The 2026 Georgia high school softball season officially began on August 1 and will culminate with the playoffs running from October 28-31 at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Ga.

Line Drive Media contributor Steve Hickey tracks the prep fastpitch journey in the Peach State for the seven public divisions (1A through 7A) and the one private division.

This is Week 5 of what will be a baker’s dozen of articles throughout the season to provide highlights and spotlights for journey in Georgia to crown its champions.

• Click HERE for Week 1’s report
• Click HERE for Week 2’s report
• Click HERE for Week 3’s report
• Click HERE for Week 4’s report
• Click HERE for Week 5’s report

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You Lose Them the Way You Win Them

As the calendar marches in September, it is possible to see a stratification of teams across the Peach State. 

Who are the contenders?  Who are possible contenders?  Who are the pretenders?  And the rest of the field. 

As noted in prior week’s updates, the map to Columbus is held by precious few programs. 

Reviewing the past six years’ worth of brackets, each classification has at least four repeat participants to Columbus year over year, with certain classifications having at least six repeat participants. 

That’s why Buford, Wesleyan, Northside-Columbus, Prince Avenue, Gordon Lee, Heritage – Catoosa, and Creekview have such high regard for their consistency in showing up in Columbus. 

Can’t win the state if you don’t punch your ticket to South Commons.  

It starts in the spring when coaches finalize their schedules.  Are we getting after it?  Or I’m not sure. 

There was a huge upset this week in the invitational tournament hosted by Harris County in Columbus, and that matchup demonstrates the commitment of programs to get battle tested for late October. Pressure breaks pipes.  We are seeing some players break through with late-inning heroics and thriving under pressure. 

Of course, there is heartbreak along this journey as well.  How well do clubs handle adversity? 

In addition to the distractions of the September 1^st recruiting window and camps, fatigue and injury are beginning to show up in single threaded programs as pitching begins to normalize.  Hitters are catching up. 

There is an abundance of future D1 pitchers in the state, and hitters are no longer strangers to velocity and movement.  Singular pitcher excellence does separate the competition in Columbus, it takes staffs of pitchers to carry the load to get the team there.  

This is the best time of year.  Dig in and enjoy this week’s update. 

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3 Things I Learned This Week 

An old adage comes to mind, “You lose them, the way you win them.”

September begins to reveal the contenders apart from the pretenders.  Programs that know how to win, have challenging schedules against other power programs, and players making plays. 

We are witnessing signature wins that are call outs for post season success.  We are also witnessing single threaded teams that are beginning to wilt under the competition. 

At this time of season, winners find ways to win.  Speed, power, pitching, defense, coaching, focus, and health: all become critical components to success as the GHSA softball season commences its critical second month of play. 

Pressure indeed is a privilege.  And it is fun to watch these programs flex their softball privilege.  There is something unique about the regular season matchups of two teams with high expectations for success.  As these seven inning contests unfold, the battle to impose their will is key. 

Sometimes these games result in offensive explosions and who will bat last, other times, they turn into pitching masterpieces, often only interrupted by a single defensive miscue or manufactured run. 

As I follow these programs, can I share a controversial take? 

I am not in love with the “Lady” designation for the school’s mascots.  For instance, the “Lady Bulldogs” or the “Lady Trojans.” In such a divided world, can’t we just find some common ground?  We don’t call the football team the “Gentlemen Wildcats,” do we? 

Ah, I digress.  I will leave it at that. 

Weather wiped out a promising slate of games on Saturday.  The two marquee events this weekend—the Harris County Invitational which was hosted at South Commons, Columbus, and the “Remembering the Fallen Tournament” at Camp Jordan in Chattanooga, Tenn., fortunately were not interrupted.  More on those results later. 

Pack your suitcase tight.  Got game, be ready to travel.  Watching these teams traverse across the Peach State landscape to play tough games, it is amazing and kudos to every team to step into that arena to test their mettle.  

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Now, let’s look at this week’s results across the Peach State…

Class 7A

*** Buford was rudely greeted by host Harris County in South Commons.  The Wolves were riding a 49-game win streak and had another perfect season in its sights.  Harris County is no slouch, so the 4-1 loss was a simple reminder that lightning can strike, and upsets are why they play the game. 

Buford outhit the Tigers 7-6 but could not master the situational hitting and overcome a couple of errors in the field.  The game was weather shortened to five innings, and Buford was not allowed any late game theatrics. 

Buford returned to its winning ways to finish the tournament and have run its season to date record to 15-1.  They have two more big games against Dacula and a monster game against Creekview in late September. 

*** Harrison had a great week with five wins sweeping the week and turning heads against Etowah, North Cobb, McEachern, Cedartown, and Central Caroll. 

There is a lot of confidence coming out of this team as 2027 Nola Tylke has emerged as one of the best players in the state, hitting over .580 with eight home runs.  The Lady Hoyas are expected to have a strong finish as their schedule will not present any real challengers until they close the regular season in October against Creekview.  

*** Brookwood has extended their season to date record to 14-1 with an impressive week of wins.  It is difficult to claim this school a contender this early, as their schedule is backloaded with big games against Lassiter, North Gwinnett (two times), and Walton to finish the season.   

*** Richmond Hill split its doubleheader against Effingham County and extended its record to 12-2.  Led by 2027 Aubrey Ragins, the utility player has found several clutch plays to lead, the Lady Wildcats are definitely a contender to get to Columbus.  

