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Laurence Manning's Prickelmyer finds success on diamond, court through grit, hard work

Every coach wants to have a team full of competitive athletes, players that are hungry to find success. In some cases, the best athletes aren't the ones who love to win but the ones who can't fathom the idea of losing.

Lyza Prickelmyer falls into the latter category.

The senior from Laurence Manning has been a staple of Lady Swampcat athletics since she was in middle school. She's played a starring role on the softball team that has played for four consecutive SCISA state championships, winning the last two 4A titles. On the court, she's been a staple of the girls basketball program since her freshman season, scoring more than 1,000 career points in the process.

Simply put, Lyza is the kind of athlete every coach wants to build their team around.

"No. 1 is the competitive side," LMA head softball coach Buddy Truett said of what makes Lyza stand out. "That's strong-willed right there; she wants to win at all costs.

"She's a blessing to be around and she knows the game, no matter what sport she plays, inside and out. That's when you love to be a coach, when you've got a few athletes like that. It makes your job easy."

BORN TO COMPETE

Lyza has always been extremely competitive. Whether she was playing sports with her cousins in the yard growing up, suiting up to compete in a team setting or gearing up to take an exam in the classroom, Lyza has the same goal in mind.

"I hate losing," she said simply. "Nobody wants to lose, but I don't like losing at all. I know it's a part of the game, but I think that's where my competitiveness comes from; I don't want to lose in anything. I'm very competitive in everything."

That mindset was evident early in her athletic career at Laurence Manning. Before Buddy took over as the head coach for the Lady Swampcats, he saw her compete at the JV level as a seventh-grader and was pretty confident she would've been able to find success at the varsity level.

"She reminded me of my oldest daughter with making everything a competition. I've picked with her about that ever since we met," Buddy said. "Even in the seventh grade under Glenda (Hodge), we said she could've started on varsity then in centerfield. She takes it in, she understands. She's very coachable, and she wants to win at all costs."

If anything, Lyza wants to win too badly. In her early days on varsity, she struggled with the idea that she wasn't going to be successful every time her number was called, especially at the plate.

"I've always like been really hard on myself, especially with softball. I would get mad if I struck out, but I've had to learn how to control my emotions," Lyza said. "When you see someone that's supposed to be a leader be down on yourself, then it kind of brings the team morale down, so I've had to work on doing that so that I can support my teammates and keep their energy up."

Buddy has seen Lyza grow exponentially over the last five years in that area. While she still hates to lose, she turns that frustration into fuel for her next plate appearance or chance in the field.

"It can be a two-edged sword with an athlete that tries so much," Buddy said. "With her, it's not all about trying all the time, but she has it in her head that she's going to do her part every time or try her best to do her part. When she doesn't do it, she's mad, so it takes it up a notch. The next time, she's definitely going to try a little bit harder. There's no quit in that one at all."

AN EARLY START ON THE DIAMOND

While Buddy thought Lyza would be ready to compete at the varsity level as a seventh-grader, he didn't need to wait long to see if he was right about her ability to succeed. Lyza was called up to the varsity squad as an eighth-grader and immediately made an impact. She hit .294 and even managed a home run as a middle-schooler for a team that had six seniors and a ton of talent. She credits the veterans of the team for helping her feel welcome early on.

"I'm really glad that I got to start at a young age and build the experience and learn from the older girls and from my teammates," Lyza said. "Laura Betts Brogdon, she was a senior, and she kinda took me under her wing and was very nice and welcoming to me. I was a little bit scared because I was so young. I think there were six seniors that year, so I was by far the youngest on the team."

By the end of the year, she had some of her classmates join her on varsity, as the Lady Swampcats were ravaged by injuries late in the season. Despite that, Laurence Manning still made a run all the way to the state championship series against their rivals from Wilson Hall. While LMA lost that series in two games to a veteran Lady Baron squad, Lyza thought the experience was critical for the success the Lady 'Cats have had in the following seasons.

"I really learned that I could do it and that I could be a good player and that we could be successful in the program. Making it the first year to the state championship, we obviously weren't the better team, but we saw that we could get there and that it was possible," Lyza said. "That's what pushed me to be like, 'OK, we can do this, I have time, we can do this, we can win state championships."

