Most softball teams couldn’t handle losing seven starting seniors. Then again, most teams aren’t Screven County.
    After a few early losses against top-notch competition, the Lady Gamecocks stand with an 8-7 record, but, more importantly, are a perfect 5-0 in Region 3-AA play.
    Success is nothing new for Screven County, as it has reached at least the second round of the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. Losing the entire middle of the batting order and three-time All-Region selection Marla Thompson on the mound, a down season could have been expected, but the Gamecocks are right at home a the top of the region standings as the second round of region play rolls around.
    “Right now, I’m very pleased with where our team is at,” said Screven coach Billy Pollock. “Obviously, we knew that we had a lot of people to replace. We’ve had a couple of struggles, but we’ve only had one bad loss. We told the girls that we wanted them to focus on the region games and our record shows that we’re doing a good job of that.”
    Key to the continued success is the smooth transition from Thompson to junior Dawn Stewart as the ace of the pitching staff.
    Because of the less strenuous demands of pitching a softball as opposed to a baseball, many teams are able to lead on just one pitcher for the majority of their big games. As good as Thompson was, Pollock didn’t want Stewart to be unprepared when she became the ace, so Stewart saw plenty of action in important games at points during her first two seasons.
    The experience seems to be paying off as Stewart is putting up stellar numbers and looks confident in all situations.
    “We knew from the start that we didn’t want to just wait to put Dawn out on the mound.” said Pollock. “Now, that experience is showing. She’s worked hard on improving her pitching, and she’s not nervous at all.”
    In the field, Madyson Torres, Lovey Sheppard and Courtney Burns are the only current Gamecocks who saw significant playing time in any of the last two seasons.
    Many of their former teammates are gone, but the trio has assumed a leadership role, spurring on the new starters while Burns and Torres provide pop in the middle of the batting order and Sheppard’s glove skills pace the defense.
    “We sat them down at the beginning of the season,” said Pollock. “We told them that this team could go as far as they would push us. They have really risen to the occasion and are a big part of our success this season.”
    With the postseason creeping ever closer, the Gamecocks are looking less like a young, inexperienced squad and more like the perennial power that they have been. Even in one of the most competitive regions in south Georgia, Screven is proving that it is a force to be reckoned with.
    “There’s still plenty that we can improve on,” said Pollock. “But I think we’ve come a long way this year. Our girls have a lot of confidence. We have some tough region games coming up and we’ll use them to keep getting better moving on towards the end of the season.”

Region 3-AA Softball Standings
Region 3-AA, Division A
School                    Region    All    PFPG    PAPG
Screven County        5-0        8-7    7.0    4.0
Southeast Bulloch    4-1        11-4    6.0    2.0
Swainsboro            2-2        6-8    6.0    7.0
Jefferson County        0-4        3-11    4.0    8.0
Laney                         0-4        1-7    2.0    12.0
Region 3-AA, Division B
School                      Region    All    PFPG    PAPG
Bleckley County        4-1        18-3-1    6.0    2.0
Dodge County        4-1        15-5    6.0    2.0
East Laurens            1-3        4-12    5.0    9.0
Dublin                        0-4        0-7    1.0    13.0