COVINGTON, Ga. — The Eastside Lady Eagles’ 14-6 victory over Heritage Thursday night propelled them to where they were determined to go — the postseason. Head coach Heather Wood expressed what this accomplishment means for this year's team.
“That’s something we’ve really been working on the last part of our season and that’s been our focus is getting into the playoffs,” Wood said.
The Lady Eagles have won three of their last five games to ensure their spot in this year’s postseason action. Returning to the playoffs also marks the first time since the 2018 and 2019 season where Eastside has qualified in back-to-back seasons.
Anslee Saunchegraw was a member of last year’s team as a freshman and this year as a sophomore. After punching their ticket to the postseason, she recognized a main difference in the past two seasons.
“Last year, we did have a lot of seniors and a lot of experienced players,” Saunchegraw said. “This year everybody really wants it. Even at practice and in the games, I can tell we all want it. And it’s all about how we play together and win the games.”
Eastside has a steep history in the playoffs. For seven of the past eight years, the Lady Eagles have made it to the postseason with Eastside finishing five of those years as either No.1 or No. 2 seed. There were three years — 2016, 2017 and 2019 — where the Lady Eagles won the region championship.
A few weeks before this season started, Wood stressed that she wanted to maintain the winning culture of Eastside softball. And, by returning to the playoffs, she feels her team has done that.
“This is just what we do,” Wood said. “We’ve had years of tradition at Eastside with a lot of success. This is a big deal and it means even more because our region is so competitive that we have that opportunity.”
It has been an up-and-down season for the Lady Eagles.
They were 5-4 at the end of August then ended September at 12-8 overall. But, winning three of the last five games has marked them at 15-10 overall with a fourth place 11-7 record in Region 8-AAAAA.
Saunchegraw credits the team’s practices as a catalyst for each player’s improvement.
“We take practice very seriously,” Saunchegraw said. “We try to work on things that we see we’re struggling with and we get a lot of reps. You can tell everyone wants to be out there, too, and trying to get better no matter if it’s pitching, catching or running.”
The Lady Eagles will return to those practices following their 8-0 loss to Loganville on Friday. Next up will be the Super Regionals hosted by Cartersville in Eastside’s quadrant, which also features Kell and Lithia Springs high schools.
Wood believes that competing in, what she labeled “the toughest region in the state,” has prepared the players for what lies ahead.
“We went up against Flowery Branch and Loganville. These are some of the top teams in the state right now," Wood said. "The confidence the players gained and being resilient has been key for us. And, once we played each team in our region once, we realized that we’re just as good and can compete with anybody.”
