The Long County Lady Blue Tide softball team has been a playoff team in each of the last three seasons. Going into 2025, it seems like they have a good chance to be in the postseason once again, but they will have to do it without seniors.
The Lady Tide is in a unique situation this year as they enter the season with no seniors who will actually suit up for gamedays. Head coach Harley Kennedy believes that despite not having that natural senior leadership, her underclassmen have done a good job of stepping up to the plate.
“We’ve had some juniors and sophomores step up to help fill that void of senior leadership,” Kennedy said. “We are still working on teaching them how to lead, but I feel that we are moving in the right direction in the aspect of leadership.”
With the hurdle of senior leadership all but cleared, the biggest challenge the team likely will have this year is lack of experience on the field. The team had two main pitchers in 2024, Alyssa Skipper and Casey Lust.
However, Lust transferred, leaving them with only one pitcher who had real varsity experience. This seems to be the case with a lot of the positions for the Tide in 2025.
“We do not have a ton of varsity experience when you look at our starting lineup. We have a few freshmen and sophomores starting and some first-time starters at new positions who will be getting a lot of playing time,” Kennedy said. “We have scheduled some tougher teams this year that will help us grow up quickly and prepare us for region play and playoffs. We’ve already overcome some challenges by playing some tougher teams over the summer where we have performed pretty well.”
One thing Kennedy has enjoyed seeing and stressed will make the biggest impact is the bond the team has and continues to build. Most of the girls on the team have played together since before middle school, giving them a distinct advantage over some of the teams in the area.
“I think our team’s buy-in and bond will be our biggest strength,” she said. “We’ve had great attendance all summer long and the growth we’ve made on and off the field has been tremendous. We’ve played some tough teams this summer, which has helped us learn to lean on and support each other.”
The team is looking for a fourth straight playoff berth and would like to compete for a region championship, something none of the girls on the team have experienced with the last - and first ever - region title coming in 2021. Kennedy believes the team has the talent to make the playoffs again and go beyond the first round with having a shot to compete for a region title.
“We were a first-round playoff team last season and I feel we have a good core group that can build upon that,” she said. “We have improved in a lot of areas over the past year that I feel will help us have a better season.”
In 2024, the team finished 1212, were ranked No. 25 in the state playoffs and fell to Lafayette in the first round.
The Tide looked to open the season on August 4 at home against Richmond Hill and then again on August 5 after a rainout, but the game was ultimately canceled. They opened the season on the road on Wednesday, August 6 against Glynn Academy.