Katelyn Brown touches home in the bottom of the first for a quick Lady Panthers lead.

CHULA — Step by step, Tiftarea Academy’s young softball team is getting for the big time. The regular season begins Monday, Aug. 7. Before then, head coach Chance Benson is putting the Lady Panthers through a series of summer challenge contests.

The scrimmages have been against GHSA schools. Baconton Charter and Irwin County are last week. He had Clinch County and Brooks County on the slate this week. All are tough matchups, but excellent opportunities to prepare for district opponents.

“I want the girls to not be hit in the mouth,” Benson said of how these scrimmages will help his team in region competition. He hopes this will make region easier.

The Lady Panthers jumped ahead of Irwin County early with four runs in the first inning. Coley Beth Croft drove in the scrimmage’s first run, bringing home Katelyn Brown on a single past first base.

Tiftarea would love an easy slate of District 3-AAA games. They won the conference last year at 9-1, but return a much younger lineup in 2024. Brown is the only senior on the roster. Not only that, the Lady Panthers have two new pitchers in Raelyn Owens and Olivia Monfort.

Anywhere else, Owens might have gotten varsity pitching experience last year, but Benson pointed out the Lady Panthers had three outstanding arms in the circle. “Raelyn Owens can mix it up well,” he said. She was the starting pitcher against Irwin.

Benson’s been impressed with their growth through the scrimmages, he said. “We’re hoping to build a lot more,” he said.

While Tiftarea is young, the rest of the district seemingly shapes up that way as well. Benson said Deerfield-Windsor, last season’s second place team, was hit hard by graduation. Third place Southland Academy is now in Class AA. Terrell Academy, Valwood and Brookwood combined to win seven 3-AAA games.

Tiftarea will start the regular season with a pair of road games: Aug. 5 at Crisp Academy and Aug. 6 at Fullington Academy.

The GIAA state playoffs are determined by power rankings, with eight of AAA’s 10 teams going to the postseason, meaning that every game can contribute to their seed.