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The LaGrange High softball team has high hopes coming into the 2024 season. The Grangers will be experienced and battle-tested with 13 seniors on the varsity roster, three juniors and a freshman. This is a pivotal year for the team.

“We keep saying we want a region title and we want to go to Columbus,” Carolyne Garcia, a senior and the starting first baseman from last year’s team. “Every practice and every day we talk about it. It’s something everybody on the team wants.”

The 13 seniors want to experience what Columbus is like just once before their time in blue and white ends. The final eight teams in each classification can battle it out in Columbus for the state title. The Grangers were able to make it there in 2020, but have fallen just short the last three years.

“I think we have gotten in our own way, especially during the playoffs and I think this year we are focused on being a family and leaving all of our problems outside of the field,” Garcia said.

There is a real sense of urgency for this team. The Grangers will inevitably have to go through a bit of a transition period next year as they lose so much of the heart of their team. 

“Gutted is not the right word, but we will be losing a lot of girls who have started and played for us,” Mobley said. “We have such great depth this year and the goal is to be playing on November 2nd. If we are playing then that means we are one of the final three teams remaining and I feel like we have a great opportunity to do that.”

The team was left bitterly disappointed last season after missing out on a chance at a region title when the region championship game was canceled due to inclement weather. This has only fueled the team coming into this year.

“We have not stopped thinking about that region title last year,” Thompson said. “That’s one of the goals we set for ourselves this year.”

Skills and individual talent are important, but playing as a team has been the main focus for the girls this season. The seniors and leaders of the team feel like this year’s squad is coming together in ways that ones from the years past have not.

Attitude is just as important to Mobley as individual performance, just ask any member of the team.

“Coach Craig is just as focused on your character on the field as he is on your skills,” Thompson said. “He really wants you to display sportsmanship on and off the field.”

“He always says a position is not promised to you just because you have played there before,” added senior utility player Tatiana Dudley. 

With such a large senior class, it also falls on their shoulders to pass the torch to the next generation of Grangers, who will have big shoes to fill in 2025.

“It’s exciting to get to show them the culture that we got shown when we got up here, so it’s fun and feels like we are coming full circle,” senior catcher Tatum Nation said.

PITCHERS:

The Grangers will be led in the circle by two of their seniors — Zoe Thompson and Kaylee Foster. Freshman pitcher Dakota McDaniel will be the only underclassman initially on the varsity roster (players may be promoted from JV during the season depending on play and potential injuries).

“So it’s exciting that we got three really solid pitchers coming forward. And they all bring different avenues and strengths to our pitching staff,” Mobley said. 

Thompson was an All-Region pitcher last season and got the bulk of the work in the circle as Foster was recovering from a knee injury. Foster was never back to 100% last season but comes into the 2024 campaign looking better than ever.

“She is 100% back,” Mobley said. “You can see the strength and stability she has in her leg now. I think she’s better than where she started before the injury. She has worked really hard to come back.”

CATCHER:

Having a reliable catcher is huge for continuity with the pitching staff. Senior Tatum Nation has been sitting behind home plate since her freshman season for the Grangers and this year will be no different.

“You can’t have great pitchers without a great catcher behind them,” Mobley said. “I think they complement each other well. It’s great to have a senior who’s been back there since her freshman year. There’s been some growing pains early on but she has shown maturity and growth and now, what a solid catcher she is.”

Nation was named to the All-Region first team as a junior.

Senior Addyson Arnett has played sporadically at catcher for the Grangers when needed and can provide cover at the position. 

INFIELDERS:

The starting infielders will likely all be seniors as well when LaGrange fields its strongest lineup. Carolyne Garcia (1B), Tatiana Dudley (2B), Abby McGill (SS) and Kimberley Reynolds (3B) have been staples in the LaGrange lineup for years and were all starters last season as juniors. All four made the All-Region teams last year.

Reynolds is currently the only Granger committed to playing college softball as the rising senior is set to play Division I ball at Murray State starting in 2025.

“We have such great flexibility and depth that no position will be set early on,” Mobley said. “We are still working through what our best defensive lineup will be.”

Arnett, who has also played a little catcher, will provide important depth in the infield as well as a designated hitter. The same can be said for rising junior Shelby Siggers, who was named to the All-Region first team as a utility player last season. Junior Clary Anne Adcock was a utility player for the Grangers last year, filling in just about everywhere. She can play either corner position and provide some depth in the outfield.

OUTFIELDERS:

The only “new” starter for the Grangers will be in left field. Dudley and Siggers have both shown the ability to play in the middle of the infield and in the outfield and either could see themselves slot in as a starting outfielder this season. Arnett and Adcock could also figure into the equation as well.

Hudson Wood had a monster season last year in which he showed off her power in ways that she hadn’t previously. The senior is a real weapon in the lineup but also a leader for the team. Wood was named to the All-Region first team a season ago and will likely be a player to watch for region player of the year this season.

Fellow senior Jasia Swanson made a big impact in her first year with the Grangers last year. She transferred in from Callaway and fit like a glove, making the All-Region second team in year one.

WHEN’S IT START:

LaGrange is already hard at work at practice with the first official scrimmage set for July 31st on the road to East Coweta. The Grangers will kick off the regular season on the road to Central Carrollton on Aug. 1 with the opening home game set for Aug. 6 against region opponent Trinity Christian.