Lee County Lady Trojans Ranked #1; start playoffs Tuesday

The Lady Trojans of Lee County softball are somewhere they have never been before. After beating previously top-ranked Houston County twice in the region playoffs, Lee County is the new top-ranked team in Class 6A softball. Lee County head coach Dwayne Suggs said to his knowledge that would be the first time Lee County held the No. 1 ranking in fast-pitch softball. Tuesday, they begin their efforts to maintain that status with a first-round playoff series against Lakeside of Evans in Leesburg. Suggs is not taking anything for granted.

“We are doing the same things we have done all year,” he said. “We had a really good practice under the lights Sunday night. Everybody got their swings in… all 17 got their swings in and we had a good effort on the defensive workouts as well.”

In the latest rankings from Max Preps, the Lady Trojans are on top with a 21-6 record and Houston County is now No. 2 with a 24-5 record. Evans (21-5), Creekview (23-4) and Pope (22-4) round out the top five.

The Lady Trojans will now host the Lakeside Panthers (14-12) in a best of three series at Lee County High School. Two games are set for Tuesday beginning at 4 p.m. and a third game would be Wednesday if necessary. Lee County is hoping not to have to play on Wednesday.

“We are not taking anything for granted,” said Suggs. “They might be the No. 4 team coming out of that region, but that is a strong region. We are going to work like they are the No. 1 team and focus on doing what we do best. They have a good pitcher who has won 11 games and struck out more than 100 batters plus they have some hitters that can knock one out sometimes. Hopefully, we can shut them down.”

Lee County is led by a strong group of seniors who have now won the region title three times in a row. Pitcher Abby Hughes, catcher Trellis Whaley, first baseman Rhiannon Belcher, second baseman Karlee Beck, third baseman Marley Smith, and outfielders Calli Carr and Alexis Danforth all contributed to the wins over Houston County.

The Lady Trojans need to win the series with Lakeside and then one more series to make it to the state tournament in Columbus October 24-28. If they beat Lakeside, they will face the winner of the series between South Paulding and Cambridge.

Staff photo: Joe Whitfield