A year later, SCISA added a fourth classification, and the Lady Swampcats once again met Wilson Hall for the state championship. Laurence Manning seemed like they were ready to make the jump to championship team. Their win total climbed from 13 to 22. Individually, Lyza took a leap, leading the team with a .341 batting average with 13 RBIs. LMA and Wilson Hall had a dogfight for the first 4A championship, needing all three games to decide a winner. In the end, a couple of costly errors left them with a 2-1 loss in the decisive third game. There was already a fire in Lyza and the Lady 'Cats, but it grew into a bonfire after the loss.

"It affected us because we felt like it was our year. We were going up against a good team, and they weren't going to roll over, either, but we felt like that one or two errors cost us," Buddy said. "That's why I told them to take it and work harder next time. She kept on reminding them that we can't take anything lightly and you have to work."

BACK TO BACK

After getting so close to the mountaintop for two seasons, Lyza and the Lady Swampcats finally reached the peak in 2024. Laurence Manning was an unstoppable force at 18-4. They didn't lose a game to a SCISA 4A opponent and didn't run into many issues in the state tournament.

Their most stressful game came in Game 1 of their championship series against Hammond. LMA got out to a sluggish start but managed to push two runs across in the third inning. That 2-0 lead held until the seventh, when Hammond scored two runs to send the game into extra innings. LMA responded with three runs to jump back in front in the eighth but nearly let the game slip into the ninth inning as Hammond began another comeback, but Lyza's cannon in centerfield put an end to the rally, as she gunned down the tying run at the plate to seal a 5-4 win.

"Me and Marlee (Black) talk about that all the time, how that was like the most nerve-wracking game that we've ever played in. I think it tops everything; I don't know why. That game made me nervous the whole time," Lyza said. "I wanted the ball to come to me because I just wanted the game to be over. I was ready to win and go home."

That play didn't happen by accident. Lyza's been working on that throw every day in practice for years. It was just a matter of getting the chance to execute when the moment called for her.

"She does that pretty much every day in practice," Buddy said of Lyza's throw to the plate. "If she doesn't get that sky-high catch to make that throw to home, she wants another one. It's been her trademark. She puts it right on the money; being left-handed, it tails right to the catcher. That's the old saying, if you keep practicing, hopefully it comes out in a game."

A day later, the Lady 'Cats went home and ran away with a 9-0 win to claim the state title.

"The first time was just really special because it was the first time and because we lost two times in a row the years before, so it was really eye opening for us," Lyza said. "You always think you'll get them next year, you'll get them next year, until you finally do because you don't wanna just keep telling yourself that and then never win. It was really satisfying to feel that we finally had won."

After finally claiming the state title, Lyza and the Lady 'Cats suddenly had an even bigger target on their backs last spring. They were the team to beat, and they embraced that challenge in their quest for another ring.

"Everybody wants to beat everybody, but once you've won one or two, it just makes people compete harder against you because they have nothing to lose, and you have everything to lose," Lyza said. "When I was younger and we had never played in a state championship, we had nothing to lose. Now, we've won two in a row, so there's always a target on your back for anyone who's been successful."

Laurence Manning came back better than ever last spring, going 24-3 on their way to another state title, this time taking down their rivals from Wilson Hall in the process. Lyza continued to show she's one of the most consistent hitters in the sport, hitting .548 with 10 doubles, six triples, four home runs, 37 RBIs and 45 runs scored. She credits that success at the dish to her contact first approach.

"I always just focus on getting the ball in play," she said. "I don't like to strike out. Nobody likes to strike out, but I always try to put the ball in play somehow because anything can happen; people can make errors. As long as you get the ball in play, you at least have a chance to get on base. I've never been a huge home run hitter. I mean I have hit a few, but I don't focus on hitting home runs; I just try to get on base."

That approach has helped the rest of the team grow, as well. Lyza constantly wants to help her teammates improve and has helped shape an exceedingly consistent LMA offense with her mentorship.

"She's embraced that role very well. It rubs off on the other ones," Buddy said. "They see it; athletes can tell who they want to look up to, and that's what she's done with the young ones. They want to be her in the middle of centerfield and get the results that she gets. She shows it, even in practice, she took that role in leadership by holding her teammates accountable. She gets on them as hard as I do. I nicknamed her 'Assistant Coach.'"

After claiming back-to-back titles, Laurence Manning is aiming for a three-peat this spring. While most of their starting lineup in the field is back, LMA lost both of their star pitchers, Laini Kosinski and Kayleigh Parmenter-Avins, to graduation. Lyza knows that means more may be asked of the offense, but she and her teammates are ready to do whatever it takes to win.

