MORGAN COUNTY
The Morgan County softball team kicked off its season Tuesday with a new head coach in Chad Pigg.
Pigg was previously the head coach at Harris County and comes in with a wealth of knowledge and experience. He was hired by Morgan County Director of Athletics Doug Connelly in late June.
Pigg spoke with the Lake Oconee News before the season opener. He acknowledged how excited he was to get the season going, adding that his team is veteran-led and ready to see more success this year.
According to Pigg, the team has high expectations for this season and wants to make a return trip to Columbus.
“We want to set our goals and that bar as high as you possibly can,” Pigg said. “Obviously, our first goal is to make it to Columbus, and then hopefully, play as long as we can down there and come back with a ring. That would be the ultimate goal. We have some really good athletes, really good girls. We’ll just roll it out there and see what happens. Try to get the best version of ourselves.”
Some of the veteran leaders returning are seniors Anna Kate Hill, Ryan Henderson and Emmy Moss. Pigg is also looking to underclassmen such as Ryleigh Hilsman and Kymora Smith to help lead.
Morgan County also has Tallie Ray, Bri Lanford, Tristan Waldhour, and Brooklyn Mims, among others, coming back. All four of those players competed for the Lady Dogs last season on varsity.
“We’ve got some good pieces coming back,” Pigg added. “We didn’t lose a whole lot from last year. I think they’re building on that and moving in the right direction. If I can just stay out of the way and let them do their thing, we should be fine. I’ve liked what I have seen so far in these girls.”
Last season, Morgan County went 20-12 overall and 6-2 in region play. The Lady ‘Dogs only two league losses came against Harlem, which won the region title and eventually advanced to Columbus.
Morgan County entered the Class AAA state playoffs as the No. 2 seed from Region 4-3A. The Lady ‘Dogs played in the Cordele Regional as host Crisp County ended their season in the Sweet 16.
Pigg knows his players are ready to compete and are looking for revenge in 2023. He wants his girls to play “hungry” but also for them to focus on taking each game this season one contest at a time.
“You can definitely tell with the way last year [ended], it stung a little bit,” Pigg said. “They kind of used that as fuel this offseason. They’re hungry, chomping at the bit to get back out there on the field.”
Morgan County began its season Tuesday against Glascock County, with the game getting called due to weather. However, it continued its schedule on Friday against Social Circle at home in Madison.
Next week, the Lady Dogs are on the road at Monroe Area (Aug. 15) and Greenbrier (Aug. 16) Morgan County’s other non-region schedule includes teams such as Oconee County, Newton, Prince Avenue Christian, Lake Oconee Academy, Jackson and Apalachee. The Lady Dogs’ biggest competition in region play with be Harlem, but they’ll also have to watch out for Cross Creek.
Pigg loves seeing the schedule be so tough because it will test his team before the Class 3A state playoffs.
“Coach Doug Connelly, our AD, did our schedule ‘cause he was the coach last year, so our out-of-region is tough,” Pigg said. “He did a great job of getting us some tough opponents to help us out.”
The Lady Dogs’ game against Social Circle is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday.