Dominant Gray Collegiate softball rolls into state championship series

Fueled by last season’s disappointing end, the Gray College softball team is headed back to the state championship.

Freshman Aspen Boulware hit a pair of homers as the War Eagles jumped on Strom Thurmond early on its way to a 10-0 run-ruled victory in the Class 2A Upper State championship on Friday night.

“We were pumped for this game because this is where we fell short last year,” Boulware said. “It feels amazing. My team is amazing. They always have each other’s back and all carried their own weight.”

Gray will play the winner of Saturday’s Marion/Buford game in the state-championship series beginning Monday. The War Eagles will be on the road for opening game.

After the final out was recorded on Friday, Gray’s celebration was a bit subdued, but it was better than the feeling of last year’s Upper State championship game. Mid-Carolina defeated Gray twice to stun the War Eagles and deny them a second straight championship appearance.

“We were motivated,” Gray coach Doug Frye said. “Our goal the whole time was to get to the state championship and win it. I got eight kids from the 2022 (state championship) team and a lot of young kids. We are just solid.”

Frye loaded up his schedule this year and played bigger schools such as Berkeley, Summerville, Fort Mill, Catawba Ridge, Lugoff-Elgin, Stratford and Chapin to make sure his team was ready for a title run. Some of the scheduling came out of necessity as Region 4-2A teams refused to play Gray in conference games this year, giving it forfeited wins.

Gray (32-2) showed it could play with the state’s best, losing only to Summerville, which will play for 5A championship next week and Catawba Ridge, which is in the 4A semifinals.

“Our schedule set us up for this,” Frye said. “I have been coaching for a long time and want to play the best. … We played all the big dogs and held our own.

“... We got good pitching, good defense, hit the ball well and run well. We really don’t have any weaknesses. We are a solid team.”

There isn’t an easy out in Gray’s lineup led at the top by Boulware, who comes from an athletic family with mother Renee an All-American softball player at Florida State and father Michael playing in the NFL for four seasons.

Boulware led off the game with a solo homer and added a two-run homer in the third to make it 10-0 in the third inning. She has a team-best 18 home runs on the season and also had four RBI on Friday.

“She is special,” Frye said of Boulware. “I have been doing it a long time, and she is probably the best I have ever seen. She can pitch, play catcher, center field and runs like a deer.”

Boulware got plenty of help with Maddox Long, Shields Greene, Peyton Hendrix and Na’Veah Matthews all with multiple-hit games. Long hit a three-run homer in the second inning and Greene had a two-run double in the third as the War Eagles scored 10 or more runs in all six playoff games.

Hendrix, a freshman, was the winning pitcher after allowing one hit while striking out seven in five innings.