"We know that we have to work hard at the plate especially, but I feel like the pressure is not too much on one person because we know that we have to do it as a team, and that's how we've always played," Lyza said. "We know that it takes all of us to win, not just one person, so the pressure is spread out evenly."

After two years of watching senior classes go out with hardware, Lyza doesn't plan on snapping the streak.

"That's what's driving her right now," Buddy said. "She saw my daughter Hailey and George's daughter Laini win it their senior years, and she's chomping at the bit. She wants to go out the same way."

THRIVING ON THE COURT

While the Laurence Manning girls basketball team hasn't had the same championship success as the softball team, Lyza's been at the heart of a lot of winning on the court at LMA. She helped lead the Lady Swampcats into the second round of the playoff this season, though their run came to an end on Monday with a loss to Northwood Academy.

Lyza has been able to check a lot of milestones off her list in the past couple of years, and she added a big one this winter, scoring her 1,000th career point. Her best friend, Ashley Rae Hodge, hit the milestone in December, and Lyza followed suit in mid-January.

"I haven't really heard of another team to have two 1,000-point (scorers), for girls especially, at the same time, in the same year," Lyza said. "I thought it was really cool."

LMA girls basketball coach Lisa Ard was so glad her two stars had the chance to celebrate those milestones together. The duo has been the heart of the Laurence Manning girls basketball program since their freshman year and matched each other shot for shot until the very end of the season.

"Both of them deserved that. They cheered each other on, and they still do. They're two great competitors, they're best friends, they want what's best for each other, and they're going to do whatever they can to help each other. They're going to support each other through everything," Lisa said. "For both of them to reach that milestone this year, you just don't hear about stuff like that. The two of them were able to celebrate that, and they made sure the other one got the ball to get that point that they needed."

This basketball season came with some rare bumps in the road for Lyza. She spent a few too many games watching from the sideline as she battled a slew of nagging injuries. Lyza has been an iron man for LMA, missing just one basketball game in her first three seasons, so it was tough to watch from the bench as her teammates hit the court.

"It was definitely hard for me because I'm not one that likes to sit out. I've only missed one basketball game before that because I was sick my sophomore year. I actually remember the exact game, that's how much I hated it," she said. "It was definitely different, but I was glad that my team still played good without me. I had faith in them, but it did pain me a little bit to have to sit and watch. I just had a rough time with my ankle, and then I hurt my elbow and then I hit my nose like four times, but hopefully the spell of injuries is over."

While Lyza couldn't play, she was still an important leader from the bench.

"She was very supportive of her teammates. She would pull Kendall (Tanner) aside and tell her, 'This is what you've got to do. You can do it,'" Lisa said. "She was super encouraging of the kids on the court, and if she saw anything that would help them, she would let them know. She stayed right in the game. I know it was killing her inside not being on the court, but she sat there and supported every one of them."

Basketball was also the first sport where Lyza had to deal with the concept of her time at LMA coming to an end. On senior night, she was not thrilled about the concept of coming off the court.

"She wanted to be on the court every last minute, so I told her I'd take her out right before the buzzer," Lisa said. "I think even taking her out right before the buzzer for that recognition that she didn't want to come off."

CLOSE BONDS

Luckily, she still has a spring season to play with this fantastic senior class, which has shared a playing surface for most of their lives.

"It's been really special because I played with them even before we played school ball. Me and Ashley Rae have been playing together since we were seven. I swear I see her like every single day. And then, Marlee (Black) and Lily (Wellborn) and Maggie (Welch), we've all played together for so long. It was really cool that we got to play together in high school, too."

Lyza's bond with Ashley Rae has been special throughout their lives. They aren't the only generation of their families to team up on the court, so it's a family affair when Lyza and Ashley Rae suit up.

"It's been really cool, and we really appreciate being able to play together, but we can't talk about when we can't play together anymore because it'll make us too upset, but we've had a lot of fun," Lyza said of playing with Ashley Rae. "I mean, our moms played together in high school, and her aunt played with my mom, and they were all best friends when they were younger, too, so it's really cool for them, too."

They make each other better, too. Both seniors are exceedingly competitive and bring the best out of each other.

"That's what it's about right there. You might think one of them might be mad competing against each other, but on the same team, that's not the case with those two," Buddy said. "They grew up together playing every sport, and they push each other. That's why they're so good together. They count on each other to get things going. That's the blessing with both of them."