BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN –– Lee-Scott Academy softball fell a run shy of a state title against Macon-East Academy last spring, and the Warriors are returning nearly their whole roster from last year in its fight to get back to the championship this season.
Head coach Tina Deese was named AISA Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading a team that had a losing record in the regular season to the title game. The Warriors remember the fight they put together at the end of last season as they are off to a 16-8 start to the 2024 campaign.
“They’re a year older. They hustle, they’re doing what I ask and they’re doing a good job,” Deese said. “The experience is very valuable. Let’s put it that way.”
Lee-Scott lost only two seniors from last year’s squad, and the Warriors are once again led by two seniors. The seniors, first baseman Mary Kathryn Harris and shortstop Madison Davis, are the offensive sparkplugs on a team with four hitters that own a batting average above .300 entering Tuesday’s games.
Harris leads the team with three homers and 19 RBI with a .333 average. Right behind her at .324, Davis leads the team with 26 runs scored, while left fielder and pitcher Brianna Totty leads the team with 30 hits and junior catcher Ansley Tate leads with a .456 average and .535 on-base percentage.
“The biggest key so far I think has been Ansley Tate,” Deese said. “She would be the one I’d want up at the plate if I had runners on second and third – and I could pick any of them – but if I had to pick it would be her.”
The lineup is returning all its starters from last season with only two new additions to the varsity roster in Sarah-Caroline Joiner and Hayden Whatley. Deese said the ending to last season is in the players’ minds but not something they dwell on regularly as this team is forging its own path.
This team has talent all around. In addition to a strong lineup, Railey Langford leads a solid pitching staff with a 10-2 record along with a save in 65.2 innings pitched. Totty follows her with a 5-4 record with 47.1 innings pitched.
In a doubleheader on March 12, Langford led the Warriors to two consecutive shutouts of Glenwood to take the three-game series after the Gators took game one at home. Langford threw all 12 innings that day, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out 10. Langford also tallied two hits, a run and an RBI at the plate, while the team piled on for 8-0 and 3-0 wins.
Langford threw another complete-game shutout against Macon-East on Monday, allowing just three hits and walking none and striking out five in a 5-0 win.
With a good dose of talent and leadership, this team knows it can compete with top competition in its last season in the AISA. Along with the series win over Glenwood, Lee-Scott split a pair of matchups with defending champion Macon-East earlier this season before their three-game series this week.
After taking game one of a three-game series against Macon-East at home on Monday, the Warriors will head to Montgomery for a doubleheader with the Knights on Tuesday. After that, Lee-Scott will play 11 more games and a tournament at Lagoon Park to wrap up the regular season.
Heading down the stretch, Lee-Scott is continuing to build off of last season’s experience and push towards its full potential in hopes of its first state championship title in its fifth year under Deese.
“All I have to do is turn them loose and let them play,” Deese said. “They know what to do, they know when to do it, and they keep getting better every day.”