Senior Spotlight: Maddie Wiant and Kaylee Hannon, Byrnes

Kaylee Hannon (left) and Maddie Wiant (right) are both star pitchers for Byrnes softball.

Attend a Byrnes softball game, and you’re all but guaranteed to see both of the Lady Rebels’ senior stars on the mound. 

Maddie Wiant and Kaylee Hannon are Byrnes’ star senior pitchers — a 1-2 duo that is, at times, seemingly unhittable. Wiant starts most games. Hannon typically comes in to close the door. They’re both two of the Lady Rebels’ strongest, most consistent batters, as well.

Wiant and Hannon’s story began long before their senior years, however. Byrnes softball head coach Brandi Aiken placed the pair of prominent pitchers together from the start—as mere seventh graders—to grow and learn the game together.

We caught up with both Wiant and Hannon after a 9-1 win over Gaffney on March 21. The pair dived into their softball journeys together and what it will take for 13-2 Byrnes to win a state championship in their final seasons as Lady Rebels.

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Greer Sports Star (GSS): Maddie and Kaylee, both of you are halfway through your final seasons playing for Byrnes. As you brace to move on to your next chapter, how have you taken on leadership roles to prepare to pass the torch to some of the younger Lady Rebels on the team?

Kaylee Hannon (KH): I like to put some of these younger players under a little pressure. Make sure they know to make that catch or make that out. They might say I’m a little bit hard on them. But it’s all out of love. I just want to see them grow. And then afterward, I’ll always come up to them and tell them I love them, and that I just want to see them become the best players they can be.

Maddie Wiant (MW): Both Kaylee and I were on the team as eighth-graders, too. We remember what that feels like. We both got a lot of feedback from the seniors when we were younger. Our goal is to lead by example, to show them that when we work hard, we want to see them work that hard, too.

GSS: Both of you are well-known as two of the best pitchers in the upstate. Is there ever any competition aspect between you two in an ‘iron sharpening iron’ type of way? In what ways do you make each other better?

KH: It’s funny, actually. When Maddie and I first got here as seventh graders, coach Aiken sat us down after practice — just the two of us. She told us ‘You two are going grow up together. You’re going to be close, be each other’s best friends, on and off the field.’ And Maddie and I stuck with that. We took it to heart. I think she saw the potential in both of us if we both grew up with each other and kept making each other better as players and friends. I also think she knew that we’d both be seniors together — and that we’d eventually be the arms the team counted on. She wanted to prepare us for that responsibility early.

MW: I remember that conversation. I think it really helped us, too. Not only did it help keep us tied together through high school, but now, we’re both committed to play college softball together at Winthrop, too. We aren’t the same style of pitcher, so being able to piggyback off each other a bit has helped expand our games.

Wiant and Hannon were all smiles after combining for a 9-1 win over Gaffney on March 21.

GSS: So, did Coach Aiken’s master plan work? Have the two of you become best friends?

MW: Oh, absolutely. Over the past few years, we’ve really gotten closer and become best friends.

KH: No question. Obviously, people have turns in their relationships and ups and downs. We’re no different. But knowing we are both going to Winthrop and getting to this point, I’d say we’ve never been closer as friends.

GSS: Maddie, you mentioned that you and Kaylee aren’t the same ‘style’ of pitchers. Kaylee, how would you two describe your difference in ‘style’ on the mound?

KH: I would say that Maddie is a ‘nicer’ pitcher for sure. She’s a lot more calm on the mound. If she gets a big inning-ending strikeout, she’s jogging nicely back to the mound. That’s not me, though. I’m the one that’s celebrating, jumping up and down. I celebrate for Maddie when she makes a big out or a big play. But Maddie will do the same for me.

GSS: With only two or so months left in your high school careers, how much are you guys thinking about trying to win a state title in your last year? How important is that for you?

KH: I think about it every day. I always go back and think about when we came up short in the state championship in 2023 — when we lost both games by just one run in the championship series (vs. Summerville). That still hurts me. I am going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen again. I know everyone else on the team is going to do the same.

MW: When we were on the team when Byrnes won state in 2021, we remember how hard everybody worked on that team. They wanted to win more than anything. To be able to win a championship at the start of my career and hopefully win one at the end of my career is a huge motivation for me.

Catch Wiant and Hannon on the mound next on Monday night as Byrnes takes on Dorman in a home 5-A Region 2 matchup. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. Byrnes is currently 13-2 and a perfect 7-0 in region play.

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