Lady Indians Face Tough Foe but Ready

The Stephens County Lady Indians will make their second straight trip to the Class AAAA Elite Eight High School Softball Championships when they meet Northside of Columbus Thursday at 5 P.M. in Columbus.

Stephens County advanced to Columbus with road series wins. The Lady Indians defeated Chestatee two games to none in round one, and won the final two games at Chapel Hill to take that Sweet Sixteen series two games to one.

Stephens County Head Coach Katie-Jo Gentry says most of this team being here just a year ago should help. “That’s a great thing going back the second year. The girls know what to see beyond the flashy lights and seeing everybody around, but we know that we have a goal and that is going furthur than we did last year. It is going to be good competition.”

The Lady Indians will open their run for a state title against one of the state and national powers in Northside of Columbus. The Lady Patriots have an overall record of 30-2, went undefeated in their region, ranked #2 by the Atlanta Journal Constitution in Class 4-A in Georgia, and rated 25th nationally by Max Preps.

This is the 3rd straight Elite Eight for Northside and they were the state runner-up last year. The Lady Patriots have breezed through the playoffs so far defeating Mary Person 7-0, and 7-3, and combining for 30 hits in a sweep of Woodward Academy 12-0, and 13-1.

Despite facing a strong team playing basically at home, Gentry says that her team is very resilient. “This is just one of the hardest working bunches that I have ever been around, even when I was playing ball. They’ve got true grit and they don’t give up when the going gets hard.”

The Elite Eight is a double-elimination tournament. If the Lady Indians win their Elite Eight opener they will face the winner of Eastside and Northwest Whitfield at 9 P.M. on Thursday. If the Indians lose, they will face the loser of that game at 12 Noon on Friday.

The other side of the bracket pits Marist against Perry, and Madison County against West Laurens.

WNEG will broadcast the Lady Indians games in Columbus. Airtime is scheduled for 4:45 P.M. on Thursday with first pitch at 5 on 93.1 FM & AM-630 WNEG, and on the world wide web at wnegradio.com.