Alcovy has pretty much owned Region 2-AAAAAA for the last few years. Since 2012 the Lady Tigers have amassed 63 wins overall and lost just one region game in that timespan.

Coming off a season that saw the Lady Tigers go 21-5-1, win a region title and make it to the second round of the playoffs under then first-year head coach Brandy Keeter, it’d be hard to find anybody that doesn’t expect much of the same. That could be a lot of pressure for some coaches, but not for Keeter.

“No there isn’t pressure. We just have to play like we know and we should be fine. I definitely think we can improve on last year,” Keeter said.

Alcovy did lose eight seniors that provided depth and leadership to a talented team. They’ll be looking for players to step up and take on those roles. Keeter says the three seniors the team has have taken that leadership role.

“Thus far they’ve taken on a great leadership role as far as leading the younger girls. We have five freshmen that on the team and we have 11 returners between varsity and JV. A good core of our group is returners and they know what to expect,” Keeter said.

Keeter noted that her second year at the helm has been easier than her first because the team knows what she wants as head coach.

“It made it a lot easier for a transition because we’re not gonna have to spend time getting to know each other and they kind of understand our coaching style and what we expect,” Keeter said.

Leadership and communication have improved among the Lady Tigers, but now the team has a lot of players on varsity that don’t have much varsity experience. With five freshman, three seniors and some experience in-between, the Tigers might just have a perfect blend of youth and experience.

“We have a good blend of experience and youth I would say because we have a few that were just freshmen last year, so they have a little bit of experience,” Keeter said.

Newton is coming for Alcovy, the Lady Rams lost just two seniors and have some promising upcoming players plus the best player in the county. Alcovy has two of the best hitters in the county in Raven Smith and Kalia Johnson, and Johnson is also the best pitcher in the county. Every team in Region 2-AAAAAA is going to give Alcovy it’s best shot, but is that enough?

Like the great Ric Flair says, “If you wanna be the man you gotta beat the man.” Alcovy, you’re the man (technically, you’re the woman but you get it).