Lady Cardinals finish with 17-4 record

One of the best seasons ever for Potts Camp softball came to an end in the state’s final eight.

The Lady Cardinals were on the short end of 4-1 and 6-0 scores versus Myrtle in the Class 1A State Tournaments quarter-finals last week. They finished the 2025 campaign with an outstanding 17-4 record.

“It was a great season overall,” head coach Cory Gray said. “We just fell short against a good Myrtle team.”

The Potts Camp offense couldn’t get on track in the series, beginning with just four hits and nine strikeouts in game one on Thursday, May 1, at home.

Harlynn Stephens drove in a run in the bottom of the second to tie the game. She finished with two hits in the loss. Charlie Holmes had the other two.

Alyssa Clifton pitched the full seven innings for the Lady Cards. Three of four Myrtle runs were earned. Clifton struck out four, gave up seven hits and only walked two. She threw 100 pitches with 61 of those being strikes.

The Lady Cardinals mustered just three hits at Myrtle Saturday, and the defense committed six errors in the loss. Carson Bennett had a triple, while Haley Ackerman and Kaylee Howell also added one hit each.

Clifton pitched six more solid innings for Potts Camp in the game two loss. She struck out eight, walked just two and gave up five hits. None of the Lady Hawks’ six runs were earned.

Gray completed his 11th season as head coach of the Lady Cardinals.

“This is by far the best team I have coached at Potts Camp,” he said.

He said the team was led by four seniors in the lineup – Holmes, Bennett, Lexi Shaw and Myleigh Melton.

Clifton tallied 15 wins in the circle, totaling 154 strikeouts. She also hit .574 for the season. Holmes led the squad with a .589 batting average. Zoe Clark had a personal best season with a .344 batting average, and Stephens also had a personal best with a .321 average.