The Walton Tribune

Lady Devils enjoying success

By Chris Bridges
The Walton Tribune

Published September 10, 2003

LOGANVILLE — The Loganville High School softball team missed out last fall what had become an annual trip to Columbus for the state fast-pitch finals. From early indications, the Lady Devils are determined to not let that happen again.

LHS was 13-2 going into this week’s action and several players have helped carry the banner for first-year head coach Jason Rainey, the program’s former assistant coach.

What makes the team’s early season success even more amazing is that Rainey truly has a young team. That young squad has outscored its opponents 79-23, however.

“I was worried before the season about concentration,” Rainey said. “When you have such a young team, concentration can be a concern, but we haven’t missed a beat. We have also improved in several areas while staying focused.”

Senior Allie Graves leads the team with a .461 batting average with 13 RBIs. Fellow senior Katie Bowers is batting .394 while sophomore Amber Ford has compiled a .382 batting average with 15 RBIs.

Senior Michelle Brock is hitting .372 with a team-high 17 stolen bases. As a team, LHS has stolen 32 bases this fall.

Sophomore Leigh Atha has been solid on the pitcher’s mound. Atha is 8-1 with two saves. The sophomore is one of the key young players on the LHS roster, although Atha does have plenty of varsity experience.

Freshmen Cali Lovett and Amber Hanley also pitch for the varsity squad and helped their team go undefeated in a recent tournament.

Quality defense has also been important for the Lady Devils.

“We are playing solid defense and our strong pitching is also helping the defense,” Rainey said. “Our pitchers are throwing strikes and not allowing base runners through walks. The left side of our infield had been solid and Whitney Alexander is doing a great job at catcher.”

Katie Inman, a freshman, plays third base for Rainey’s team while Kayla Hicks, a sophomore, is at shortstop.

The LHS team will travel to rival Eastside in Covington Thursday.