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Youth movement helping Redskin softball find groove
softball

Late in the season last year as Bryan County’s softball team was running away with the Region 3AD1 race a Redskins fan leaned over when Skylar Lee came to bat and said, “Watch this kid…she’s going to be the next big thing here.” 

And that’s just what Lee has become: the current “big thing” for the Redskins (8-3, 0-1) who had Tuesday’s region game at Claxton and a Wednesday game at Calvary Day School postponed due to the pending arrival of Hurricane Idalia. Bryan County is scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Savannah Christian with its next scheduled region game next Thursday at Screven County.

Following a 12-6 win at Islands last Thursday Lee was hitting .595 with 22 hits in 37 plate appearances. She had a team high 23 RBI with five doubles and a home run. She had hit safely in all 11 of the Redskins’ games.

Lee is not the only hitter in the lineup making noise. A quartet of the “next big things” have wasted no time in making an impact. The next big things have arrived ahead of schedule.

Sophomores Cam Parker and Liz Harvey, junior Lauren Sanderson and freshman Emily Johnson are all a big reason why Bryan County cannot be counted out in the region race despite losing at Metter, 10-7, in its opener. “We feel like we have a lot to prove to people,” said the 5-foot-8 Parker who has all the makings of being another standout in a long line of Redskins standouts. “Everyone said we lost all those seniors from last year and we’re not going to win a lot this year.

“We’re all looking to showing people wrong and showing people we can win,” said Parker who has bloomed at both the plate and in the field where she plays centerfield.

Parker got in only seven games last year as a late inning replacement and was hitless in 12 at bats. She has a ready explanation behind her breakout season.

“I started playing with a lot better teams in travel ball last summer,” the 5-foot-8 Parker said. “I saw better pitching and got more at bats and more practice. That’s all combined to make me better.”

After getting a single in four trips to the plate against the Sharks she was hitting .471 (16-34) with 17 RBI. Parker leads the team in extra base hits with six doubles and a homer.

As happy as she is with her hitting, she’s equally proud of her play in the outfield.

“I think I’m pretty good in the outfield,” Parker said. “I catch pretty much most of the balls hit to me. For the most part I’m hitting pretty good--it’s going a little better than I expected. I’m really happy with the way things are going so far.”

Roundtree is more than happy with the way Parker and his other young players are performing. They form the nucleus for a solid future.

“Cam loves to play softball,” Roundtree said. “She’s doing something every day that’s softball related. I gave them the weekend off and she went to Georgia for a camp. She’s going to be a special player.

“We’ve got a good future,” Roundtree said. “We’ve got three or four young girls getting a lot of playing time right now in the middle of the lineup. They’re all special.”

Harvey may be the best all-around girl athlete in the school. A smooth fielding shortstop who started every game last year she is hitting .390 at leadoff and leads the team in runs scored with 19. She and Parker have both hit safely in 10 of 11 games.

Johnson has unlimited potential as both a hitter and as a pitcher. She’s hitting .419 and while she has struggled with her control, she’s 3-0 in the circle. Sanderson, a junior leftfielder, is hitting .467 with 13 RBI.

It should also be noted, too, that in the win over Islands senior second baseman Alex Robertson pulled off a rarity when she hit a bases-loaded inside- the-park home run. “I’ve never seen an inside- the-park grand slam,” Roundtree said. “She was really flying around the bases.”

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