MAULDIN — No one was prouder than Mauldin High baseball coach Jim Maciejewski as families and friends gathered with their cameras, cakes and congratulations Wednesday afternoon to honor seven Mavericks athletes announcing their college choices.
Mauldin student athletes signed letters to continue their athletic careers in college. Signing today were Connor Campbell with USC Upstate to play Baseball, Emma Driggers with Francis Marion University to run Cross Country, Makayla Green with Anderson University to play Basketball, Tyler Kissinger with College of Charleston to play Baseball, Rasesh Pandya with Wofford College to play Baseball, Rachel Perrett with Queens University to play Lacrosse and Brittany Tepedino With North Greenville University to play Volleyball.
The signees included three of Maciejewski’s pitchers: Conner Campbell (USC Upstate), Tyler Kissinger (College of Charleston) and Rasesh Pandya (Wofford College).
“It reaffirms what we do, their work ethic and the character of those kids in that we have several every year who are able to go play at the next level,” Maciejewski said. “Three is pretty typical. We’ve had one sign. We had five last year.”
He called Campbell, Kissinger and Pandya “our top three arms, a huge part of our pitching staff.”
Pandya, who will be the first in his family to go to Wofford, said academics played a big role in his college choice because he wants to be pre-med and become a doctor. His immediate goal is to become a weekend starter for the Terriers.
Campbell said he looked at USC Upstate because of its proximity and because “Coach Maj went there, too.”
“It’s a good fit,” added Campbell, who is considering a pre-pharmacy track in college.
Kissinger said signing with Charleston had its origins in his parents’ love of the city. “As soon as they started recruiting me, I knew I wanted to go there,” he said. “I love the city. It was an easy choice.”
Basketball standout Makayla Green is looking forward to being a shooting guard at Anderson University.
When they beat Clemson in an exhibition game last week as she watched, Green knew she was making the right choice, noting, “I’d already committed to them at that point.”
Signing with Queens University, Rachel Perrett has been playing lacrosse since sixth grade and attending camps and tournaments as she tried to impress college recruiters and coaches.
“Most definitely,” she said when asked if she took up lacrosse with the goal in mind of one day earning a college scholarship.
Volleyball player Brittany Tepedino (North Greenville University) saw how much her sister enjoyed attending the Tigerville school.
“I emailed them and emailed them, went to a lot of their games, sent them videos, and they came to my games and grew to like me,” she said.
Emma Driggers has signed to run cross country at Francis Marion University. “This fall is probably the best we’ve had in a long time,” she said of the Mavericks.
“It’s the highest we’ve placed at state — seventh — and I couldn’t have done what I’ve done this year without my team. I accomplished a lot of my goals. I got signed, broke 20 (ran the 5K in less than 20 minutes) and made it to the Shrine Bowl team,” Driggers said.
