Cedartown Middle softball team looks to reload in 2019
When most middle school students are hitting the beach or mountains, members of the Cedartown Middle School softball team stayed in town this summer working on drills and fundamentals ahead of the start of their season in August.
Head coach Tony Potts said that he’s looking forward to getting busy with a team of newcomers to the field as the 2019 season gets underway.
“We are a very young team and we just wanted to start building team chemistry as soon as we could,” he said of summer practice sessions.
The team last year finished the regular season 9-1, with its lone loss coming on a last at-bat. The Lady Bulldogs then rolled though the playoffs before hosting and then losing the championship game against Rockmart.
“We lost 8 starters to high school,” said Potts. “The biggest challenge will be to find the right players to fill the right positions”.
“Pitching is the key to softball. We have a returning eighth grader Autumn Boatner who is coming off of an injury so we are going to start the season with a 6th grader on the mound,” Potts added.
The team brings in two incoming sixth graders, Kristen Cash and Addison Smith, who are competing for the starting pitching position to start the season.
Returning from last year’s team, Averi Davis and Hayvin Barclay, looks to be leaders for the 2019 line-up.
The team opens its season with a non-region game at Redbud on August 7 before a four-game home stand with region foes Chattooga, Ashworth, Rome and Rockmart.
“We have really placed a lot of focus on fundamentals this year,” Potts said. “I’m not looking for girls to hit the ball out of the park, my goal is to get them on, get them over and get them in. If we can cut down on errors we can compete with anyone in our region.”
Potts said he always want to bring a different feel to the middle school softball league.
“I see myself as not only a coach, but a promoter for each of the ladies on my team,” Potts said. “Playing in the fall most people are talking about football, well I want my girls to get just as much love from the student body.”
Last year, Potts organized a “Dawg Walk” that saw nearly every member of Cedartown Middle School come out and support the softball team as they walked to the field to face Rockmart.
During game days the team also plays walk-up music and features a public address announcer in Cedartown City Commissoner and WGAA Radio personality Andrew Cater.
“Besides the game, my goal is to teach these kids how to become productive members of society. It’s not always about winning and losing, but about placing a positive impact on each other and the community that they live,” Potts said.