The girls need help to get to Louisiana
There’s nothing like authentic spicy Cajun food during a Louisiana trip … so long as it doesn’t disagree with your stomach right before the big game.
In the 2013 season, Perry Junior League softball has earned another Dixie Youth World Series bid in its storied history. The 15 & under division won the Georgia championship last weekend in Milledgeville, so now preparations are underway for an Aug. 1 departure for Alexandria, La. Here, the girls will take on the best from Texas and other southeastern states.
Winning the games on the field was the fun part. For the next two weeks, it’s the difficult part of making such a trip possible. From the time the players and parents returned home with the first-place trophy, a few fund-raising projects were developed to allow the community to support this talented bunch.
On July 25 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Chick-fil-A in Perry, the team will be on hand with buckets and acting as servers to the customers, checking on their needs and cleaning off tables. Tips will be accepted, and 10 percent of the sales will be donated to the cause.
On July 27, the team is sponsoring a car wash behind Perry’s Sonny’s location. On July 28 at Rigby’s entertainment center on Hwy. 96, when customers buy their tickets at the kiosk, they can go to the front counter and ask that their card be registered under Team Georgia. The team will get a percentage of those sales.
Team members are also selling $10 cards from Marco’s Pizza.
Any business or individual wishing to make a donation, or for more information, can contact Robin Kelly at 338-4062 or Jennifer Alford at 256-7925.
Back to the team, it’s a group not lacking in spirit, softball skills and unity.
“It’s a bunch of young girls new to 15 & under,” said Grayce Bearden. “What got us going to the World Series is us coming together as a team. We left everything behind us and played our hearts out.
“These girls are very talented for their age. We all wanted to take home a trophy and say we are going to the World Series. Having the title ‘Georgia State Champions’ is a big deal for everybody.”
And Bearden said it’s a bunch that will encourage anyone feeling down, and they certainly enjoy being together and having fun. This Louisiana trip will provide plenty of opportunity for a good time in addition to the softball play.
“If there’s a pool, we’ll go swimming,” said Bearden. “Just bond a bit more. Lizzie (Neal) is dying to try that Cajun food. We’ll probably get her to a Cajun restaurant.”
It also has its story of courage, of not letting any limitation keep one player down.
MaKayla Connor, outfielder and rising sophomore at Perry High School, began playing softball in the seventh grade. One year later, she received life-changing news about one of those five senses.
At Perry Middle School, when students took a standard hearing test, MaKayla took a paper home saying she did “awful.”
“They sent me to an audiologist,” she said. “It came out that I have moderate to severe hearing loss. It became onset as I got older. It was a big shock to me. I haven’t really accepted it yet. Who wants to find out when they are almost in high school that they are hearing impaired?”
MaKayla wears hearing aids in both ears, but she still has difficulty hearing, as it is only 50 percent. The aids themselves are small with clear tubes and not noticeable until she pulls one out.
In softball, MaKayla’s main coaching influences are Brian Bearden through Perry Junior League and head softball coach at Perry High, Lorne Tucker.
“They’ve made sure I’ve always had what I needed,” she said. “(Tucker) will be giving instructions, and he’ll make sure he turns around and tells me what he says.
“My team has also been really understanding. My team works very, very hard. They are so dedicated to playing softball, and now we get to go to the World Series.”
MaKayla plays left field and bats in the middle portion of the PJL lineup. She was 4-for-4 at the plate in the first game of the state tournament. She’s “pretty good” with the bat, not “top of the line.” She gives the nod to Bearden and Eden Davison as the team’s offensive leaders.
“This trip costs between $15,000 and $20,000,” said MaKayla, wanting to stress the need for financial aid. “That’s the cost for our parents to get there. We have to get new uniforms that say ‘Georgia’ on them.”
Some of MaKayla’s teammates along with herself go from working out at Perry High to the Junior League park. They are going to miss the first day of school Aug. 1, which is the day to leave for the tournament.
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