JMA headed to the dance
Published 9:03 am Wednesday, October 16, 2024
- Junior Kinley McLemore touches home in the Lady Trojans’ home game against Stratford earlier this season. She and her teammates hope to reach the plate many times as they begin state tournament play in Columbus Thursday.
The road wasn’t always pretty, but the 8-14 John Milledge Academy softball team did reach its intended destination this season.
Starting noon Thursday, the Lady Trojans will be one of eight teams vying for the GIAA Class AAA softball state championship as it is decided over the course of three days at Columbus’ South Commons Complex. Piedmont, Brookwood, Terrell, Westfield, Tiftarea, Pinewood and Athens Christian are the other contenders in what will be a double-elimination tournament.
After a 3-0 start, the 2024 regular season was a series of ups and downs for John Milledge softball. A nine-game losing streak midseason pushed the Lady Trojans’ record below .500, which they were unable to recover from. The regular season ended with a 2-2 run through the final four games, though the two victories came against a winless Mount de Sales squad.
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The Lady Trojans are led by junior infielder Kinley McLemore, who’s sporting a team-high .464 batting average with 32 hits and 23 runs scored. Two others join her with high batting marks as senior Kylie Steinmeyer and freshman Emma Hudgins each carry a .333 into the postseason.
The team resumé and strength of schedule were enough to land JMA the No. 5 seed among the final eight teams. That matches the Lady Trojans up against fourth-seeded Terrell Academy, who will make the trek to Columbus from southwest Georgia. The two teams will meet noon Thursday.
The Terrell Lady Eagles were 11-6 this season and share a couple of common opponents with John Milledge – Southland Academy and Southwest Georgia Academy. JMA swept Southland this season 13-6 and 8-5 back in August. Terrell lost both its bouts in that same timeframe, 10-2 and 8-4. Both John Milledge and Terrell lost their matchups with SGA handily.
The John Milledge-Terrell winner moves on to face the victor between No. 1 Piedmont Academy and No. 8 Brookwood at 4 p.m. Thursday. The losers of those two games will meet in an elimination contest, same time. A win, whether if it’s in that opening round or the losers’ bracket, will keep a team’s season going at least one more day.
Another storyline to keep an eye on is that of the Westfield Hornets, winners of the last seven Class AAA state championships. They enter the bracket as the No. 3 seed, so they will be fighting to keep their softball dynasty alive.
