Several area baseball players have been recognized on the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association’s 2026 All-State teams, with Indian Land sweeping both the 5A Division 2 Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors.
Indian Land senior Joseph Rutledge was named the 5A Division 2 Player of the Year, while teammate Liam Roberson took home Pitcher of the Year honors for the same classification. The pair leads a strong local showing across multiple SCHSL classifications.
Local Players Selected
Fort Mill, Nation Ford, and Catawba Ridge each placed one player on the 5A Division 2 All-State Team. Braden Richardson represented Fort Mill, Alex Smith was selected from Nation Ford, and Bryce Meil earned the nod for Catawba Ridge.
Indian Land contributed two selections to the 5A Division 2 squad in addition to its two top awards. Both Rutledge and Roberson were named to the team.
In 2A, Tristen Stroud of York Preparatory Academy earned All-State recognition.
Statewide Award Winners
The SCBCA recognized players and coaches in each classification. Top awards went to Marchand of James Island as overall Player of the Year and Bolemon of Southside Christian as overall Pitcher of the Year. Connor Wells of Dorman was named 5A Division 1 Pitcher of the Year, while co-Players of the Year in 4A went to William Cutshall of Seneca and Charlie Scott of AC Flora. Parker Davis of Fountain Inn was tabbed 4A Pitcher of the Year. In 3A, Bo Lawrence of Christ Church was named Player of the Year and Hank Grider of Dillon was selected Pitcher of the Year. The 2A Co-Players of the Year were Luke Young of Clinton and Logan Newcomb of Ascent Classical Academy. Bryce King of Lake View was named 1A Player of the Year, and Trey Deason of Abbeville was selected 1A Pitcher of the Year.
Coaches of the Year by classification were Matt Spivey of James Island in 5A Division 1, BA Alderson of North Myrtle Beach in 5A Division 2, Blake Roland of Fountain Inn in 4A, Chad Sarvis of Aynor in 3A, Justin Henson of Landrum in 2A, and Will Celmer of Lake View in 1A.
Source: South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association
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