Lily Robinson zips a pitch to one of her teammates. Robinson enters her third year starting in the circle for the Lady Devils.

TIFTON — New Tift County head softball coach Jen Walls reported a good week of practice, which featured an intrasquad scrimmage that has her optimistic for the season ahead.

Walls said the first few days were about “Knocking the rust off a bit.” The Lady Devils last played as a team in October 2023. “The first week was a lot of back to basics,” said Walls. She said she told them it would be more rigorous this week.

Thanks to a intrasquad scrimmage last Thursday, Tift County is beginning to see where its pieces fit on the field.

Morgan Brey is perhaps the most versatile player on the roster, doing everything except pitch. Brey and Braylin Dorden split time last year as varsity backstops.

Walls said Ella Bruce and Marlee Veazey have been interchangeable in the infield and Riley Williams has been working some in the outfield as Hannah Grace Murphy can play middle infield as well.

She said the scrimmage was “a lot of fun.”

The Lady Devils were divided into groups of four or so, getting a chance to hit against each pitcher on the staff.

Three of the pitchers in the scrimmage have varsity experience: Lily Robinson, Cora Beth McCrary and Murphy. Murphy transferred from Tiftarea Academy.

Besides trying to get base hits, the squad worked on situational hitting, with plenty of bunts. Baserunning was also a big part of the scrimmage.

Tift will be off next week with the second “dead week” of the summer, then get back to work for the final days of preparation for the 2024 campaign.