The Lady Warriors softball program won the state championship back in 2010, but those involved have long ago left.
Seven years later, the same program, under the second different coach since that title run, have been building toward that same goal.
White County (7-7; 2-3 in region play) have lost six or seven games to rain-outs this year, with many of those being cancelled altogether. The senior class won’t get the full slate of games, but there’s much more they’re aiming for in 2017.
“As senior-heavy as we are, we are expecting a lot out of two or three different freshman as well,” says head coach Drew Owens. “It’s been great that our senior leadership has been able to reflect on our freshman, too.”
One of those seniors, catcher and 4-year starter Jessica Morgan, is the ‘straw the stirs the drink’ for an offense that has scored a region-best 104 runs. Morgan, a UGA commit since her sophomore year, is batting over .600 with 8 homeruns and 24 RBI as of September 20.
“She’s just one of those kids that every coach dreams of,” says Owens, who realizes that Morgan is a generational talent that comes along only rarely. “I can’t take any credit — she was good when I got here, and continues to get better.”
“We’ve worked hard every day [on offense],” exclaims Morgan. “It’s really awesome. We’ve had different keys to work on the last three years, and this year it’s been offense.”
The Lady Warriors have improved from seven wins in Owens’ first year to 10 wins in 2016, making the playoffs. This season they are improved even more, but White County isn’t satisfied with just getting to the playoffs, they want to get past that first round.
“That first round — getting over that edge…” exclaims Owens. “Getting through that first round and just believing…”
