Lady Cougars Look to Region Play

The Piedmont Academy softball team has been perfect this season in terms of wins and losses by the Lady Cougars know things are about to get even tougher.

Piedmont (8-0) was set to begin region play for 2024 on Wednesday against Stratford Academy on the road. The Lady Cougars will also host John Milledge Academy Thursday (today) at 6 p.m. and Tattnall Square Academy on Tuesday (7 p.m.) in region play.

Last Thursday’s game against Brentwood was not played due to weather conditions.

“We are looking forward to the competition in this new region,” said Coach Joe Johnson, who has guided Piedmont to four consecutive state titles. “We have to clean up some errors that we have made defensively. Offensively, I would like for us to have more line drives and cut out some of the pop ups. We are still hitting the softball well, but I think there is room for improvement there.”

Still, Johnson said he knows the team has played well overall to this point and he expects that to continue.

“We are ready to go,” the coach said. “This is a hard-working group of girls and they get after it.

Through the team’s first eight games, Teagan Hinson is batting .519 with a homer, triple, double, nine runs and 10 RBI. Kylee Keck has compiled a .571 average with five doubles, one triple, 10 RBI and 11 runs.

Marissa Holder is batting .556 with a homer, four doubles, five runs and nine RBI. Shaniyah Lane is at .464 with six RBI, two triples and 12 runs scored. Lane also leads the team with seven stolen bases.

Lilly Stowe has compiled a .500 batting average with six runs and six RBI. MacKenzie Plunkett is .500 at the plate with five RBI, two doubles and a triple.

Kolbee Osborne is batting .478 with a homer, three doubles and five RBI.

Plunkett is the team’s number one pitcher and has recorded 38 strikeouts in 42 innings of work.