COLUMBUS, Ga. — Becoming state champions is the ultimate goal for all softball teams when they travel to Columbus. But Social Circle’s fourth place finish isn’t too shabby either.
That was after it defeated Screven County 8-0 in the Elite Eight, dropped to the loser’s bracket in a 2-1 loss to Emmanuel County Institute, but won again 20-6 versus Crawford County.
After an up and down weekend, the Lady Redskins were officially eliminated on Saturday by Gordon Lee in a 10-5 loss.
When all was said and done, head coach Bryan Eades still considered 2021 a successful season.
“I told them [after the final game was over], if they felt like their season was a failure because they didn’t win state, then they were wrong,” Eades said. “This season was a huge success and they had accomplished a lot in the last three months. And they need to appreciate that.”
The Lady Redskins finished with a 22-8 overall record while also going 9-1 in region play.
Eades said that there were some noteworthy games this past season that also makes this season a triumphant one.
It all began Aug. 9 when the Lady Redskins lost to Franklin County 9-1. That was a momentous occasion because later in the season, on Sept. 29, Social Circle avenged the loss by winning 3-2.
Another notable game from this past season was at Washington-Wilkes on Aug. 26.
Even with the absence of their head coach, the Lady Redskins went on the road and defeated the Lady Tigers 4-3 in extra innings.
The cherry on top came in the regular season finale.
After already defeating Commerce once, Social Circle only needed to split the Oct. 9 doubleheader at home to claim the Region 8A-Public championship. It took both games, but Social Circle came out on top and were crowned region champs.
But Social Circle didn’t have long to celebrate.
Four days later, it swept Bowdon High School in the first round of the state playoffs. Then, the Lady Redskins swept Charlton County a week later in the second round.
Both rounds were played at home before traveling to Columbus for the final rounds of the playoffs.
Admittedly, Eades stressed how difficult it was for any team to compete at the South Commons Complex. He also highlighted how much the team improved from the beginning to the end of the season.
“I think we had a ton of improvement,” Eades said. “From the summer to where we ended up, I thought we made a huge transformation. The goal is to be playing your best in the postseason. And, fortunately for us, that happened.”
Moving forward, Eades hopes the returning underclassmen next season will use this postseason’s experience to their advantage.
“At the beginning of the year, I talked a lot about winning a region championship and getting to Columbus,” Eades. “And, for the girls who’ve never been, that’s just a word: ‘Columbus.’ Now, it’s just a word, it’s an experience. They’ve seen it, lived and experienced what it’s like. Hopefully the mindset now is to make that an annual trip.”
