Troup football

LAGRANGE ACADEMY SOFTBALL SENIORS

By Kevin Eckleberry

When the time comes for Kelsey Cotton and Mackenzie Jones to walk across the stage and receive their high-school diplomas, they will have help create some impressive additions to the school’s trophy case.

Cotton and Jones have both enjoyed phenomenal athletic careers at LaGrange Academy, and they recently completed their senior seasons on the softball team.

While the Lady Warriors came up short in the semifinals of the GISA state tournament, they won the state championship in 2019 and 2020, with Cotton and Jones playing key roles.

Jones and Cotton were also a part of the girls’ basketball team that won a state championship in February.

In softball, LaGrange Academy had plenty of inexperience last season, and it helped to have two seniors who have seen it all leading the way.

“We have that winning mentality, having won in softball and basketball,” Cotton said.

Jones, as one of the team’s veterans, knew how important her role on the team was.

“We have a lot of new girls that we’ve had to introduce, and help,” Jones said. “I feel like they definitely look up to us. That’s kind of a cool feeling, but it’s also scary in a way, but it’s fun to show them our style, and how we operate.”

The first state championship the two won together was in 2019.

LaGrange Academy beat rival Flint River Academy after staging a dramatic rally in the seventh and final inning of the second and deciding game.

That championship was special not only because it was their first, but because it was won on their home field.

“It gives me chills just thinking about it,” Cotton said.

While that series was more than two years ago, the memories are still easy for Jones to recall.

“We talk about it, you remember that play at second base, in this inning, or when this person said this,” Jones said. “We remember everything about it. It was a crazy experience.”

LaGrange Academy repeated as state champion in 2020 when it beat Thomas Jefferson Academy in a hardfought series that went the full three games.

A few months later, Jones and Cotton helped LaGrange Academy win a state championship in basketball with a victory over Thomas Jefferson Academy. “We knew they were a good team, but we were prepared for it, especially going for a championship,” Cotton said.

The two seniors were hoping to help lead the softball team to a three-peat, but it wasn’t meant to be, with LaGrange Academy falling to Fullington Academy in the semifinals of the state playoffs.

The season served as a learning experience for a group of players who will try to lead the Lady Warriors to a state title next fall.

“We’re trying to hold them up to the same standard,” said head coach Charles Parker. “We’ve got some young girls, and they’re learning. They’ve got to learn, sometimes the hard way, but it makes you humble.”

While Cotton and Jones are done playing softball at LaGrange Academy, they’re in the midst of their senior seasons in basketball, and they’re on a team that should have an outstanding chance of making it back-to-back state titles.

“We just have to stay humble, and play to our potential,” Jones said. “It’s brought us this far.”

We knew they were a good team, but we were prepared for it, especially going for a championship.”

Photo: Kevin Eckleberry

LHS VOLLEYBALL SENIORS

By Kevin Eckleberry

A journey that began as seventh graders at Gardner Newman Middle School has reached the finish line.

A successful season for the LaGrange High volleyball team has ended, but not before the team won the first state-playoff match in the history of the program.

Leading the way was a group of seniors who have been friends and teammates dating back to their middle-school days led the way.

Of the 10 seniors, nine of them began playing together in middle school, while Katy Beth Bedingfield transferred to LaGrange from Troup when she was a sophomore.

Tejay Dowden, LaGrange’s second-year head coach, was coaching at Gardner Newman when the current seniors joined forces on the volleyball team, and she said “it’s pretty amazing” that they’ve stuck together for six years.

“I want that moving forward,” Dowden said. “Hopefully we’ll stick together like that. I’ve invited the middle school to come watch the games, and just to see the attitudes of the players.”

It’s a senior class that includes Danasha Lewis, Addie Eiland, Jasmine Andrews, Katy Beth Bedingfield, Kensley Swift, Lauren Park, Delfina Martinez, Jhmeriya Strozier, Lauren Woody, and Jenna Gynther.

A strength of this year’s team, predictably, was the chemistry enjoyed between a group of players who know each other so well.

“We’ve got a good bond,” Andrews said. “We know each other, and we know how each other plays.”

LaGrange qualified for the state playoffs for the second straight year. In 2020, LaGrange finished fourth in the area tournament before falling in the opening round of the state playoffs.

A year later, LaGrange improved its position at the area tournament and finished third in the area tournament, beating the rival Troup Lady Tigers in the process.

LaGrange followed that up with a straight-sets win over West Laurens, giving the team its historic state win.

“This is the definitely the season we’ve been waiting before,” said Eiland, who along with Park earned a spot on the all-area team. “I think the fact that we’ve all made it to this point, it’s been really fun to see each other play and grow.”

Each player on the team has faced her own challenges over the years, including Eiland, who underwent

Volleyball is everything to us. Everyone on the team is my best friend.”

surgery in the offseason to help correct complications from scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine.

To help alleviate the back pain and hopefully help improve her back condition, Eiland had a metal rod inserted in one of her legs, which was about an inch shorter than the other one.

“It wasn’t a fun experience to say the least,” Eiland said.

After the surgery, Eiland began a lengthy rehab process, and even when she was cleared to start playing volleyball again, it took awhile for her to regain her form, and her confidence that she was going to be OK.

“For a little bit, I was kind of nervous about playing,” she said. “The leg kind of would hurt, and I couldn’t really jump off it. Now, I forget I have a metal rod.” their best season together as highschool players, and it was an enjoyable final chapter.

Following the final match there were tears and hugs as the realization hit home that their time together, at least as teammates, was over.

Bedingfield, who made a smooth transition to LaGrange as a sophomore, said “volleyball is everything to us. Everyone on the team is my best friend. We’ve promised, even out of volleyball, to stay connected.”

did take Eiland some time to get back to full strength.

“When I had the surgery, I knew it would take a little while to get back,” Eiland said. “I think because I couldn’t play for so long, it made me try to be better. I think I play better than I did before.”

It helped that Eiland had the support of her friends and teammates, who were there for her every step of the way.

“We had to motivate her,” Lewis said. “This summer, we had a lot of workouts, and we knew she wasn’t going to be at her best at the start of the season. We just pushed her.”

The seniors all pushed each other to be the best they could be, and Lewis said “we have confidence in ourselves. We have a lot of fight.”