There are five states that play their high school softball in the fall including Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia which is arguably the most significant of these states. 

Line Drive Softball has launched a 12-week series covering prep play in the Peach State led by Steve Hickey under the title of Road to Columbus, tracking the pathway to the state championships in Columbus, Ga.

Here’s our 4th of the series which today profiles one of the greatest high school softball coaches ever in the history of the sport and his story on a particular warning sound that he yearns to hear every year come championship weekend.

Click on the following links to access previous articles:

• Week 3: August 24, 2025
• Week 2: August 17, 2025
• Week 1: August 10, 2025

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A siren… that is what he is trying to hear.  As we visit, he sits up and tries to peer around the corner at what’s coming. 

Georgia High School Association (GHSA) softball is already one third of the way home.  As the Labor Day weekend approaches, the school year is just starting, but the outlook on the 2025 softball season is already coming into focus. 

The siren isn’t that far off.  Can you hear it?

In a world of multi-tasking, Coach Franklin Deloach of East Coweta High in Sharpsburg, Ga. is one of the rare individuals who even attempts varsity softball AND varsity baseball coaching. 

Don’t even ask about his baseball successes—this is a softball library.

With everything on his plate, he knows how difficult it is to concentrate on that elusive sound.  It is fleeting.  As he is seated, his eyes and mind are off to somewhere, desperate to lock down the siren. 

You gotta keep first things first.   

It Starts at Home

With four daughters at home, Deloach knows he isn’t on Mount Rushmore inside his own home… but he doesn’t want to be: life has a clever sense of giving you exactly what you need and the humility of being a “girl dad” is his calling. 

Each time he walks through that door,, he doesn’t mind the trade-off of being outnumbered 4-to-1 and—if you count Mrs. Deloach, its actually 5-to-1!. 

His place in Heaven is assured and his legacy on Earth is getting there, too.

For the rest of the state of Georgia, Deloach is a shoo-in for being on the Mount Rushmore of Georgia high school softball coaches. 

His East Coweta Indian softball program is a powerhouse second to none.  His Indian softball teams have set an elite standard that elevates the entire Peach State. 

He jokes:

“To be a high school coach nowadays, you must be halfway crazy!” 

When you ask the question “What does it take to get to Columbus?”  Deloach flashes his Commercial Driver’s License… he literally drives the bus.

For the rest of us in the sport, however, the Road to Columbus goes through East Coweta.

It’s More Than a Journey, It’s an Odyssey

The legendary coach (and bus driver) has been at East Coweta for 26 seasons.  His teams are synonymous with Columbus, the home of Georgia’s Elite 8 championships with 19 trips under his belt and him hoisting the trophy four times in the state’s largest classification.

Deloach is the No. 1 active winningest coach in the state of Georgia.  With over 700 wins, he is a few seasons away from usurping Calhoun’s former coach, Diane Ralston, as the all-time winner. 

Clearly, he is up there on the Mount Rushmore of Georgia softball, but he knows that honor won’t help him in the next big game.  He knows that there are two types of coaches: ones that have been humbled and ones that are about to be.

The benefits of being around the positive energy of his players and coaches is what keeps him young in heart and body.  

As I’ve interviewed these coaches, I’ve discovered something. 

In my quest for a better understanding of how to navigate the Road to Columbus, I have also discovered the fountain of youth. 

When you meet Deloach, the math of his 26 years as head ball coach does not reconcile with the person in front of you.  Apparently, the operation and maintenance of a softball machine keep you 10 years younger than the pesky long-form birth certificate would suggest.

His start is familiar to many softball coaches; he was hired to run baseball and football, but once he showed up, Deloach was then conscripted into service for the softball program because no one else would do it.

When he arrived in East Coweta, in the Fall of 2000, it was not the destination that it is today.  There were no permanent structures at the field; just chain link and a Conex container that concessions were run out of. 

With no resources, and a field that was below recreation ball grade, he wondered what he had gotten himself into.  Every opponent embarrassed them, on and off the field.  Run-rule loses were the rule, not the exception.  Even the school team uniforms did not pass muster.

He understood it then: girls must feel good in order to play great and win while boys must win in order to feel great and play great. 

As Coach recalled:

“No wonder we were getting handled. The players didn’t feel supported, and softball just was not that important around here.”

The amount of actual live play time is a huge consideration in how you approach coaching these players. 

An average game lasts about two and a half hours.  Breaking that down in terms of actual game play, there’s only about nine minutes of that time is live action time from pitch to completion of the play. 

If you carry that calculation out further, and limit it to the time from when the ball comes off the bat, live action time is further reduced to approximately two to three minutes a game. 

