Lady Cougars Eager for State Competition

The Piedmont Academy softball team is ready for the state tournament.

In reality, the Lady Cougars are simply ready to return to the field as recent weather conditions have prevented them from playing a complete game since Sept. 23.

That should change Saturday as Piedmont will host a quarterfinal series in the GISA Class AA softball state playoffs. The Lady Cougars will host the winner of the Brentwood-Robert Toombs series which began earlier this week. Game times for Saturday had not been determined as of Wednesday.

“Our girls have handled the delay in playing well,” said coach Daniel Funt. “We even tried to get a game for Monday of this week but could not find anyone. We tried to schedule several schools but no one was able.”

Piedmont tried to play last Thursday at Loganville Christian Academy but managed to only compete for an inning. Last Wednesday the Lady Cougars were scheduled to host Briarwood on what turned out to be a rare good weather day, but the opponent did not show up.

The team was then set to play Westfield on Sept. 28 but that team had to compete in a region tie-breaker game that day. When the schools tried to play the following day, the weather prevented it.

“By Saturday we will have not been on the field for a complete game in two and a half weeks,” Funt said Monday.

Piedmont’s coach said other schools are in similar situations, especially those who did not schedule as many games in the early portion of the season.

“We scheduled more of our games later in the season and that worked against us,” Funt said.

Piedmont plans to recognize its 2015 softball seniors prior to the first state game Saturday as previous attempts were rained out.

For the Lady Cougars, it’s time to get back on the field. Funt was trying to add one final regular season game for Thursday afternoon of this week at home but those plans had yet to be finalized by Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s been miserable,” Funt said. “We’ve been working in the batting cages and it it’s not raining then we get on the field and throw and take some ground balls and fly balls and do what team work we can. I think we have a good chance when we being the playoffs. Even though the weather has been awful the girls have a good mindset and are eager to play. They have handled it well. It will be interesting to see what happens.”

Admission to Saturday’s state playoff series is $7 for adults and $4 for students. If the Lady Cougars advance, they will compete in the state semifinals next Tuesday, Oct. 13. The state championship will be Saturday, Oct. 17.