AC Flora lands successful area coach to lead state-championship baseball program
AC Flora will replace Andy Hallett with another hall of fame coach.
Blythewood High coach Travis Poole will be AC Flora’s new baseball coach. Poole replaces Hallett, who won eight state championships in his 29 years at the school but is leaving to become the athletic director and baseball coach at Midlands STEM. The Falcons won the 2026 Class 4A state title by sweeping Airport on Friday.
Hallett won more than 600 games with the Falcons and built them into a state powerhouse. He will be elected to the S.C. Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame this month.
“AC Flora baseball will continue to be strong. I know they will hire someone who will be a professional and keep it moving,” Hallett said after Friday’s win over Airport.
Poole informed his Blythewood players on Tuesday that he will be leaving for AC Flora.
Poole went 70-21 and won a region title in each of his three seasons as coach at Blythewood. He won his 500th career game earlier this season and was inducted to the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January.
The Bengals, one of the state’s top programs, went 25-5 this year and had a 21-game winning streak. Blythewood was the top seed in the Class 5A Division I Upper State playoffs and lost to Spartanburg in the district championship game.
Before coming to Blythewood, Poole was a successful coach in North Carolina and won 463 games and a pair of state championships at Weddington High School in 2011-12.
Blythewood has played for three state championships in its program history.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 12:15 PM.