With that much time between active plays within the game, coaches must tread deliberately within the theater of the player’s mind.

Gotta Pay Rent Every Day

Letting the game do the teaching is the key, Deloach emphasizes. 

“Don’t get in the way of that,” he explains. “

Helping players listen, learn, and develop is the fun part of coaching.  I am trying to get great effort.  I am trying to get great kids.  I am trying to get great coaching and I am trying to get great softball.” 

He admits the gap between baseball and softball becomes greater every year and that times are “a-changing” as the bells, whistles, and flair for the game has changed over the years. 

The drip increases and, if the team is not intentional, the game itself seems to decrease.  His transition back and forth between seasons and sports only becomes more challenging. 

As a championship coach, he is forced to continuously humble himself and start all over each and every time.  Nothing carries over from season to season, except points on his driver’s license.  He takes care to leave early and get there safely. 

Coach believes his assistant coaches in the program are the secret sauce.  Technically they know their stuff and perhaps the greatest improvement within the sport in his tenure has been in the area of hitting. 

Deloach recalls games in Columbus that would end in 1-0 affairs when someone would blink first, perhaps through well-executed bunt, an error or a speedster causing chaos on the bases. 

Now, Columbus is an artillery zone. 

“When you get to Columbus,” he continues, “you have got to be able to blast your way out of several games in order to win the whole thing.” 

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish and by the sixth or seventh game, make no mistake, the batters are in control of the fate of the ballgames. 

Yes, hitting has leapt forward, but it isn’t the last hurdle.  Hydration and nutrition remain a centerpiece of the program’s intentions, Deloach offers. 

“If Florida and Alabama football think it is important, shouldn’t we care about it as well?”

It’s Not About Knowing, It’s About Doing

When you ask Coach Deloach about the culture and expectations inside his program, he tightens.  His easy demeanor that has been evident from the beginning of the meeting evaporates. 

It is all fun and games when he is being asked about last season, his memories of Columbus, and other teams lurking in Georgia’s largest and most competitive designation. 

As the curiosity towards the inner workings of his dugout takes us deeper into his program, he says we don’t have time to get through it all. 

After 26 years, it remains a work in progress, and he understands its priority.

“It is the most important thing we do around the program,” he explains. “’Culture’ is a word that gets used too cheaply.  It takes a long time for cement to form and cure, and you can’t do anything on top of it until it is ready.” 

He remembers back to his early days at East Coweta.

“It took me three years to get us moving in the right direction, at the right velocity, with the right people.  There were no shortcuts there.  I went out and found people who wanted to be here.  Bleed purple and gold.” 

East Coweta players are surrounded by strong coaches, sure, and that’s great Deloach noted, but it is more important that his players are and are surrounded by great human in life. 

If you’re going to ride or die to Columbus, the legendary coach stresses, make sure your bus is full of folks that are worth living for or dying for.

Always Play the Game the Way It Was Meant to Be Played

Deloach treats each of his assistant coaches like they are the head coach.  In our conversation time together, he never once used the phrase of “servant leadership”.  Like culture, it is a term that gets spent everywhere and invested nowhere.

The coach’s actions are so loud that you really cannot hear any other words.  Everything he describes starts with the “why” and ends with specific examples. 

He loves staying in touch with the daily practices and goes out and does the little things that allow his assistant coaches to maximize their drills.  He finds himself listening a lot more each passing season.

Seasons and teams mean more now.  Players he once coached now have daughters coming into his program.  His own youngest daughter is now on the team, contributing to the family business… and business is very good. 

Deloach takes his glasses on and off as he clears his thoughts.  Despite his perceived youth, he knows he has been on quite a run.  He couches his future with uncertainty; he doesn’t know how much more he has left but it is clear he is hungry for more days in the sun. 

There is plenty of tread left on these tires.

What is Missing?

“Two and a queue”, that is how Deloach describes his first couple of trips to Columbus in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

“We just were not ready for prime-time,” he remembers. “We got there and were summarily dispatched.” 

But, once you get the taste of the environment and chaos that rains down all week long, you want more. 

“So, those years that we got beat early,” Deloach remembers, “we made our players stay and watch the other teams play through Saturday.  That’s what we wanted, but our girls had to learn it and understand what it was going to take.”

All of that led to his first championship game appearance in 2008 against Mill Creek.  The scar and pain of that near-miss was all that he’s ever needed.  Once you know, you know. 

In order to get back, he knew he had to level up his scheduling.

It is almost shocking to learn that even East Coweta has difficulty scheduling the necessary games to prepare for the Road to Columbus.  He says this task is one of the Top 5 most important things the Head Coach must master. 

