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Tony Mills is confident that his group is ready.

Last year, the Aynor softball team was prepared to repeat. After winning the Class 3A state championship in 2023, the Blue Jackets were ready to be named back-to-back champions.

But Belton-Honea Path had other plans.

In a dramatic, three-game 2024 state title series, Belton-Honea Path won Game 3 (9-8) to take the trophy away from the Jackets. However, a year later, Mills thinks his team is uniquely positioned to keep that from happening again.

鈥淟ast year, we limped into the playoffs. We limped in鈥� We couldn鈥檛 ever quite get it going. They worked hard, but they couldn鈥檛 do it at the right time," Mills said.

"But right now, I鈥檓 seeing it all come together. Our seniors are playing their best ball at this stage. We鈥檝e had an incredible year鈥� winning game one was big. All of these kids believe in each other. Every single one of them believes in their teammates."

That belief has become the ultimate difference-maker. You see it when Maddie Johnson or Alivia Hess is in the circle and their defense makes game-changing plays behind them. You see it when those like Hannah Lewis, Paisley Page or Caroline Gaskins put together timely at-bats.

Mills notices there's a next-level support system that seemingly exists for Aynor this season.

"People always use the word drama. They always say they have drama. All of that kind of stuff. I can say that never on this team, I have never seen it this year,鈥� Mills said. "Talent wise, I have been blessed for many years. But talent will only ever get you so far. Senior classes come and go every year. You add new players to your team every year. For whatever reason, sometimes teams don鈥檛 gel or mesh as well as others... This crowd right here does."

The support and energy were evident on Wednesday night, May 28, in Game 1 of the state championship series against BHP. The home of the Blue Jackets was packed to the brim, with fans lining the outfield with pickup trucks and stands behind the plate filled to the top.聽

If you drove around Aynor on Wednesday, there wouldn't have been many locals out and about. Instead, they were all watching softball.

Aynor has put together a 27-2 record this season, losing to just Class 4A state champion Catawba Ridge (3-1) and Class 5A powerhouse and state finalist Summerville (1-0).聽

Both of those losses came on the road, no accident for Mills and his big-picture plan.

"We, on purpose during the year, we schedule that tough schedule for a reason. And a lot of times, we try to play on the road," Mills said. "Any team can play well in front of their home fans. But I intentionally try to put them in tough environments on the road during the year. When a coach says, 鈥楬ey, do you want to play at home or away鈥�, I always say I want to go to them. And that鈥檚 to prepare us for these moments."

One of those moments has come for the Blue Jackets, as they have the chance to achieve their state championship dreams on Saturday night at Belton-Honea Path. (The game was initially scheduled for Friday night, but was postponed due to chances of rain.)

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If they get the job done, they'll be bringing the trophy back to Aynor and hoisting it high across town next week. If not, there will be a winner-take-all third game on Monday at White Knoll High School.

But Mills said his group is ready. They've been thinking about this moment for an entire year.

The Blue Jackets are ready to shine.

"It鈥檚 different when you go on the road," Mills said. "They will be unbelievably loud, with all of the upstate crowd pulling for them, but this is a mature group. When we get up there and they turn those lights on [Saturday], and the big crowd is there, we aren鈥檛 going to blink.聽We're going to be ready."