Bumpy roads, group chats and late night practices paved the way for Houston County’s third trip to Columbus in five years

When it comes to the playoffs it feels like the entire season boils down to one moment.

The only thing most people will remember about the Lady Bears’ 2025-26 softball season next year is whether they won or lost. Were they champions? Or not?

But as 19th century American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”

The members of this team, all of whom will be back except for senior Kendall Carswell, will remember much more than just the result.

It’s been quite a journey for the Lady Bears thus far, as they’ve found a new identity outside of the unquestioned dominance of the last several years.

They’ve branded themselves as scrappers and underdogs, and they’ve pulled themselves out of some holes this season.

After a solid 6-2 start with wins over Lowndes, Ola and Harlem, HoCo hit a 1-5 stretch encompassing their first region series.

That brought their record to 7-7 in the middle of a non-region stretch with the meat of region play rapidly approaching.

Junior infielder Felicity Curtis said that even though the coaches offered messages to the team, the players helped pull each other out of that funk.

“Honestly, yeah the coaches said stuff, but it was from us too. Like we sit there and text in our group chat like, ‘I don’t know what y’all been doing, but we gotta go, it’s go time,’” Curtis said. “Especially since we started doing region play, it was like we have to turn it on now or we don’t turn it on at all.”

The Lady Bears heard whispers of doubts, and that helped fuel the flame.

“Knowing that everyone was doubting us, and we knew we had to bounce back to win region,” Junior middle infielder Lily Brzezicki said.

Head coach April Collins and her staff have said that this team likes to be challenged. They offered one after that stretch and the Lady Bears responded.

“Once we lost all those games, [the coaches] were just like, ‘Y’all need to pick it up if y’all want to win region and make it to Columbus you guys need to start winning more games and believe in yourself,’” Junior middle infielder Olivia Buffone said.

5-1 and 3-2 victories over Troup and Morgan County respectively pushed them back over .500 ahead of Northside, which was a commanding sweep by a total score of 42-3.

Now 12-7, HoCo set their eyes on what’s been the biggest series of the season the last couple of years — Veterans. The Lady Warhawks were 16-2 and putting up dizzying offensive numbers.

Despite bouncing back from a rough stretch, the Lady Bears were certainly the underdogs. Last year’s Veterans team, who suffered from more inconsistencies that this one, beat them in two of the three games. Only when they lost later was HoCo able to get back in the driver’s seat of the region.

That result wasn’t lost on the Lady Bears, who returned a lot of players from that defeat.

“It was hard, especially for the girls who remember what happened last year,” Senior outfielder Kendall Carswell said. “And yes, we do know those girls, but we also put that relationship to the side and were like, this is a time, it’s our rival. Of course we love the girls, [but] we still have to play as hard as we want, and just the heartbreak from last year of us losing to them twice, that really did carry on to this year.”

They embraced the underdog mentality. That’s something they haven’t been able to do, not while they went 30-0 in two years of region play.

“Going into the Veterans game our mentality was, we were the underdogs so honestly it was all or nothing, and what did we have to lose. Why not us,” Buffone said. “We were going in just excited and pumped to play because it’s a big rivalry.”

HoCo got the full Veterans experience in Game 1, giving up a seventh-inning comeback in a 4-3 walk off loss. The Lady Bears controlled most of the game, but couldn’t pull out the win at the ‘Hawks’ Nest.

But the series was far from over, and coming home was a big advantage for HoCo.

“[The coaches] didn’t want us to go into that game with nerves, or that whole series,” Curtis said. “The main thing being, win on your home turf. Because there was a lot of people in the crowds, Veterans brought their people. But just having confidence in yourself and just [believing] in each other that you can do it.”

The Lady Bears punched first in Game 2, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings. Veterans got one run on the board in the seventh in another comeback attempt, but a fly out followed by a double play evened the series.

Junior outfielder Armani Frazier delivered Game 3 on a silver platter in the bottom of the sixth, crushing a home run to center field and jumping in front for a 3-2 final.