It is a year-round process, reaching out, trying to make things work, getting told “no,” and sometimes being ghosted. 

He has never been in pursuit of the mythical non-region championship.  But some programs are.  Without mentioning names, East Coweta has to put in some mileage to fill up its schedule.  Deloach continues hold that Commercial Driver’s License and drives the bus to wherever it’s needed to go.

Have game, will travel.  Anytime.  Anyplace. Against anybody.

In the meantime, he is innovative and has partnered with his school’s football program to create a Friday Night Light jubilee. 

The programs have invited two other schools to come for a round robin on a home game night and—for the price of a $10 ticket at the gate,–sportss fan can wander about the sportsplex at East Coweta and get their fill of elite competition. 

This may be Deloach’s most savvy contribution yet, and the cross-marketing makes the team-up of Taylor Swift and the NFL by comparison seem like awkward bedfellows.

Gotta Pay the Fiddler

Last year’s 37-1 team ain’t walking though those doors.  After last year’s title, the Indians graduated the leader of the dugout, Madison Duffel. The coach remarks that in all his years and of all his players Madison was one-of-a-kind.

“She was the best all-round player in East Coweta High history,” he believes. “So how do you fill those shoes?”  

Well, I mean in my humble opinion, here’s a thought: How about Jada Savage, the 2026 grad who’s a right-handed pitcher and hitter committed to Ole Miss?

It’s a problem most coaches would love to have.  No rebuilding.  No reloading. All gas.  No brakes. 

This current team has seven seniors plus Jada, who is the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year. 

Coach Deloach knows this is an odyssey with everyone taking their best shots.  Despite all the acclaim, he reminds me that Jada is still a young athlete that has her own set of ups and downs. 

“That is what makes her special,” he states. “She is not perfect, but she battles.  She overcomes and she is authentic.” 

The coach’s job, he knows, is to manage her workload and deliver her healthy and ready to go in Columbus. 

Be Quick But Don Not Hurry

In addition to the eight seniors, Peyton Wilson steps into that shortstop role.  She is the lone returning freshmen from last year’s team.  Coach Deloach notes how special she is because at East Coweta, freshmen rarely get on the field.

“Peyton doesn’t need to press and try to become what Madison was,” he says. “She just needs to own being the best version of who she is.” 

Deloach takes special attention to his platform of coaching, he draws inspiration from legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden and his Pyramid of Success.

He takes a long view of developing the girls on his team.  It is more than just wins and losses. It is about winning the game of life.

As a public service announcement to high school softball coaches across Georgia, you need to come play against Deloach’s squad in 2026. 

He knows he has a job ahead of him next year.  He is optimistic those scheduling calls next year will be returned and everyone and their mother will be out to get an Indian scalp, but he isn’t borrowing tomorrow’s trouble. 

You can already hear him firing up that bus for this season.

Seven Innings to Play… and a Lifetime to Remember

Surveilling the battlefield, “it is not a forgone conclusion; it is not just a two-team race.” 

Coach Deloach has a hard-fought and rightly earned respect for Caroline Stanton, the Florida Gator commit at Buford. 

That program bested East Coweta High in 2022 and 2023, and this year represents the final chapter in the on-going civil war between East Coweta and Buford.  Peach State softball fans are already projecting out GHSA power rankings and potential bracketology into Columbus. 

They are desperate to see this renewal of hostilities of this ongoing civil war.

There are other programs with the hunger and talent to break up this dance.  North Gwinnett won the whole thing three years ago and today North Cobb has a special player in Leah Byrd, a 2026 Auburn commit.

Coach Deloach says he also fully expects to see Brookwood in Columbus.  Reflecting on the overall state of play across Georgia he is blown away at stacked the state is.

“Wow!” he beings. “Amazing! There are talented players everywhere and it is as crowded and talented of a field of competition that I have ever seen.  We are a better team than we were last year and we are now the hunted.”

Deloach finally explains what he is listening for: it is the expectation for his players. 

“There is a civil defense siren that gets tested at noon on the championship Saturday.  We want to be on the field when we hear it and be ready for it.  And use it to our advantage.” 

Like Homer’s Odyssey, East Coweta wants to put another team on the rocks on that brisk November 1^st afternoon at South Commons.

That is what Coach has been trying to hear the entire time: that siren.  It means that their program is playing for something bigger than the sum of its parts. It is an old familiar friend and means something different to him than “seek cover.” 

He has heard it 19 times and wants to hear it one more time: it is that siren that awaits at the end of the Road to Columbus and, more likely than not, Coach Franklin Deloach will once again enjoy its distinctive sound… the sound of winning.

— Steve Hickey for Line Drive Softball