NORTH AUGUSTA – North Augusta High School’s girls softball team defeated Hartsville 8-1 to win the AAAA Lower State District B Championship on Monday, May 11.
Despite not winning the district title last season, the Lady Yellow Jackets have had plenty of success bringing home the district championship eight of the last 10 years.
“It means them a lot for them to bring back to their school, especially after year basketball men’s and women’s won state,” said North Augusta Softball Coach Lindsey Jones. “I think they are fighting a lot to get back to that and just show North Augusta is a great school.”
The Yellow Jackets are currently 24-4 on the season and ranked No. 4 in South Carolina.
North Augusta does have a challenge ahead as the team is ranked second in AAAA behind the 2025 State Champions, undefeated Gray Collegiate. Gray Collegiate (28-0) is the No.1 team in the state.
Earlier in the regular season, North Augusta fell to Gray Collegiate 9-0 but did have a close battle with the War Eagles back in April, falling 3-2.
“Gray was one of the first games we had in the season, so you are still working out some things then,” said Jones. “We faced them a second time, and we were starting to hit a good streak offensively and defensively. You just got to go in there with confidence knowing you can get the job done against a good ball team like Gray.”
If the Yellow Jackets can get past Gray, they could be eyeing their second-ever State Championship. They won their first back in 2022.
“One day at a time” Jones said. “We got to feel the joy after winning district tonight but come ready to practice tomorrow. It is only getting harder from here with teams getting better and you just got to play clean ball. We got to focus on the next one with Gray and then after that will see.”
North Augusta softball is expected to matchup against Gray Collegiate in the Lower State Semis on Thursday, May 14. The time of the game is to be announced.
Sportswriter Christopher Rickerson is an Augusta University graduate who has covered area sports for publications including Augusta University‘s Bell Ringer, The Augusta Press and Augusta Good News. Subscribe to the Augusta Good News’ free weekly newsletter here.
