SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — For most of the season, it has been smooth sailing for the Social Circle Lady Redskins finishing their non-region schedule with a 9-2 mark. That is all behind them now as region play has begun.
Social Circle is 2-1 to begin their Region 5A-Division I slate of games with wins coming against Jasper and Oglethorpe counties and the loss at Prince Avenue.
Head coach Chris Davis feels like his team is in a “good spot.”
“I told the team, ‘This is a new season and I look at it as we’re [2-1] on the year,’” Davis said. “Are we there yet? No. But we’re better than we were.”
The Lady Redskins started their region schedule with an 11-2 win versus Jasper County. Then, Prince Avenue got the better of Social Circle in a 1-0 pitcher's duel. The latest region contest was an extra inning, 4-3 victory over Oglethorpe County.
In the close games, Davis has credited his team’s competitive nature that they’ve displayed.
Kaylynn Scaffe and Madalyn Spinks believe there’s been an attitude shift, too, with region play beginning. Scaffe stressed the importance of each player’s desire to perform better for the rest of the season.
“It’s more serious,” Scaffe said. “There’s a need to win. Even though everyone wants to win every game, now there’s more of a need to.”
Scaffe went 2-for-4 at the plate and contributed three RBIs in the 11-2 win over Jasper County on Sept. 8.
A part of her performance featured a home run. The moment was huge for Scaffe, too.
“That was my first school ball season home run,” Scaffe said. “That was very exciting and it makes me want to keep working more to do it again.”
The Lady Redskins entered this season as the defending region champions when they won the Region 8A-Public crown a season ago. They also finished in the top four at state to conclude arguably one of the best seasons in program history.
Spinks recognized how last year’s success makes this year’s team even more hungry to repeat the success.
“The pressure’s on,” Spinks said. “You’ve got to do your best. And now it matters. We always play hard and try our best, but there’s always something more when something’s on the line.
“We were first in the region last year and we’re trying to get back to that. So, it’s like, `win every game.’”
As one of the team’s two lead pitchers, Spinks had a solid outing against Oglethorpe County on Sept. 15.
Spinks pitched all 11 innings, gave up 10 hits, one earned run and struck out 12 batters to earn the win.
Every win Social Circle earns in region play will help improve its chances of winning a region crown, which won’t be an easy task. But the players are confident.
“I think we’re better than we were last year,” Spinks said. “We’ve grown and we’re all at a different level now. That’s what happens when your best players are juniors and seniors. Then you’ve got a much better team.”
This week, Social Circle faces Madison County, Jasper County and Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy.
