The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Sumter High's Evans leads from the top of the lineup

Any baseball or softball coach will tell you the importance of a leadoff batter. They set the tone for the rest of the game, as a base hit or a walk can help jumpstart a rally from the very beginning.

For the last four years, the Lady Gamecocks have been blessed to have consistency at the top of the order.

Ariana Evans, known as A1 for both her number and spot in the lineup, has been patrolling centerfield and hitting from the leadoff spot pretty much since she first got a taste of varsity softball as a seventh-grader. Over the last five years, the Sumter High softball team has continued to grow around her, developing into a perennial playoff team that played for a district title a year ago.

"She leads by example and the other players feed off it," SHS head coach Mike Moss said. "There's never been any drama with Ariana. She always comes to the ballpark ready to play. She's always had all of her requirements taken care of beforehand. She's always early. She's one of the four or five of them that I always use to help me get set up for practice every day; there's never any questions asked. That's going to pay dividends for her in the near future."

SPEED DEMON

Ariana has played softball since she was 4 years old. From day one, her biggest strength has been the same. The girl can fly.

"I like to show off that talent, especially when God gave me the talent of speed," she said. "I like to show it off. I like to show what people gave me and what's important to me."

As soon as Ariana made her way to Sumter High, Mike knew he had a weapon on the basepaths.

"The first thing I noticed about her was her speed and her mindset on the field. She's always been really headsy," Mike said. "She's always been one where I feel if she can get on base early, that would be a run for us. That's primarily held true."

The Lady Gamecocks love to be aggressive on the bases, and Ariana sets the tone. She has a .400 career batting average and has gotten on base just under 50% of the time she steps in the box. That means more often than not, she's on base to start a game.

Once she's on first, Ariana is likely to steal second, but that's not the only way she gets in opposing teams' heads. She's liable to round a base a little bit farther than most are able to, trying to goad opposing infielders to make a risky throw, which could lead to an extra base or two.

"We are hyper aggressive," Ariana said of the baserunning mindset at Sumter High. "When you're on base, you're trying to challenge the other team to see what their mindset (is) or what they're going to do. You've got to play smart. You've got to be smart on the bases, knowing the catching is walking slowly to the ball or if she drops a ball and she's picking it up slowly. You just get to have a smart mindset, and then you just have to take off when you're confident enough that you can take off."

That mentality helps the players behind her in the lineup. If an opposing pitcher is constantly looking over her shoulder at the speedy centerfielder, they aren't giving the current batter 100% of their attention.

"They're more focused on me than the batter, so going back and forth and taking a big lead and going back and having the catcher try to pick me off, it does mess up their mindset and helps the batters," she said.

Her coach is more than comfortable letting go of the reigns when she's on base, which has helped her score 94 runs and swipe 58 in her career coming into their series against West Florence this week.

"She's always very aggressive; I don't hold her up too much," Mike said. "She knows her own body, and if she can take the bag, she's going to get the bag."

Last year, she started playing travel ball with Carolina Elite for head coach Ben Owens. He quickly learned just how special Ariana can be on the bases.

"Baserunning in college is a position. You can earn a scholarship stealing bases, and toward the middle or the end of the year last year, she was making reads on her own, not having to wait for a coach to tell her what to do," he said. "I was basically getting where I could turn her loose."

SETTING THE TABLE

Of course, Ariana has to get on base to use those wheels.

She's put a lot of work into her swing. Since 2020, she's worked with Glenn Posey, who has coached some of the area's top hitters.

"She has the fastest hands of any hitter I've worked with, and I've worked with some dandies," Glenn said. "She was always fast and quick-handed, but when I first started working with her, she struggled a little bit with hitting middle pitches and away pitches where they belonged; she pulled everything. We worked a lot with her on hitting middle pitches middle and outside pitches to the backside. With her speed, if we're not hitting the ball right to a third baseman, she's a threat for a double or triple any minute."

As the leadoff hitter, Ariana knows she's setting an example for her teammates. She puts a lot of time and energy into maintaining the correct mindset.

"When you step into the box, you've gotta throw all the way your negative thoughts," she said. "You've gotta have confidence in yourself that you could do it, that you could get a base hit or you could just get on base and get a walk. You just got to have mental (strength). Just take a deep breath and be there and get all the negative thoughts out of your mind."

Ariana puts a lot of stock in her faith as she works to get in the right mental space. She prays before every game or practice.

"I go by myself and talk to God before a game or practice, just putting cover over me, putting cover over the teammates, just to make myself and team protected," she said. "I have a verse, Philippians 4:13, which is, 'I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.' I even have it tatted on my arm because I really take that verse to heart."

Her skills with the bat aren't just God-given. Ariana puts in the work. When she comes to a session with Glenn, she doesn't like to take breaks.

"She does half-hour sessions with me and hits upwards of 150 balls, sometimes 200 balls in a half hour. She just doesn't stop and she has a smile on her face the entire time," Glenn said. "She's always in a good mood, always smiling, always hustling and she'll do anything you ask her to offensively or defensively. She strives to apply what we're working on. She's one of those athletes that kind of bought into the process, and it's really fun watching her when she's having a good night."

The key to being a great leadoff hitter isn't just getting base hits; it's having a smart approach at the plate. At Carolina Elite, Ben has watched Ariana grow exponentially in her approach over the last year.

