The Lady Blue Tide softball team has a lot to be excited about for the 2019 season with a young core of talented players and a veteran head coach leading the way. However, the first week of the young season did not go exactly how the team planned.

The Tide did roll over the Jenkins Warriors in a doubleheader in the first weekend of the season, winning both games 15-7 and 10-9. They hosted single A Clinch County on Monday, August 5 and fell to the Panthers 6-2 after falling behind 5-0 in the first two innings. They dropped a second game to the Vidalia Indians, who advanced to the Columbus tournament in the AA state playoffs last season, 3-1 in eight innings.

They wrapped up a busy first week of the season with a rematch against the Warriors on Friday, August 9. The Tide looked to complete the three-game sweep, but instead found themselves on the losing end of a defensive 2-1 struggle.

The Warriors worked up their two runs on three hits in the fourth inning. These were the only hits sophomore Samantha Pitts gave up during her complete game. She also struck out three Warriors batters.

However, offensively the Tide could not get much going, a point head coach Dave Madray said the Tide will need to improve in coming weeks.

“We have had some really good pitching performances thus far, including this dandy by Pitts,” Madray said. “But we have had difficulty producing any run support. We will continue to work on our offensive approach and make adjustments.”

The Lady Tide scored one run on three hits by Pitts, junior Trista Murphy and senior Ainsley Dawson.

Madray also complemented Jenkins pitcher Isis Jones and their defense on their performance in the game. Jones pitched a complete game and struck out three while giving up no walks.

The Tide will look to turn their slow start around as they travel to Homerville to play Clinch County in a rematch on Monday.