Although the Lady Cougars did what they needed to reach the postseason in their first season in Class 5A, Columbia Academy didn’t survive the first day of the South State Tournament.
To get into the tournament, the Lady Cougars (13-13-2) only needed to beat Oak Forest Academy by two runs Sept. 23 on the road, but they exploded for a 14-run, 16-2 victory.
“It was a big win,” head coach Kyle Wilks said. “We hit it really well that game. Presley Dease hit a home run, and we swung the bats really well.”
To open the South State Tournament Saturday, the Lady Cougars had a 4-1 lead over No. 1-seeded Cathedral through four innings but ended up losing 7-4. It was still a performance to be proud of, though, as Macie Wilks hit the first two home runs of her prep career and Allie Watts drilled a homer as well.
“We were still seeing the ball pretty well, but we ended up misplaying a ball here and there late in that game,” coach Wilks said.
Facing elimination, Columbia Academy rallied for 13 hits to be beat Central Hinds Academy 16-8 in its second game of the day with multiple Lady Cougars going off at the plate. Presley Dease homered again and drove in four runs, Macie Wilks had 5 RBI and Maggie Wilks had 2 RBI. Abbey Peavey got the win in the circle, fanning four batters and allowing three earned runs in six innings.
In what proved to be CA’s final game of the seasons, against eventual South runner-up Brookhaven Academy, the Lady Cougars committed five errors in an 8-1 loss. They were down just 2-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning before the wheels came off.
“I’ve said Brookhaven is very likely the best team in the state, and they were in our district. It was a ball game through four innings, and they just pulled away late,” Wilks said. “I thought our girls did well. We moved up a class this year, and 5A softball is by far the toughest division in the state.”
Overall, Wilks said he’s extremely proud of what the Lady Cougars accomplished this year moving up to 5A while starting two seventh graders and a sixth grader. Most teams in 5A were starting five or six seniors, according to Wilks, and CA had the misfortune of being in the toughest district.
“In our district, there was not a ‘gimme win.’ Even the other 5A district in the South, they have a couple teams you just know when you show up, you’re going to win. We had to battle every single district game. A lot of the teams in our district were senior heavy, and we will get there eventually,” he said. “We learned a lot. In some games, we had as many as five (junior high players) out there playing. We definitely got some experience for the returning kids for next year.”
Columbia Academy is graduating three seniors in Dease, Alana Bullock and Abi Williams and will return seven starters.
