Regardless of when they actually take the field in this week’s already-weather-delayed GHSA Fastpitch Softball Championships in Columbus, the Gordon Lee Lady Trojans are, according to their 12-time championship-winning coach, well equipped to handle what’s thrown at them.
Forecast inclement weather forced GHSA officials Tuesday to alter the schedule for the eight championships being decided this week. Classes AAA and above, which includes LaFayette and Heritage, will begin play Wednesday, while the other classes will start Thursday.
For coach Dana Mull and Gordon Lee (27-6), the defending Class A Division I champions, the late start is a minor inconvenience and might even play into one of the team’s strengths. Mull has the luxury of having co-ace pitchers in Laney Wilson and Abby Logan, so the possibility of having multiple games on any day isn’t much of a concern.
“Last year we had the same thing with those two and we honestly could run either one of them out there at any point and feel confident,” Mull said. “We move them and rotate them and whoever is hot will get the ball.”
The Lady Trojans will open against last year’s championship-round opponent, Toombs County (21-8), Thursday at noon and, with a win, would play again at 4. The team Toombs will face is a bit different personnel-wise, but the style of play remains basically the same.
“I feel like we are really similar to some teams we’ve had in the past,” said Mull, who had to replace last year’s Best of Preps softball player of the year in Gracie Helton and key pieces Kyliee Fryar, EG Hixon and Tenslee Wilson.
“We’re young in some areas, but as we’ve gone through the year we’ve grown up a lot. We get on base, move runners, get the key hit, run the bases hard and make them make mistakes. It’s what we’ve been and it’s worked for us for many years. Softball, especially at the college level, is becoming more of who-can-hit-the-home-run game? I feel like, with this team — and we have some power — we’re more of a gap and high on-base hitting team.”
The numbers back that up as six regulars are right at or above .500 in on-base percentage. Wilson, who has stepped into Helton’s No. 3 spot in the lineup, is hitting .467 with a .593 on-base percentage and .960 slugging percentage on eight homers, four triples and five doubles. She leads the team in all those categories, as well as RBIs with 44.
“She had a good year last year for us as well,” said Mull of Wilson, who also has a 14-2 record and 2.42 ERA with 41 hits allowed and 82 strikeouts in 72 innings. “She’s always been a great hitter for us since her freshman year and she’s done a great job of stepping into that three-hole.”
Mull’s daughter, Riley, is getting on base at a .557 clip and leads the team with 32 stolen bases and 49 runs scored, while Kyleigh Custer (.478 average, .533 on-base, 22 stolen bases), Kaley Russell (.441 average, .496 on-base, 28 steals), Grace Shafer (.408 average, .505 on-base, .676 slugging, 34 RBIs) and Logan (.402 average, .518 on-base, 33 RBIs) are also part of the formidable lineup.
It’s a group that’s stolen 164 bases at a 95% success rate.
“We don’t have as much speed as we had last year with Fryar and Hixon, but we have some heads-up base runners,” Mull said. “Being able to run bases and know the right time to steal and how to make things happen is a big part of what we’ve always done.”
Gordon Lee is one of six Northwest Georgia-area teams representing four classifications in the double-elimination tournament.
Joining No, 3-seed Gordon Lee in Class A Division I is Dade County (29-5). The Lady Wolverines, the No. 9 seed, will open against No. 17 Thomasville (24-6), which eliminated No. 1 seed Elbert County last week. Bremen is the highest-ranked Class A D-I team at No. 2.
Like Gordon Lee, Heritage (19-10) is a defending champion and will open play Wednesday at 8 p.m. against Southeast Bulloch (22-7) for first-year coach Reagan Armour. Joining the Generals in wide open Class AAA is Region 7 champion LaFayette (24-5), seeking its first state title.
The Lady Ramblers will open against North Hall (24-6) Wednesday at 8 and are by far the highest-seeded team remaining at No. 2 after seven of the top eight seeds were defeated in the second round.
In Class AA, Region 7 champion Sonoraville (29-5), seeking its first title, faces Pike County (22-4) Thursday at 10 a.m. as the No. 2 overall seed behind Appling County.
It’s mostly chalk in Class A Division II, where seven of the eight region champions are in Columbus, including Trion (19-6), which begins against Taylor County (25-3) Thursday at noon.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com