COVINGTON, Ga. — Whether it’s displayed in pregame rituals or a home run celebration, the players for Peachtree Academy softball make one thing abundantly clear: They’re a close knit group.
One example of that was following a three-run homer from Cara Steele on March 30. The junior catcher drilled the home run at Earl O’Neal Complex in Conyers to send the Lady Panthers home with a 16-3 win over Creekside Christian Academy.
Once Steele finished rounding the bases and touched home plate, she was enthralled by her teammates. Most of the players surrounded Steele jumping up and down celebrating.
Senior Kate Chupp, who participated in the celebration, described how that moment sums up this team’s closeness.
“Our team has really bonded,” Chupp said. “We’ve gotten a lot closer this year. We have a very young team and we’re all just super close.”
In preparation for the game, players help put on each other’s eye black in the form of a cross. Then, moments before each game, all of the Lady Panthers line up and give each other high fives to get “hyped” for the game.
Those pregame rituals have preceded every game for Peachtree Academy and, currently, the Lady Panthers are 10-0.
Steele highlighted how incorporating a family atmosphere into the program has helped the Lady Panthers in their winning ways.
“This year, we’ve grown closer to each other and that’s why our team has come together like it has,” Steele said.
Across the 10 games thus far, Peachtree Academy has beaten its opponents by a combined 106-20. Both players admitted it’s been a struggle remaining vested throughout each entire game by gaining sizable leads early.
Nevertheless, their practices, primarily spearheaded by assistant coach Danny Hartman, has paid dividends in improving that.
“Our play in practice is much more difficult than we do in the games,” Chupp said.
There is still an aspect of the unit that Steele and Chupp feels like can improve. And that is communication.
Actually, that factor was mentioned by Steele as a main component of the Lady Panthers’ season ending last year in the semi-finals.
“Last year, the reason we lost in the semi-finals at state was because we didn’t communicate well,” Steele said. “So, we’ve been really communicating and it’s gotten us so far this year.”
Now, knowing that they’re definitely playoff bound and have earned the No. 1 seed for the state playoffs, Peachtree Academy has its eyes set on winning it all.
And, with Chupp being the lone senior on this year’s group, she’s helped make her teammates aware of what it will take to bring a state title back to Covington.
“Our softball level needs to get higher,” Chupp said. “The team we played [in the semifinals last year] was the same as us, but we beat ourselves down. They were a really aggressive team and I think we need to match that aggression to be able to win state.”
At the end of the day, however, the ultimate goal for the 2023 Lady Panthers is to enjoy each game.
“We just don’t want to give up,” Steele said. “It’s a fun game to play out here, but we still have to be at the top of your game. We have fun with it.”
