RAISING THE BAR: Garner now a two-time County POY

Published 9:43 am Saturday, December 7, 2024

Hannah Garner had some pretty big cleats to fill when she stepped onto the softball diamond for her senior year.

Luckily for her, those cleats were actually her own. Coming off a remarkable junior campaign, Garner ran it back one more time for the GMC Prep Lady Dogs and put together a stellar senior season as well. The right-handed pitcher and left-handed batter is The Union-Recorder’s All-County Softball Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

Garner closes out her high school career as a four-time First Team All-County selection whose season batting average was never below .457. She hit .491 in 2024 while tying a career high in homers (four) and setting a new personal high in RBI (46). Garner struck out only three times this past season, and from the pitcher’s circle she sat down more than 300 hitters while leading her team to a state runner-up finish.

Whether there was a bat or ball in her hand, she was the one opponents had to watch out for but could never stop.

Even with having set such a high bar for herself, Garner never felt the significant pressure that often comes with being a star player.

“It was one of those things where you always want to do good, so there was that sort of pressure, but it was more about just having fun for my senior year while trying to play my best,” she said.

“Hannah’s that natural leader,” GMC Prep head softball coach Jennifer Deason said. “She’s the one in the circle driving the ship. She was the motivator and she obviously dominated in the circle most games. She hits and pitches well and works hard.”

For Garner, this most recent season differed from the previous one in one major way — she didn’t have to throw every single inning for the Lady Dogs. Still she was able strike out more batters as a senior than when she was a junior. While she did shoulder the load innings-wise, reinforcements rose through the ranks and provided her right arm with an occasional break. The head coach believes that played a part in the team making a deeper run this season.

“We had some options available where she didn’t have to pitch every inning of every game,” said Deason. “I do think that helped us deep in the season. She did pitch every inning in Columbus, but I think her getting to rest some time during the season worked to our advantage because she was more than prepared, well-rested, and not banged up with any kind of injuries and overuse.”

The head coach mentioned Columbus, Georgia, the place where every softball player in the state wants to see their season end. For Georgia High School Association members like GMC Prep, the state championships are decided there in an eight-team, double-elimination tournament over the course of four days.

This year’s trip saw Garner and the Lady Dogs get put in a corner out of the gate after losing their opener to Screven County 1-0. Then came an 8-3 win against Metter, a game that saw Garner strike out 13 batters. That was followed by 1-0 victories over both Schley and Screven (15 K’s) in the losers’ bracket. GMC was left as one of three teams vying for the title when it faced Lanier in a de facto semifinal. Things weren’t looking great for the Lady Dogs who trailed 3-0 when their final at-bat came in the bottom of the seventh.

If it sounds like the stage is being set for something big, it’s because it is.

GMC pushed one run across to cut the margin to 3-1 and had two runners on with one out. Garner was next to the plate. Garner, whose astronomical batting average tells you the chances of her getting some sort of hit are basically a coin flip. Does the opposing coach intentionally walk her and try to work through the next batter in the order? Nope. Lanier subs their starting pitcher out for the team’s left-handed ace to face Garner’s left-handed bat.

“Going into the box I was just thinking, ‘base hit, don’t do anything too crazy,’” said Garner.

She did something crazy, but not in a bad way. The problem with pitching to the Lady Dogs star in that situation is that one mistake could send you home. And send Lanier County home Garner did when a pitch intended to miss the plate to the outside caught both the plate and Garner’s potent bat. She sent it for a ride over the fence, just right of center, for the walk-off game winner that pushed GMC Prep softball to the final round.

There the Lady Dogs ran out of steam as they fell to Emanuel County Institute 2-1, but a state runner-up finish wasn’t a bad way for Garner to cap off her prolific high school career.

“The best moments from my time in high school were on the field with my teammates just playing the game,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Garner was granted one more opportunity to suit up as a high schooler when she was selected to participate in the Georgia Dugout Club All-State Game held at Truist Park last month. There she competed with and against some of the top softball talent around the state.

Though her high school career is complete, Garner’s time on the softball field is not over. She had previously been committed to play junior college softball at Georgia Highlands in Rome, but a coaching change there caused her to alter her course. Now she’s committed to Chattanooga State, another JuCo program just over the Georgia-Tennessee border where both the coaches and the town made a big impression on a visit this fall.

“They will definitely set me up for the future,” Garner said.

It goes without saying that both her bat and pitching arm will be missed when the Lady Dogs take the field again next season.

“It’s hard to believe her time is up,” Deason said. “It’s been such a fun ride and I’ve enjoyed coaching her. She’s been a great team leader and a great GMC Bulldog. Like all good things, her time had to come to an end. But I think she is more than prepared to go to the college level and compete after some of the experiences she’s had here.”