"She has pieced and put that together and doesn't just flail at everything that's optic green coming her way," Ben joked. "She attacks strikes. She recognizes the situation she's in. She's learning to build her hits. You don't go up to the plate hacking at anything. You start building your hit in the dugout and carry that to the plate. She's done a good job of understanding where to make adjustments as her at bat transpires."

That mentality goes back to her work ethic, which applies to every aspect of her game.

"One of the biggest quotes I use with my team," Ben said, "is the three D philosophy, that's dedication, determination and desire. If you don't have one of those three Ds, the likelihood of you succeeding with your mission is low because you have to be dedication, you have to have a burning desire, and you have to have determination about it. With what she did on her own, you could see that she would not be satisfied.

"She would absolutely pursue, diligently, help from her teammates, assistant coaches, stayed extra. I gave her some names with some coaches to work with. She also would come after practice or even call me on the off days asking very legitimate questions about what she could do or didn't understand. Then in game situations, she trusted the process enough to apply what she was taught."

FLASHING THE LEATHER

Ariana also makes her presence felt in the outfield. With her speed, most flyballs to centerfield turn into outs pretty quickly.

"I feel like any ball within 30 yards of her in the outfield is an out," Mike said. "She has priority over everything on the field. We base everything off pop fly priority, and if she calls you off, get out of the way and she's going to make the play. That's how much faith her teammates have in her and I have in her."

Ariana also trusts her teammates. She's been able to spend most of her career sharing an outfield with Sydney Rhodes, a pairing that brings joy to Ariana every time she trots out to center.

"Syndey is like my best friend, so playing outfield with her for a very long time has been fun," Ariana said. "We have our talks out there when a pitcher is warming up, and when a ball is hit we'll say she's got it, or I've got it. It's really fun playing with your best friend. Knowing this is the last ride is an emotional feeling, but it's been fun."

LEADERSHIP

Ariana isn't the most talkative teammate, but she's certainly come out of her shell over her five years on varsity.

She credits that to both Mike and Courtney Moss with the Lady Gamecocks.

"They really helped me build up my confidence," Ariana said. "Before them, I really wasn't confident at all, but they really brought up my confidence. They made me better and better and better, and this year, as a senior, I'm 100% better than I was.

"When I first started, I was so shy. I was not a talkative person at all, but I broke out of my shell being around them long enough because it makes me feel like I'm home. But with leadership, I just like to lead by example. There's leadership on the team, but all of us take a part in it. It's not just like one person or this person; it's all together as a team."

No matter what team she's playing for, Ariana is a shining light of positivity.

"She's not going to make excuses. She's not going to blame a coach. She's not going to have a thing to say about another player that's going to cause grief. She's a standup kind of player like that," said Glenn, who also coaches Ariana with the Lady Legends in American Legion softball during the summer.

That positivity constantly lives in the dugout at Sumter High. When she's at the plate, Ariana can feel her teammates hooting and hollering behind her. When she's waiting for her next at bat, she's giving that same energy.

"We're always behind each other's back. We're always cheering each other on, no matter if we make an error or anything. We always make sure nobody's stuck in their head and goes with the next play over and over again," she said. "Just push it out the way if you make an error, and move on, and just keep having fun.

"It gives you so much confidence, because you have people behind you that support you, that love you, no matter what. It gives you the boost of confidence that you can do anything."

Ariana said she felt that support most heavily last season, when she was battling a knee injury. She sprained her knee and had a partially torn PCL and struggled when she had to be away from the game she loves. By the time the season rolled around, she was healthy enough to play with a brace and still managed to make All-State. In one calendar year, she had her lowest and highest moments in the sport with her SHS family by her side.

"That brought me to a dark place," Ariana said. "I was in my head thinking negative thoughts, thinking, what if I can't come back to softball? What if I can't come back the same? But physical therapy, my coaches, my family, my teammates saying encouraging words, going to physical therapy to strengthen up my knee, it really brought me up. Talking to God and praying brought me up and showed that I could keep going no matter what."

THE NEXT LEVEL

Ariana plans to keep her career going once her time at Sumter High comes to an end this spring, but she's still in the process of figuring out where.

"I started late because I didn't really know the process. I have a couple of schools, but some of the schools don't have my career. I'm looking to go into the nursing field, I just don't know what part. I know going with nursing, softball is kind of hard because you have clinicals," she said. "I don't know where I'm going, but I'm trying to play college ball. I want to play all four years. I really don't want to leave the field yet."

That drive to play in college is one of the main reasons she plays with Carolina Elite. Their program's top priority is connecting softball players with college programs. Ben noted that schools like South Carolina State, Columbia College and USC Aiken were among the schools showing interest. No matter where she ends up, he said he expects that school will be getting a steal.

"She's turned a lot of coaches' heads," he said. "This kid is flying under the radar, and I think she's going to make a difference somewhere. She's going to find somewhere to land."

Since the age of 4, the sport has been Ariana's oasis from the world's troubles. She doesn't intend on letting that slip away anytime soon.

"I found happiness in it. I call it my home away from home because I found happiness with the coaches, the teammates. It just makes me happy," she said. "There's not a time I get softballed out because I really love softball. Sometimes my parents are like, 'Maybe you should take a break,' but I really don't want to. I really love playing softball; there's nothing that could take me away from it."