Ridgeland coach Richie Wood walks back to the dugout after a timeout from a softball game at Ridgeland High School in Rossville, Ga.GHSA state playoffs first round
(DH start to best-of-three series)Class AAAAADruid Hills (12-14) at Dalton (19-10), 3:30Class AAAAChamblee (12-7) at Heritage (27-4), 5St. Pius X (12-12) at Ridgeland (18-12), 5Northwest Whitfield (16-17) at Marist (18-6), 5Class AAAFannin County (13-12) at Ringgold (22-5), 3Sonoraville (16-13) at Banks County (16-7), 4:30Dawson County (8-13) at Calhoun (27-3), 5Class AAPace Academy (5-15) at Gordon Lee (27-1), 4:30Dade County (12-16) at Lovett (7-12), 5Chattooga (21-10) at Wesleyan (18-6), 4
As the GHSA softball postseason begins today, there are the obvious title contenders in each classification.
There also are several teams lurking in the shadows with serious championship hopes. Take Ridgeland, for instance.
The Lady Panthers lost 12 games this season, hardly a resume for postseason success - at least on the surface. Dig deeper and you'll see a dangerous Class AAAA team with enough quality wins to put a scare in any opponent.
"The first of the year we had a lot of injured people," coach Richie Wood said of the team's slow start. "There was one tournament we didn't have a single pitcher healthy. Once we started getting people back we started playing the game better. Now we're at full strength and we're playing as I expected we would.
"We've done enough this year to know we can play."
The Lady Panthers, who host St. Pius X in a doubleheader start to a best-of-three series today at 5, can claim among their 18 wins victories over Class AAAAAA power Cherokee and three of the top five teams in AAAA - Buford and Region 7 rivals Heritage and Gilmer, a team Ridgeland defeated three times.
The early setbacks and injuries have led to a very tough-skinned team, according to Ridgeland senior Haley Johnson.
"I feel like the key to winning in the playoffs is how resilient we are," she said. "If we're down, no matter how many runs, we won't quit. That's what's kept us going. We had a lot of injuries during our down streak, but we've bounced back. Now that everybody's healthy we're rolling."
Ridgeland has a lineup complete with speed at the top in Grayson James and Aminah Wood, power in the middle with Haley Sandridge and Johnson and strong contact hitters at the bottom. They also have co-No. 1 pitchers in Allison Wallin and Morgan Crawford, a luxury Wood plans to take advantage of in what can be a hectic postseason format.
"In this best-of-three series format it's really big to have two No. 1 pitchers, something most programs don't have," he said. "It's very sweet to have, and once Allison and Morgan got healthy we took off."
Ridgeland also has some playoff experience. Wood took a surprising 2013 team to the second round of the playoffs in his first season, including Emma Arthur and Johnson. The two seniors said there's one big difference between then and now.
"When we played Walnut Grove (in the second round) and got down, we were done," Johnson said. "Now it's totally different."
Added Arthur: "Two years ago we would just lay down if we got two or three runs down. This year, it's like, 'All right, we've got this.' There's no doubt we'll come back. We can't wait to prove we belong."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow at Twitter @youngsports22.