Coming into the series Frazier knew they had to put their feelings aside and fight more than they had that season — she lived up to that sentiment.

“We definitely knew that we had to have a lot of fight and fire in us,” Frazier said. “[The coaches] were mostly just saying, don’t think about your relationships with the players. Just know that at the end of the day, someone has to win, so just fight as if it was a regular, normal game. But [we] definitely had to have a lot more fire in us to win that series.”

HoCo won their final region series against Thomas County Central to claim their fourth consecutive region championship, and fourth in five years under Collins.

But it wasn’t a clean ride off into the sunset for the Lady Bears. They lost a makeup game to Lee County 7-5, and their final non-region games 13-4 and 8-0 to West Laurens and Harris County respectively.

The latter two teams are a taste of the best the state has to offer, so something had to change if HoCo was going to make some noise in the postseason.

Before the first round started, a switch flipped.

The Lady Bears went down 6-2 in Game 1 against Riverwood and University of South Carolina commit May Weis, but fought hard for a comeback in the 6-5 loss.

After a home run put the Lady Raiders ahead 2-0 in the first inning of Game 2, HoCo never trailed again.

Collins attributed this sudden shift in energy and intensity to one late night Sunday practice, the day before the first round started. Her players also pointed to that moment — when everything changed.

“To be honest I don’t really know where that came from,” Carswell said. “It just popped up out of nowhere. Everybody was so relaxed, we were having fun, and we just need to take that energy, that relaxedness to Columbus because if we tense up it’s going to mess us up a lot.”

The Lady Bears pulled out the pitching machine and hit lasers off of it all night. It could have been a high off of the region championship or anticipation for the postseason, but either way the energy was high that Sunday night.

“That Sunday practice we were definitely very excited for the playoffs. We just had a really good team moment, a lot of high energy and a lot of excitement to play,” Frazier said. “The practice was really good with offensive work, and going into games we knew we had to have that offensive piece, so we just really worked at it.”

That intensity carried the Lady Bears through the first two rounds into another trip to Columbus. They controlled both series, and they’ll look to make some big noise come Sunday.

Carswell, as the only senior on the team, feels some added pressure mixed with excitement heading into her final visit to South Commons Complex.

“I’m feeling kind of [nervous and excited] because I am the only senior on the team, so I have to lead by example,” Carswell said. “We did hear [there’s going to be] a lot of college coaches, so that’s a bit nerve-wracking, too. But honestly, I personally just want to have fun with the girls. And honestly, if we just do that, it’s going to carry in because no one really talks about it in softball but softball’s supposed to be fun, and not so gut-wrenching.”

The team will look different, too. Brzezicki suffered a back injury and isn’t able to play anymore this year, and Curtis hurt her hand in the first round. She can pinch run, but she’s no longer on the field full time.

It’s been an emotional challenge for Curtis specifically, but she and Brzezicki are both embracing being their team’s biggest cheerleaders the rest of the way.

“The biggest struggle for me is the emotional aspect. So I just try and go into games with a blank mind,” Curtis said. “If I get to run, I get to run and if I don’t, I don’t. And I just sit there and cheer…Now that Piper [Lambert] has to play third or [Brianna Walker], I’ll sit there and coach them and help them because they’re new to the positions.”

As for the rest of team:

“We’re pumped,” Curtis said. “I mean, we get to skip school for one, and it’s Halloween too. It’s just supposed to be a fun time, you know? There’s not really much stress.”

“I’m definitely excited. The whole team’s excited, we’re ready,” Frazier said. “We just [have to] think of it as another competition, not adding too much pressure. Just know that we can do it with each other, have to have the integrity, fight and grit to make it through.”

The Lady Bears are set to play their first game on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. at the time of writing, weather permitting.

Congratulations to HoCo, and go make all of us in Houston County proud!

Find the GHSA 5A tournament bracket here.