Since June 12th, the Lake Oconee Academy softball team has been hitting the diamond about three times a week in preparation for the 2023 season.
The Lady Titans recently had their first scrimmage game against Putnam County earlier last week. Soon after, head coach Keetah Singleton’s squad defeated Washington-Wilkes 9-3 in a practice game.
Singleton told the Lake Oconee News that they’ve taken a different approach this summer, and she believes it will help the girls in the late stages of the season.
“This summer, I worked in a little more dead time. A lot of my girls – out of the 14 I think I have six or seven – play pretty competitive travel ball. That’s a lot of time on the field, so I tried to keep a better balance of off-time because about mid-September you start to see fatigue,” Singleton said. “We also added weights into our offseason regiment this year, which is something we did not do last year. Other than that, we’ve just been focusing on areas that the girls think they need to work on to get better and perfect their craft.”
Last year, the Lady Titans dominated the teams in their region by going 11-1 in area play, but Singleton scheduled tough non-region competition and her team finished the regular season a game above .500.
With the team having to face a lot of the same non-region opponents again, the Lady Titans hope to rely on their experienced players.
Singleton acknowledged that both starting pitchers that are returning for their senior year, Jacy Singleton and Mackenzie Burnette, will be instrumental in the Lady Titans’ success.
“We have two seniors, [Singleton and Burnette], coming back on the mound who have both been pitching at the varsity level since their ninth-grade year,” Singleton said. “I feel pretty confident with those two on the rubber. They have a lot of game experience and reps, so I believe in their delivery of the game plan, and we’ll rely on them to give us good innings this season.”
In their junior years, Singleton and Burnette combined for 146 strikeouts across 32 appearances. The duo only gave up 93 earned runs and held opponents to an average on-base percentage just below 21 percent.
On top of their performances on the mound, Singleton and Burnette can produce at the plate, as well.
Singleton led the team with an impressive .500 batting average and racked up 23 runs batted in on 70 plate appearances. Burnette also contributed to the Lady Titans scoring last season by tallying nine RBIs across 80 plate appearances.
Aside from the handful of upperclassmen on the team, the Lady Titans roster is made up of a majority of talented freshmen. Singleton has been impressed by some already and believes they can all contribute on both sides of the ball.
“I’ve been very impressed with Elizabeth Moore who plays center field and first base for us, Ella Strickland who will probably start in left field for us, and Addison Kelley who has shown some promise off the hip,” Singleton said. “To be honest, I think we will be pretty solid both defensively and offensively. We have strong bats in a lineup that is full of girls who can get base hits in any situation, and I didn’t have to make many changes defensively, so I think we’ll be sound in the field.”
Lake Oconee Academy will host Commerce High School in the team’s last summer scrimmage before traveling to Briarwood Academy on Aug. 8 for the season-opener.
Looking ahead, the Lady Titans will play familiar opponents such as Elbert County and Brentwood Academy later that week before playing newer opponents like John Milledge Academy and Loganville Christian the following week.