SPORTS SPOTS
In the fall of 2015 Coach Diane Smith’s Lady Jacket softball team won their third straight state championship. That team was characterized by two all-state pitchers, Kinsey Liscio and Emily Mitchell. Liscio was named pitcher of the year in Class AAA for the third consecutive year. Both pitchers performed in a dominant fashion all year long.
I write those words not to boast concerning the team, the coach or the players. I write to reinforce a point I have attempted to make to both players and my coaches when I was in the games. The point is players come onto the stage and are there for a short time. Their star will burn brightly or dimply according to their performance and accomplishment while on that stage. Coaches appear for a few years and they leave the stage to allow someone else to take over. Certainly Liscio and Mitchell put an outstanding light on the game during their years at Calhoun High. The same can be said about outstanding players at Sonoraville and Gordon Central. Here is wishing all those who graduated last spring the best in their further endeavors at the next level.
This is 2016 and a new cast occupies the stage. I modify that statement with the fact six seniors today all played a pertinent part in the three championships. The six seniors are Jana Johns, Ashlyn Barnes, Ryan Brzozoski, Allie Jones, Chloe Rice, and Cassie Henderson.
What is about to be said about the softball team is either outright stated or suggested by fans of all successful teams every year concerning a dominant player. The question asked all winter and summer as the Lady Jackets approached the 2016 season has been how will the team do with those two outstanding pitchers gone? Incidentally, Liscio is at Western Carolina and Mitchell is at Mississippi State for their college experience.
Much has been said to offer the answer to that question and the fact no one is asking it any longer. Torri Gaddis and Kayla Watson arrived in their junior years and have answered the question in a loud and clear fashion. They have led their team to a top finish in every tournament played and finished the regular season with a 25-1 record. At this writing, the Lady Jackets join Coach Chad Hayes Lady Phoenix for a slot in the state playoffs which will begin on Wednesday.
Nothing said suggests or implies the Lady Jackets will win it all again. It is simply a composition for all coaches and players to say no matter who plays or who coaches in the present, the next year the cast will change and the story will go on.