There are five states—Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia—that play high school softball in the fall and, as part of a 12-week series covering the prep play in the Peach State, contributor and Georgia softball aficionado Steve Hickey is tracking the Road to Columbus: the pathway to the state championships in Columbus, Ga.

Here is Week 7 of the series…

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Record-Setting Savage

On Tuesday night, in a critical region game, Carrollton fell to East Coweta 2-0 in Sharpsburg, Georgia. 

It was a special night at the Indians home field and history was afoot as a local 10U softball team took the field and stood for the national anthem prior to Jada Savage closing in on Kelly Lynch’s all-time East Coweta record. 

Lynch, the former Washington and LSU player, held the record of 746 strikeouts before Savage broke the record in the first inning by striking out the second batter of the game. She would finish the night with a total of 756 career strikeouts.    

A lightning delay slowed down the game from being completed, and after a 45-minute delay, a very good pitcher’s duel broke out. 

It was momentarily interrupted with some disciplined hitting to move runners that allowed the Indians to take a 1-0 lead in the second and again in the 5^th to go up 2-0. 

Carrollton threatened in the top of the fourth, loading the bases with no outs, but it’s always nice to have an ace in the circle and Savage took control as she hunkered down to induce a popout and two strikeouts. 

With approximately 15 games left in the season, 900 total strikeouts are within sight for the record-setting pitcher. 

After much research, this investigative journalist could not find a definitive place to site the all-time GHSA career strikeout number but, tell you what Ms. Savage, since no one can say we are wrong, you are Georgia’s all-time strikeout leader. 

The End is Near, But It Is Only the Beginning 

This coming week promises to have some blockbuster games… here is an overview of the programs trying to dominate their power ranking calculations and secure home field advantage in order to get to Columbus. 

— Buford (18-0) will travel to North Cobb (17-3) to put its undefeated record on the line versus Leah Byrd and the Warriors.  A preview of Columbus for sure, and the Wolves will travel for this Saturday matinee (September 27^th). 

— East Coweta (16-3) will travel to Harris County (16-4) to try to avenge an earlier season loss to the paws of the Tiger.  Gametime is Wednesday, September 24^th at 5 pm. 

— Veterans (17-4) will play a 3-game series against Northside (Columbus) (12-13) to beef up their Bonafides, and begin getting ready for the rigorous 5A gauntlet. 

— Mount Vernon (15-0) will take is perfect record on the road to battle an old foe at Mount Paran (9-6).  These two programs have long tussled for title of the true “Mount” on the northside of Atlanta. 

Both the Mustangs and the Eagles hold strong expectations to drive the bus down the road to Columbus.  This region preview will be critical as it will begin to shape host seeds for the Private classification to Columbus. 

… and in games played on Tuesday:  

— North Gwinnett (20-3) hosted the Wesleyan Wolves (18-2) yesterday (Tuesday, September 23) but lost 7-4 after the visitors pushed across four runs in the top of the 7^th inning to take the game between the two heavyweights.  

— the 4A Cartersville Lady Canes (20-2) are making their move, serving notice to Eastside and Harris County that there are more teams that have directions and aspirations to Columbus. 

Led by 2027 pitcher Zoie Shiflett, Cartersville topped Woodland 8-2 and 6-1 on Tuesday in a conference doubleheader played at Woodland. 

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If you want to see the Georgia High School Association Post Season Rankings, and all of its wizardry, click here. 

For most regions, there is one more week left in the regular season, and they will kick off their region playoffs.  Each region is allowed to choose to let their regular season stand or to go into a playoff format, and it varies from 1 region to the next.   

GHSA has a hard cap of 30 games for teams, including the regional playoffs, so we come back to the coaching strategy of scheduling.  Not too many, but gotta make sure it’s enough. 

Commitments are Beginning to Clear the Air 

The collective demand on the junior class is acute during the dog days of September. 

Region competition starts to come into focus, and they are being pulled in multiple directions by schools, coaches, parents, and teammates thanks to the exciting but exhausting recruiting process. 

It is exhilarating but it is a lot and consistency is not possible. 

Players begin to understand how personal the recruiting process is, how everyone’s process is sublime and unique, and no one cares about your recruitment. 

The hard truth is that, for every player getting calls, there is another player that is not so it is best to keep the peace and keep it out of the dugout. 

Even though they may verbally commit to coaches, many players defer announcement for their choice schools until after the season is over.  

Whatever the case, the fun is just now getting started! 

— Steve Hickey for Line Drive Softball