Morgan County is looking to make its first trip back to Columbus in a few years...
-
Morgan County head coach Doug Connelly (center) meets with the team during a stoppage of play against Prince Avenue last week. LANCE MCCURLEY/Staff -
Ryleigh Hilsman (11) gets set to deliver a pitch from the circle last week against Prince Avenue. LANCE MCCURLEY/Staff -
Bri Lanford (16) stares down a Lady Wolverine pitcher. LANCE MCCURLEY/Staff
Morgan County (18-10, 6-2 Region 4-AAA) ended its 2022 regular season on a positive note with a 4-2 win over Prince Avenue Christian School last Monday night.
The Lady Dogs had a long week off in preparation for the Class AAA state playoffs. They will be representing Region 4 as the No. 2-seed at the Cordele Regional.
The Georgia High School Association is rolling out a new format for playoff softball in 2022.
According to GHSA’s website, there will no longer be best-of-three series involving individual teams in the first and second rounds. The organization adopted a regional format, where four teams will play a double-elimination bracket, with the winner of each regional will be advancing on to play in Columbus.
Each of the GHSA’s eight classifications will conduct eight regionals with the winners advancing. So, each classification from Class A to AAAAAAA will start the playoffs with 32 teams, per usual, however, the new format will expedite the postseason.
“I’m excited about this team. They’ve got a great work ethic,” Morgan County softball head coach Doug Connelly said before the season. “This group reminds me (a lot) of my 2015 team that went to Columbus and ended up being the state runner-up.”
Morgan County will be in a regional that takes place in Cordele, with Crisp County being the top seed and host. No. 3-seed Calvary Day School and No. 4-seed Upson-Lee will round out the other two spots.
Connelly’s squad is very familiar with Crisp County. The Lady Dogs eliminated the Lady Cougars 2-0 last season in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs. Also, Crisp defeated Morgan 2-0 in the Sweet 16 two years ago in 2020.
Morgan County hopes to return to Columbus for the first time since the fall of 2016. The Lady Dogs fell short that season in the GHSA Softball Class AAA World Series.
“They come in and don’t say a lot. They just get it done,” Connelly said of his players in August. “They do what they’re asked to do, and they do it with a great attitude. They also do it with great effort. On top of those things, they’ve got great skills. So, we’ve got the makings of what it takes to be a great team.”
Despite being a young squad, Morgan County only has two seniors, but the veteran Lady Dogs have a lot of playoff experience. They will rely on players such as Ryan Henderson, Anna Kate Hill, Bri Lanford and Tristin Waldhour, among others.
“We have a strong core of younger players,” he said. “We are bringing back a lot of girls from last season after only losing a few seniors. This group has played together all summer. They’ve also bought into what coach (Jason) McBay and I have been preaching.”
Freshman pitcher Ryleigh Hilsman can also help them make a return trip to Columbus. They will rely heavily on her arm to guide them through the 2022 postseason.
“We had a lot of players come out this year and they genuinely love to play softball,” Connelly said. “We met with them individually and we talked to some of them. They just want to be there. I worried about these girls getting burnt out because they play both travel and high school ball. As a coach, I am kind of cognizant that burnout can be an issue. How much do these girls really desire to be here? Well, man, this group does. They want to get after it. That’s fun, man. It encourages you as a coach to see that out of your players.”
The No. 2 Lady Dogs will play No. 3 Calvary Day on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m, The victor will play the winner of the No. 1 Crisp County versus No. 4 Upson-Lee at 5 p.m.