Despite a No. 8 ranking in Class AAA softball, the Lady Yellow Jackets aren’t letting the polls go to their heads.
    Southeast Bulloch’s softball team currently sits atop its sub-region after starting the season on a seven-game winning streak.
    After stomping Toombs County in a region matchup 12-0 in four innings Tuesday, the Lady Yellow Jackets are 13-2.
    However, SEB head coach Aimee Civalier said now is not the time to get excited. The Lady Yellow Jacket have yet to compete against the best the region has to offer, she said.
    “I think our team is very competitive. We’ve been scoring a lot of runs, but we haven’t played a lot of tough competition in the last 12 games,” said Civalier. “We need more of those competitive games on a regular basis to see how we can compete when we cross over to the region tournament in October.”
    Civalier said she wanted her team to fly under the radar, however, the announcement of the team's No. 8 ranking may prevent such a task. SEB faced a tough foe earlier in the year, defeating Appling County 1-0. The team’s two losses came against Grovetown (11-2) and Richmond Hill (6-4).
    “We won’t know how we stand until we face competitive teams on the other side of the region. We have two losses against tough teams and we need more of those tough games to see where we stack up,” said Civalier. “We need to play in more pressure situations.”
    In order to combat a non-competitive, regular-season schedule, Civalier said she tries to make practices a little more stringent.
    Junior shortstop Kayla Perkins, who scored four runs and drove in two RBIs against Toombs County, said she feels the team is progressing well and playing solid softball.
    “We play together a lot and spend time together so we just understand each other and how we move,” Perkins said. “Having a pitcher like we do and a defense and offense like we do, we are confident coming into every single game. We know we’re going to come out strong.”
    Perkins said the No. 8 ranking is nothing the team can hold their hat on.
    Starting pitcher Madison Fields pitched a four-inning no-hitter Tuesday with seven strikeouts. Fields said there’s still plenty of work left before the team can consider themselves one of the top teams in the state.
    “I feel like my team has high expectations for me, but it gives me a lot of confidence knowing my team trusts me,” Fields said. “We have a lot to improve and we just have to keep working hard in practice. We still have a lot of tough teams to play.”
    The Lady Yellow Jackets toughest test of the season may come at the hands of Dodge County Friday. The Indians (13-1) are 7-1 in the region.