Cam Parker had a simple explanation for the hot streak she’s had at the plate the last five games for the Bryan County softball team.
“I can’t lie,” Parker said. “It (the ball) looks like a beach ball.”
Parker was talking after her two-run homer last Thursday helped propel the streaking Redskins to their fifth straight win, 8-2 over visiting Portal, to cap a week that saw her got 12-for-19 with five home runs and 19 RBI.
“It was a good week,” Parker said in somewhat of an understatement. “I just wish it was longer.”
A smooth-swinging senior who is in her fourth year as a starter, the Redskins third baseman—she also plays the outfield at times—along with fellow power hitters Liz Harvey and Emily Johnson have put the Redskins in position to claim one of Region 3A-DII’s four state tournament playoff spots.
Parker, an all-region player in soccer, has committed to playing at East Georgia State College. The Bobcats are currently a two-year program but have plans to become a four-year program at the NAIA level after it is consolidated into Georgia Southern University.
Unlike Armstrong State University when it was taken over by GSU the Swainsboro school will be able to continue its athletic program since it will not be affiliated with the NCAA.
Like all good hitters Parker had a simple explanation for her current streak: see the ball, hit the ball.
“I’m just looking for pitches I can drive wherever it (pitch) is,” Parker said. “I don’t go up to bat looking for anything in particular. I’m looking for strikes…looking for balls that look good.
“I swing at it and hope for the best.".
After a non-region game with Statesboro on Wednesday the Redskins (8-5, 3-2) will have a better idea of their fate starting Thursday when they visit defending state champion ECI (10-2, 6-0) and then come home to face Metter on Tuesday and Screven County on Thursday. Metter and Screven are both 4-1 in region play.
Three of Parker’s eight home runs came against McIntosh County Academy which is believed to be a school record for the fast pitch era. It is possible the eight round-trippers are a school mark, too. Harvey is hot on her heels with seven and their combined 15 may also be a record for two teammates.
Bekah Johnson, Emily’s older sister, holds the school career mark with 22 home runs and as sophomores she (six) and McKenzie Mobley (seven) combined for 13 homers and 85 RBI, 47 by Mobley. That season the Redskins won a school record 31 games (31-6) while finishing third in the state in the Class A state tournament.
Bryan County’s two region losses are both by one run at Metter and Screven. In both games the Redskins had the lead going into the final inning only to lose.
“Those two losses hurt a lot but they’re something to build on and they have to come back to our place,” Parker said. “I don’t know if we’re going to get them but I think we can get second or third in the region.
“We don’t have many players (10) but we’re working with what we’ve got and I think it’s going really well.”