MACON — The T-shirts have a two-part message: “DON’T QUIT. DO IT.”
The “DO IT” portion of the short carries extra weight because its red letters stand out a little more than the other letters, which are white.
Either way you read it, it’s easy to see the two things the Central Academy fast-pitch softball team hopes to focus on this season.
A year ago, Central Academy came one win from doing “it.” After Central Academy beat Humphreys Academy in Game 1 of the best-of-three Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class A State championship series in Macon, it lost the next two games in Belzoni.
The 17-9 and 8-2 losses were heartbreaking for a team that had so much success against higher classification squads and appeared to be poised to win its first fast-pitch state title after winning nine slow-pitch state championships.
“It is there for them,” Lindsey said. “All they have to do is get it done.”
Central Academy will attack that goal with largely the same lineup that led the team to a 19-14 record in 2015. The Lady Vikings will have to replace pitcher Courtney Gaylord, but Lindsey likes the depth his team at the position with seniors Allie Beth Rigdon and Sadie Lindsey, who is his daughter, and sophomore Ashly Brown.
Rigdon and Sadie Lindsey make up half of the “Fab 4” that also includes Kelsey Robbins (third base) and Savanah Stapleton (catcher). Those four players have been at the core of Central Academy’s success in the last few years. They are looking forward to having another chance to win a title after coming agonizingly close last season.
“It could have been better,” Robbins said of last season.
Coach Lindsey would love to see the Lady Vikings go out with a blue championship trophy this season because he knows how meaningful it would be for the seniors. While he loves all of his players, Lindsey acknowledges that the seniors have a special place in his heart because they have spent so much time at his house that it feels like he has three other daughters.
To realize that goal, Lindsey knows the Lady Vikings will have to have unbreakable focus, which is why he was irritated Monday when the team didn’t practice with the mind-set he wanted. He knows the players have the focus needed to be champions because he heard in basketball season that many of them were already looking ahead to softball season. Still, he wants all of the players to have the same focus regardless of the temperature or if they are taking their 100th groundball of the day.
That focus figures to help prevent Central Academy from having games like it experienced in Game 3 of the state title series last season when it had seven errors and couldn’t get the timely hit despite holding an 8-5 edge in hits.
“You have to stay focused every day,” Lindsey said. “You can’t take a day off and say, ‘It is hot today.’ It has to be 100 percent every day if you’re going to accomplish what you want to accomplish, which I think is attainable. But you have to play the game from start to finish. It is something that can be achieved with hard work, focus, and positive attitude.”
Rigdon said this season will be different because the team has the confidence that it can win a title. She said last season the team wasn’t quite sure it could go all the way even after beating so many higher classification teams. She and her classmates said they didn’t realize until halfway through the season that coach Lindsey was right and they could win a state title.
“Now we know we can,” Rigdon said.
Coach Lindsey believes the Fab 4 will help set the tone and lead the younger players like they are supposed to be led. He said the closeness of their relationship will help them have one voice that he hopes will enable what he feels is a more well-rounded team than the 2015 squad to ride out the ups and downs that are sure to come in two-month run to the state championship series in October.
Robbins offered a perfect illustration of coach Lindsey’s point when she said the team needed to learn a valuable lesson from last season that it can “always work harder” to help it reach its goal. All of the seniors agreed that they also can’t afford to get down if someone makes a mistake.
A schedule packed with games against higher classification teams like Leake Academy, Marshall Academy, Winston Academy, Carroll Academy, and Heritage Academy will prepare Central Academy for the district slate of Hebron Christian, Calhoun Academy, and Kemper Academy.
Central Academy will open the season Monday at Leake Academy. The ‘B’ game will start at 4:15 p.m.
“I think offensively we are going to put up runs pretty well,” said Lindsey, who will be assisted by Robby Robbins, Cynthia Dawkins, and Angie Rigdon. “I am excited, very excited.”
Junior Katelyn Dismukes, freshmen Coley Disbrow and Layla Franks, and eighth-graders Peyton Dawkins, Sara Gaylord, Ana Morgan King, Gracie Coleman, and Paige Hall round out the roster.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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