Lady Spartans boast best fast-pitch season
By Diana Royal Staff Writer

The 2007 season for Lady Spartan softball ends as one of the best.

The girls finished the season with eight wins - more than any fastpitch team at Edmund Burke Academy has ever accomplished.

"I think this year was a great season," head coach Aaron Phillips said. "The girls worked so hard ... my seniors were great leaders and showed it on and off the field."

The Lady Spartans participated in the state tournament over the weekend, finishing with a 1-2 record. They dropped the first game to Brentwood, who advanced to the final four, but, according to Phillips, their bats came alive in the second game as they crushed Furtah Prep 16-3.

"Krislyn Lee pitched a great game while Allie Lewis, Kayla Milligan and Kayley Fleming really hit the ball well," he said, adding that Fleming had a 2-run homer in the first inning.

In their third game, the girls fell 8-5 to Tiftarea Academy, who, as Region 3-AA Champs, claimed the number one seed in the tournament. "We played our best softball of the year during this game," Phillips commented. "We had the lead the whole game until the last inning when we had a costly error that allowed two runs to score."

But Phillips couldn't be more proud of the effort from his players, especially the three seniors, Fleming, Lee and Lewis.

"At the start of the season the team had to overcome a lot, and a new coach was one of them," he said. "But they did it and they really worked hard. The three seniors took on their roles as leaders, working to push their team to get better everyday … For my first year and for my first time coaching fastpitch softball, I enjoyed the experience, and I'm going to miss my wonderful seniors next year."

For the season, Lee had a total of 12 hits as well as 12 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Her batting average for the state tournament was .333.

Milligan's tournament average was .429, and she batted .313 for the season, garnering 15 hits, 11 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

Ashley Bowman averaged a .385 for the season and .545 at the tournament. She had a total of 19 hits, 14 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

Also leading the Lady Spartans was Daryn Collins, whose season and tournament batting averages were .302 and .286, respectively. She finished the season with 15 hits, 11 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.