Phillips to spin it for Gordon State

Another member of Ringgold High School’s 2019 softball state championship team will be playing at the collegiate level after senior pitcher Kaylee Phillips signed on to play at Gordon State College last Tuesday.

“I’m very excited to continue my softball career, especially after such a big milestone,” she said. ‘I’m just excited to see what it holds.”

Phillips, who has been playing softball since the age of four, said she was impressed with the Barnesville, Georgia, campus and the Highlanders’ program during her visit.

“It’s really welcoming,” she added. “The coach (Ally Hattermann) is actually the one that gave me the (campus) tour and she was really welcoming. I just like it there.”

A mainstay in the circle all four seasons she played at Ringgold, Phillips was a first team All-Region (6-AAA) performer as a senior for the Lady Tigers this past fall. She amassed a sparkling 23-3 record in the circle

and finished the year with a 1.88 earned run average. She struck out 61 batters and only issued 25 walks in 167.1 innings.

“She’s just an outstanding young lady,” Hattermann said. “I know she’s well-rounded academically and athletically. I think the biggest asset that we’re going to get out of her is that when there are runners on base, they’re not going to score. She’s that strong of a pitcher with her mentality. We’re really excited to add her to the team.”

Phillips said she will be a utility player on days when she doesn’t pitch.

“Hopefully I can bring a little bit of everything (to their program),” she continued. “I just have (to work on) building more endurance and speed and spinning the ball tighter...just the little things.”

Ringgold head coach Daniel Hackett said that he probably learned more about coaching high school softball from Phillips than he did from anyone else.

“It took figuring each other out, learning to communicate and getting on the same page,” he explained. “But she’s meant so much to our program. She’s won games for us and she’s kept us in games. She’s just a phenomenal player.”

The third-year head coach said he was “anxious” to see what kind of college player Phillips would become.

“Her work ethic just got stronger as she went along in high school,” he added. “If she keeps that work ethic up, which I know she will, she’ll be very successful. I know she’ll keep working hard to keep getting better every day.”

Phillips said she plans to major in education or engineering.