Like a light at end of it a long tunnel, the urgency picked up speed for the Lady Greyhounds on the softball field on Monday.
With the second GHSA dead week having come and gone, the Lady Hounds resumed their voluntary summer workouts with Monday’s prime focus being in the batting cages.
While sports such as football may have a few weeks after the start of school prior to their first official game, softball does not have that luxury. Jones County scrimmages at Veterans on Aug. 4, opens the season at Houston County on Aug. 8, and hosts Dodge County for its home opener on Aug. 11.
Teams can officially practice Aug. 1, and Jones County plans to once again start as early as possible with its Midnight Madness event planned for when the clock strikes midnight on Aug. 1.
“The first week of school, we get going. Softball is one of those sports where you hit the ground running. July is very important,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Tripp Burt said. “You want to get a lot of good things going to set yourself up for success in August, September and October.”
The latter half of the summer comes as part of a summer in which workouts have also included giving the players two weeks of the recharge, or as Burt says, “get refreshed and get excited.”
That refresh will come as part of the leadup to a season in which Jones County will be seeking its fourth trip in a row to the GHSA Elite 8. The Lady Hounds graduated nine seniors from last year’s group that included UGA-bound pitcher Destin Howard.
Even in the midst of a handful of players being in and out of town through usual summer activities such as playing with travel teams, Burt likes what he is seeing.
“We’ve seen some people make some progress,” Burt said. “We’re excited about what we have.”
