Macy Walters knows how far the Heritage Academy fast-pitch softball program has come.
Walters was with the team last season when it only won a handful of games. She was back on the diamond in July to prepare for another season and was curious to see how the team would do given the field wasn’t packed with players.
Playoffs? Well, that wasn’t a thought Walters considered a reality for Heritage Academy.
“I would have told you you are looking at the wrong team,” Walters said when asked what she would have thought if someone told her Heritage Academy was going to be the No. 3 seed out of the North. “We are completely different. We still have practices that look the same, but when we’re playing we look completely different than what I thought we would look like at the beginning of practice.”
Heritage Academy (13-9) has made a believer out of Walters and her teammates. The Lady Patriots earned the No. 3 seed at the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA North State tournament last week. The showing helped Heritage Academy advance to face Copiah Academy, the No. 2 seed from the South, at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the MAIS Class AAA overall State tournament at Liberty Park in Flowood.
Walters thought the Lady Patriots do better than last year, but she didn’t think the team would make it to the state tournament.
But first-year head coach Gary Harris said the players have exceeded his expectations.
“Back in July, we were trying to put together enough players to have a team,” Harris said. “It had been such a long road at Heritage in the past, and this truly was a reclamation project. I hope some of the benefits of this season will be that we are on the right track, we are turning this program around, but we are going to need more girls who are interested in softball. We’re going to need more girls who love the game and who want to be part of a winning program. I can legitimately say we can offer that now. We can offer someone a chance to compete for a championship, and that is definitely where I want to take this program.”
The arrival of senior pitcher Madison Sears, a transfer from South Carolina, aided the cause. The right-hander has settled in nicely as the team’s No. 1 pitcher and has become more of a vocal leader who is able to pass on her experience to her teammates.
Even though Sears admits she didn’t know what to expect entering this season, she said the results have pleasantly surprised her.
“It is pretty incredible,” Sears said. ” I have tried to show what I have learned and I have really seen my teammates grow. It has been a great experience. It is just good to know that you have had a positive impact on your team and on your surroundings.”
Sears has watched as her teammates have grown more confident and have taken more risks. At the start of the season, she said she saw teammates who were afraid to attempt things. Now she said the Lady Patriots are more than willing to dive to make plays and to try new things. As a result, the team’s confidence has skyrocketed.
Even though Sears won’t return next season, she said she has tried to help several teammates who have become more interested in pitching. She hopes her example will help spark a passion in other players so the program continues to move forward.
“I have tried to impart to them that focus and hard work is very important, and sticking with it when you’re not having a good day,” Sears said.
Katlyn Petty and Brooklyn Waldrep, who is the team’s most experienced travel ball player, also have impressed by the progress the team has made since last season. Petty said the team has worked hard to improve on the fundamentals, hitting, and communication, Waldrep said the team has come together and learned the importance of helping and supporting each other. Both players said the success reflects how much everyone has contributed.
“We have gained a lot of confidence in ourselves and how we go into a game,” Waldrep said. “We go in thinking we’re not the best of the best but we’re not the lowest of the low. We’re kind of medium and we go in thinking we’re going to do the best we can.”
All of the players said this season’s success will push them to do even better next season. Waldrep said the players’ willingness to help their teammates and to look out for everyone, not just themselves is a great sign for future teams.
Harris agrees and said it is imperative his players stay active in the sport in the summer. He said it is important for his players to play 50-60 games with travel teams in the summer.
That’s why Harris sees this weekend as a win-win situation. Playing Copiah Academy, the No. 2 seed from the South, and at least one other game will show the Lady Patriots what they need to do to compete with the state’s top teams.
“This is going to be a measuring stick for us and show us what steps we need to take to get to that level,” Harris said. “It is going to take an error-free game. It is going to take us playing our best game of the year to knock off Copiah, and we know that, but it can happen. We have seen it happen before. We’re not going down there with the intention of taking a couple of spankings and coming home. If it happens, it happens, but we’re certainly going down there with the intention of winning.”
Harris also said improving arm strength, team speed, and overall strength as well as developing a better understanding of situational hitting are things the program need to address. He said he and assistant coach Mickey Allen Jr. will sit down and evaluate all facets of the program after the season. One thing won’t change, though: Heritage Academy has title aspirations.
“We are, like I told the girls, in some high cotton right now,” Harris said. “That is great. We are at a level I didn’t even expect, and that is a testament to them and to their resiliency. Like I said earlier, our kids aren’t old enough to know they don’t belong. Our kids don’t know that. They think they do, and we’re going to fake it until we make it.
“I won’t be satisfied until we’re playing for a state championship.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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