The Morgan County softball team has concluded its 2025 season, following its third consecutive trip to Columbus.
The Lady Dogs ultimately ended their trip as the runner-up in Class 2A, after falling 6-2 to Sonoraville on Nov. 1.
Morgan County finished the 2025 season with a 25-10 overall record. The Lady Dogs played a total of six games during the tournament, spanning from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.
“Overall, I’m just really proud of our team’s fight, their grit, and their determination to not give up on each other,” Morgan County head coach Chad Pigg said. “Something that we talk about often is if we have outs left, that somebody’s in trouble; and so they fully embraced that over the weekend.”
The GHSA softball tournament used a double-elimination format.
The Lady Dogs began their Elite 8 run on a high note, defeating Callaway 15-0 on Oct. 30 before their first loss to Sonoraville later that evening, an 8-7 decision. The next day, they defeated Cook 6-0 and Pike County 3-2 in a thriller a few hours later.
Morgan County eliminated Appling County 1-0 in the round before the championship game with Sonoraville.
“We had to play six games in Columbus in total, and that alone makes it a lot tougher,” Pigg said. “So that means you’re playing some of the best teams in the state, and having to play multiple games in a day, to get there [to the championship game].”
According to Pigg, sophomore pitchers Sidney Fischer and Kennedi Johnekins performed in the circle for the six tournament games. He credited the two for their performance during the tournament and “allowing the team to win games.”
“They both did an incredible job and pitched really well,” Pigg said. “They did a good job of minimizing and getting us all filled without giving up many runs or any at all.”
During the six-game tournament, Johnekins had a 1.79 ERA and gave up four earned runs and with five strikeouts. Fischer had an even more impressive outing at the state tournament with a 1.54 ERA. She also had 18 strikeouts, gave up five earned runs.
Pigg said the Lady Dogs proved their season-long efforts throughout the tournament and believes their competitive 2025 regular-season schedule helped prepare them for the playoffs.
“The strength of schedule and teams that we played [during the regular season] prepares them to go down there and not do shell shots, since it’s not necessarily the best pitcher that you may have seen all year,” Pigg said. “We did end up seeing some outstanding pitching down there [in Columbus], but just the fact that we played a tough schedule all year prepared us for that.”
Overall, Pigg said his biggest takeaway from the season is the increased experience the younger players now have, thanks to the tournament. He mentioned that his team put “a lot of fight” into their six games, and that it is a “true testament of their ability” to stay in the game “pitch by pitch.”
“Something we talk about all the time is just being a one-pitch warrior, meaning, you know, all you control is the next pitch; with the amount of fight that they showed, they fully embrace that mentality and never give up,” Pigg said. “Just the fact that we’ve been able to get there to Columbus for years in a row is huge, and hopefully for making title runs in the future.”