There are five states—Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia—that play high school softball in the fall and, as part of a 13-week series covering the prep play in the Peach State, contributor and Georgia softball aficionado Steve Hickey has tracked the Road to Columbus: the pathway to the state championships in Columbus, Ga. which took place on Saturday (Nov. 1, 2025)

Here is Week 13 of the series… Steve’s wrap-up look at the exciting 2025 season of fastpitch softball in Georgia…

*****

As you walk up to the gates at South Commons, you can sense the electricity in the air.  Columbus is not some type of wine and cheese affair. 

It is not a senior appreciation event for good kids. It does not offer participation awards for players that have stuck with the sport.

Columbus is a savage frontier where the cream rises to the top against elite competition; where your better only counts if it is truly the best.  

Cowbells, vuvuzelas, air horns, grandmas, softball dads, classmates, little brothers, college coaches, dreams of glory, the plume coming out of the concession stands, souvenir stands, and trophies – it’s overwhelming. 

 Like the southern bend of the Chattahoochee River that borders the park, while you are on grounds at South Commons, Columbus, you cannot see the championship pressure, but you know it is there, you can feel it, you can almost taste it. 

For each classification, there are eight buses of teams that traveled down the Road to Columbus looking to hoist the GHSA State Championship trophy and, for each classification, there will be seven buses headed home without it. 

There are 99 reasons why teams come up short. 

The tournament showed them all:

• ground-rule doubles that keep the winning run back at third,
• a perfect relay from centerfield to short to gun the runner down at home,
• intentional walks that didn’t payoff,
• a perfect suicide squeeze that has no answer,
• a dominant pitcher with untouchable stuff,
• a star player that cannot sustain the load for the weather tightened tournament format,
• … and so many more examples.

But there is only one reason champions hear that Saturday siren, and persevere and win it all, because they answered the call of the moment. 

They found a way.   

As feared, mother nature was a factor.  Rain threatened, teased, and subsequently wiped-out Wednesday’s first round of games, and forced tournament directors to scramble. 

Thursday had heavy clouds, and fall was in the air with temperatures hovering in the mid to high 50s.  Opening ceremonies were scrapped and teams immediately dove into 1^st round action on Thursday morning. 

Fast Pitch Softball State Championship | 🥎
"Let's Play Ball" Today @SouthCommons
Class 5A & Class 6A @ 9:00am@wilsonballglove @MizunoFPitchNA @AthletesGoLive
Tickets @GoFanHS Watch Live @NFHSNetwork pic.twitter.com/Y7JhNM5AzY

— GHSA (@OfficialGHSA) October 30, 2025

Winners came back that evening to battle it out while losing teams pushed to Friday to potentially play two games. 

By Friday morning, skies cleared and the Peach State blessed players and fans with blue bomber skies that would last through Saturday championship games. 

This condensed action accelerated the hitter’s takeover and highlighted the importance of having pitching depth.   

Across the eight divisions, there were 113 games played.  There was a lot of chalk that played out, as the expected favored teams settled in quickly, somehow lowered their heart rates and owned the field. Seven of the Champions went 4-0.   

Halloween in Columbus is a time and place that isn’t forgotten. 

Friday night winner’s brackets delivered some scary games which were some of the best of the tournament.  The urgency to get through to Saturday undefeated presented a preview of the title game in six of the eight classifications.  

Saturday was a long day for the Loser’s Brackets, and they would be faced with up to three games to claim the title. There was only one “If” game needed to crown the champ and end the action: Eastside avenged its runner-up finish from the 2024 finals and defeated Kell under Saturday evening’s darkening skies of South Georgia. 

As dusk settled over the fields in South Commons, team photos are snapped for eternity, silly social media posts with smiling teammates are made, exhausted fans exchange hugs, coaches trade respectful handshakes, seniors walk off the field for the last time, and eight buses rumble to life.

In the history of mass transportation, those final eight buses carry the most joyful collection of young ladies for their return trip on the Road from Columbus, their place in Georgia sports history assured.

Well done, well done to all of you. 

*****

Champions Are Crowned

Private

Wesleyan began their title defense with a run rule 7-0 defeat of Whitefield Academy. Wesleyan faced a formidable Prince Avenue challenge in the 2^nd round, and the teams went into extra innings in a 1-1 tie.

Prince coach Donnie Byrom sent a runner to the plate for a walk-off chance in the bottom of the 7^th inning only to be gunned down by Florida commit Shayla Bahr’s relay to the catcher. Wesleyan won in eight innings, 4-2.

Wesleyan faced Hebron Christian and sensational 2028 pitcher Kate Kennedy in the winner’s bracket, but Furman commit senior Jessica Epps won the pitcher’s duel 2-0.  

Hebron had to go down into the Loser’s Bracket and faced region foe Prince Avenue again and won a war of bats 12-10 to get another chance at Wesleyan in the finals.

Alas, the Wolves were too much and run ruled them in five innings 9-1 to claim their fourth consecutive state title.

Congratulations to Coach Savannah Peppers and her club for a dominant 30-3 campaign. 

Private – Columbus Tournament results are HERE  

*****

1A

Bremen blanked Banks County 4-0 and moved into the 2^nd round to face defending 2024 champion Gordon Lee.

Led by senior Savannah Langley, Bremen run ruled Gordon Lee 8-0. Langley backed up that performance with a three-hit victory against Armuchee 2-1 to advance to the title game.

Gordon Lee fought their way back out of the Loser’s Bracket by defeating Dade County 4-1 and Armuchee 8-1 to get another crack at Bremen.

Alas, it was not meant to be, as the Trojans could not muster more than three hits to score one run against Langley, and Bremen seized the title.

Congrats to the Braves for their 30-5-1 season, and to Langley for her dominant finish. 

1A – Columbus Tournament results are HERE  

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2A

Sonoraville squeaked by Pike County 3-2 to advance to the 2^nd round. 

On Thursday evening, led by MTSU commit Ansley Hall, the Lady Phoenix had to endure a furious five-run 7^th inning from Morgan County, and then walk them off with a final score of 8-7 to advance. 

Sonoraville run ruled Appling County to move into Saturday’s title game.   

Morgan County fought their way back out of the Loser’s Bracket by defeating Cook County 6-0 then beating Pike County 3-2. They drew first blood in the first inning against Appling County and holding on for a 1-0 win. 

In the title game, Sonoraville prevailed against the Morgan County Bulldogs 6-2 to claim the Championship. 

Congrats to the Lady Phoenix for their 33-5 record and GHSA title. 

2A – Columbus Tournament results are HERE  

*****

3A

Heritage dispatched SE Bulloch 8-4 to move forward to the 2^nd round.  Led by senior pitcher Bailee Hollis, the Generals squeezed by West Laurens 3-1. 

In the Winner’s Bracket game on Friday evening, the Generals shut out Cherokee Bluff 5-0 to advance to Saturday’s title game.  Cherokee Bluff defeated West Laurens 3-2 in the Loser’s Bracket to come back to play to play Heritage in the title game. 

Heritage clinched the title in a pitcher’s duel and prevailed 2-1. 

Congratulations to first-year head coach Reagan Armour who led the Generals to their third consecutive state championship, getting hot at the right time, and finishing with a 23-10 final record. 

3A—Columbus Tournament results are HERE 

*****

4A

In one of the most closely watched classifications, the 2024 runner-up Eastside Eagles did it the hard way. 

The Eagles run ruled Union Grove 11-3 to advance to the second round and, in a rematch of the 2024 Championship Series, the Eagles turned the tables on Harris County Tigers 4-1. 

Led by Memphis pitcher commit Kylee Lawrence, the Eagles held the Tigers to three hits to win 4-1.  The Eagles fell to the Kell Longhorns 3-2, who sported their own ace in Lyla Morici.   

On Saturday morning, the Eagles had to battle the Harris Tigers again in the Losers’ Bracket.  The game went to 10 innings, which in GHSA starts ITB, and ended in a walk-off suicide squeeze by Savanna Griffin. 

Eastside beat Kell 5-3 in the title game and earned the tournament’s only “If” game.  Led by Georgia Tech commit Donee Morain, the Eagles claimed the title with a 9-6 victory.   

Congrats to the Eagles for their 33-2 record and a long run of redemption.  That was quite a ride! 

4A – Columbus Tournament results are HERE  

*****

5A

The Creekview Grizzlies run-ruled Effingham County 7-0 to advance to the second round. 

On Thursday evening, Creekview run ruled Veteran 12-4 to advance to face South Effingham.  Creekview handed the Mustangs a 6-2 loss and went to the Saturday game to wait.   

South Effingham beat Veteran 8-5 to come back out of the Loser’s Bracket and to face the Grizzlies in the title game. 

Creekview was ready for them and handled their business and run ruled South Effingham in the rematch to capture the 5A title.  

Congratulations to former Alabama player and current Creekview Head Coach Jennifer Maloney for the school’s third title and a 29-6 final mark. 

5A – Columbus Tournament results are HERE 

*****

6A

Buford completed its historic season undefeated and the top-ranked program in the country. 

The Wolves are under serious consideration for the best high school team ever as they had 12 wins against teams that played in Columbus. 

Buford has four Power 4 players and didn’t leak any vulnerabilities along the way. 

The anticipated renewal of hostilities against East Coweta did not deliver the goods to the fans as the Indians were swept on Friday evening 10-0 and Saturday morning16-1. 

Buford almost run-ruled all four opponents in Columbus and allowed only one run. 

Yup. 

Read that again: the pitching staff gave up just one run while, collectively, outscoring its four opponents 41-1. 

Over the entirety of the season, the Wolves outscored their opponents 381-27. 

Yikes.   

Congratulations to Coach Trent Adams and the rest of the Wolves for a final 36-0 mark in what was a championship-winning record-setting season.

6A – Columbus Tournament results HERE 

— Steve Hickey for Line Drive Softball