Houston County softball leapfrogs Coffee in region standings with doubleheader sweep

WARNER ROBINS – After a tough loss to Coffee (10-4, 7-2 Region 2-6A) in Douglas on Tuesday, Houston County (7-3, 5-1 Region) thoroughly got their get back with a doubleheader sweep on Thursday.

The Lady Bears run-ruled the Lady Trojans in both games by scores of 11-1 and 9-0, which moved them up to second place in the region standings. Undefeated Lee County (and the rest of the region schedule, technically) is the only team between them and another region crown.

Offense has come easily for HoCo this season. In their preseason scrimmage and the first four games of the season they tallied double digit hits. They scored nine or more runs in all but one of those games, which was the only loss of the bunch.

Lady Bears head coach April Collins has seen everything, from mindset to work at the plate, come together for her team.

“We’ve been challenging them to continue [reaching] double [digit] hits. If you get double [digit] hits the ball game could be yours,” she said.

“We’ve said, ‘Some days you’re gonna go 0-for-3, and some days you can go 2-for-3 [or] 3-for-3,’” Collins said. “Just encouraging them … [working the] pitching machine … I think that really prepared us [against Coffee] and we just let the bats explode tonight.”

HoCo fell one hit short of double digits in Game 1, but in both contests they combined for 19 hits and 20 runs. They scored six in one inning in both games and when it rained, it poured.

Ann Marie DeFore has championed the offense; she was 4-for-6, including two home runs, and drove in five runs.

“She’s settled into that three-hole. She’s done really, really well executing whether it’s home run, base hit, whatever, she’s done great,” Collins said. “To see her grow as a player and as a young lady, just in general, she has worked really hard for that.”

DeFore has grown a lot from a freshman, then sophomore, standout to an upperclassman with big expectations.

“Obviously in her leadership we can see that she’s grown a ton. For her, she was performing like that her freshman year,” Collins said. “She feels some pressure sometimes to do well, [but] even when maybe she isn’t, her teammates are picking her up.”

That relationship between teammates has been built over the last several years. Part of it is culture, you saw something similar with Collins’ last big group in 2023 and 2024, but another part of it is how long these girls have played together.

There are nine seniors that (some) play on the same travel ball teams, too. It’s a bond that goes beyond the cordial relationship of being teammates.

“They compete, and they pick each other up, they encourage each other,” Collins said. “To me that’s the biggest piece … We talk about being a family, and that’s really what we are … Seeing these girls go from [their] freshman year to senior year and play together and grow as sisters, that’s the biggest part for me as a coach, just seeing those relationships grow.”

A pairing of two younger players can be noticed, too. Piper Lambert and Allie Hutto, both sophomores, share a pitching room.

While Hutto threw both games against Coffee, Lambert was at second base. In between innings, Lambert went out to the circle and waited for Hutto to come out and warm up. After an out or during breaks in play, they talked to each other.

“They complement each other, all my pitchers do that,” Collins said. “They push each other to do better … even when one’s not pitching, the other one’s cheering loud for the other pitcher. They definitely celebrate each other’s successes.”

UP NEXT

HoCo’s week is finished, and their next game will be on Sept. 8 at Thomas County Central at 5 p.m.

Coffee has an early doubleheader on Sept. 9 against Lowndes at 3:45 p.m.