Lady Cougars Begin New Season

Piedmont Academy’s varsity softball team ushered in the 2017 season last weekend with a pair of home games.

The Lady Cougars fell to Georgia FCA 8-3 before defeating long-time rival Gatewood 12-1. In the first game, coach Colt Spivey had to shuffle his lineup as some team members had not arrived after competing in various out-of-state travel league tournaments.

Neely Bradford and Fleming Sealy handled the pitching duties in both games Saturday. While Bradford is one of the team’s key returning players, it was the first varsity action for Sealy.

“With the way things worked out, we played several young players in the first contest,” Spivey said. “In the second game we had our full starting lineup and they went out and looked sharp from the first inning.”

While not wanting to lose the first game, the Piedmont coach said it was a good opportunity for the team’s younger players to gain valuable varsity experience, something which should prove beneficial down the road.

“We had some players who were brand new to our program and some who had to play out of their normal positions in the first game,” Spivey said.

Offensively, Madison Johnson had a strong performance at the plate in both contests. She was 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run in the win against Gatewood.

Also contributing to the win against Gatewood were Haley Ann Frank (2-for-2, two runs, one RBI), Jayden Young (1-for-1, one run and one RBI), Maddie Morton (1-for-2, three runs, one RBI), Cassidy Cook (two runs, one RBI), Ava Anglin (two RBI), Taylor Smith (one RBI), Alexis Dodson (1-for-1, one RBI), Mattie Johnston (one RBI) and Hailey Hooper (one walk).

Morton and Johnson both had stolen bases. In the pitcher’s circle, Bradford had three strikeouts against Gatewood and Sealy had one.

The Lady Cougars will return to action today, August 10 against Trinity Christian-Sharpsburg on the road. The varsity and middle school teams will both be in action.