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Class 6A

*** South Effingham seized the top spot on the Post Season Rankings with a 3-0 week against Elbert, Madison County, and Greenbrier. 

They do not have a difficult schedule down the stretch and will be tough to topple their headlock in the rankings, but it is also difficult to favor them going to Columbus against some of the other big schools out of metro Atlanta. 

*** Creekview bounced back after their first loss of the season last week and went 3-0 this week with some impressive “get right” wins. 

There is no doubt the Grizzlies are contenders to repeat this classification and have a few weeks of base games before they hit a murderer’s row on their schedule at the end of the month with games against Buford, Lassiter, Pope, and Harrison.  Inject that into my veins. 

*** Lee County has broken into the Top 3 of the PSR with 3-0 week.  They face Houston County (pronounced “How-ston”) three times this coming week.  Are the Lady Trojans contenders or pretenders? 

*** Lassiter finished the week 15-4.  Their schedule is very heavy, and they have a couple of really big games looming against Cartersville, Walton, Creekview, and Pope. 

There is no doubt that the Trojans are scheduled for a trip to Columbus.  

*** After breaking onto the statewide stage of possible contenders, Johns Creek went 2-1 this week for a season record of 16-2.  They have a favorable schedule to complete the season and prove their bona fides to Columbus. 

Can the Gladiators keep this dream season going? 

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Class 5A

*** Harris County made a loud statement against Buford and made sure that everyone in this classification knows that they still have the best map to the Road to Columbus. 

As the defending state champs, the Tigers are led by their two seniors—OF Caroline Gatewood hitting over .500, and catcher Harper Horton hitting eight homeruns. Also, this explosive lineup is averaging over sevenruns a game.  

*** North Oconee lost its first game of the season against Providence Christian 1-2.  The Lady Titans have a favorable schedule to finish the regular season and will be interesting to see how ready their squad is to compete in the playoffs. 

It is also worth mentioning, the engine driving the bus is 2027 shortstop Kourtney Wells, who is the younger sister of Oklahoma Sooner sophomore Kendall Wells. You always have to keep an eye on those younger siblings.  They are made differently.   

*** Cartersville has been impressive so far this year with a 19-2 record and holding 3^rd place in the PSR.  Led by 2027 RHP Zoie Shiflett, the future Coastal Carolina commit has been breaking records offensively and pitching. 

They have a favorable schedule to finish the season, and there will be a lot of trading places with Harris and North Oconee atop the PSR. 

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Class 4A

*** Long County has emerged as the No. 1 team in the 4A classification with a 2-0 week thanks to wins against West Laurens and Liberty County.  Their season to date record is now 11-2 and have a looming rematch against Richmond Hill this week. 

They have another rematch against West Laurens later in September, and a critical test against GIAA power Tatnall Square. 

As previously noted, the GIAA games are discounted in the PSR calculations, but they are a championship caliber team, just in the other association. 

*** Heritage is now 14-1, after finishing the week 3-0, with nice wins against Ridgeland, OLA, and George Walton. 

*** Cherokee Bluff is 16-4 after going 4-0 for the week, with wins against East Forsyth, Carrollton, Walnut Grove, George Walton, and Hebron Christian. 

*** Pickens went 3-0 this week and holds a season-to-date record of 12-2.   

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Class 3A

*** Appling County continued its piracy of the 3A classification seas this week, going 4-0 this week and is dominating this classification with a 14-2 record.  

The Pirates have a huge rematch this week against Wayne County.   

*** Worth County seized the No. 2 spot in the PSR with a 17-1 record. 

*** The Pike County Pirates are 9-2.   Ahoy, I am looking forward to a clash of the swashbucklers in Columbus.   

*** Defending state champ, Sonoraville is now 13-4 after a 1-0 week.  A couple of games against Heritage looms on the horizon and the Phoenix appears well positioned to travel to Columbus. 

2029 catcher Kaylee Sitten is emerging as an elite game wrecker; she is batting .560 for the season with only two strikeouts to date. 

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Class 2A

*** Bacon County is No. 1 in the PSR with a 12-2 record with a big win this week against Jeff Davis. 

*** Banks County is the No. 2 team with a 16-2 record for the season. 

*** The Berrien Rebels are now 11-5 record with several tough losses this week. 

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Class 1A

*** Wheeler has jetted out to a 15-1 record and is currently listed as the No. 1 team in the single A classification. 

*** Irwin has a 10-1 record and is ranked No. 2, Irwin has a big game against Lanier County this week. 

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Private

*** The Private category is piling up with contenders with Hebron Christian leading the way.  As expected, Hebron had a monster schedule this past week with wins against Madison County, Morgan County, and Lanier County. 

The Lions prevailed in a walk off against Morgan County off the bat of 2027 Leah Jenson.   This was a very difficult stretch of games in only a week and ended up dropping a tough game against Cherokee Bluff 3-7.  

*** Longtime Columbus fixture Prince Avenue improved its record to 12-2 and have a dangerous look about their ball club.  Coach Donnie Byrom will be interviewed for next week’s article. 

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Steve’s Take 

How do you eat an Elephant?  Ask Harris County.  One clutch play at a time.  Ask Leah Jensen.  Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip? Congrats to every player that takes their moment. 

How many miles is it to Columbus from your school?  If you know it, feel free to drop me a line and give me the insider’s look at your team and the journey ahead this season.   

— Steve Hickey/Line Drive Contributor