There are numerous things people debate about in life. It could be a political issue or a sporting event. One of those things could be the difference between Chevrolet and Ford vehicles. 

I, myself, am a Ford guy. And Ford has this mantra, “Built Ford tough.” 

If I were to give the Eastside Lady Eagles a mantra for their postseason performance thus far, it would be, “Built Region 8-AAAAA tough.” 

That was proven when Eastside, as a No. 4 seed, defeated No. 1 Cartersville 12-0 in five innings during the first matchup of the Super Regionals. The Lady Eagles turned around and downed No. 2 seed Kell 4-1 and earned the Super Regional win with a 8-3 victory over Kell in the final. 

As a result, the Lady Eagles are headed to Columbus to further compete in the GHSA state tournament. 

But how could a 4-seed go on the road and defeat two higher seeds with better records? To me, the answer is simple — Eastside competes in one of the toughest softball regions in Georgia, in my opinion. 

The Lady Eagles have faced teams like Jefferson (that didn’t make the playoffs), Loganville, Flowery Branch and Winder-Barrow three times each in the regular season. And, still finished the year at 15-10 overall with an 11-7 record in region — two games better than fifth place Jefferson. 

In this year alone, Eastside went to Jefferson and won 12-9 then lost to Flowery Branch on the road 1-0 and avenged that loss later 2-1. The Lady Eagles also defeated region champion Loganville 5-3 and earned the series win over Winder-Barrow, who was the region runners up. 

They did that all while sweeping the season series against Clarke Central and Heritage and winning by an average 12-2 (72-13 combined). 

That is why Eastside is not your typical No. 4 seed in this year’s playoffs. 

The Lady Eagles faced all of that tough competition, not only in the regular season, but they had to win those games just to make it in the playoffs. And by facing that competition throughout the season, I feel like Eastside will be prepared for whatever the postseason throws at them.