Forsyth sports fans got a taste of fall excitement Tuesday, when South Forsyth traveled up to Forsyth Central for a pre-season softball tuneup.
With nothing on the line, the two teams played three regular innings, then wiped the slate clean to finish out the evening with situational at-bats. Central led 2-0 after the scored portion of the meeting.
"It's a good test early," South coach Ronnie Davis said.
"You get in a lull sometimes with running stuff against your own team all the time. You know what your plays are, you know the whole nine yards. You know people's tendencies. It's good to be able to see another team that you're not as familiar with as you are with your own group."
Davis said he used the meeting — sort of a hybrid between an extended practice and a full-fledged scrimmage — to get a better idea of how his players fit together on the field, using individual players in multiple positions during a session heavy with substitutions and player movement on both sides.
Alexa Ditmar handled most of the pitching duties for South, with Lakan Smith and JV player Tonia Soto also seeing time on the mound. Davis said that Soto, a sophomore, could see some chances to pitch for the varsity during in-season tournaments.
"Obviously there's a lot of things that we need to work on, but you know, there were things that we did very well in the process too," Davis said.
Central coach Bill Richardson was pleased with what he saw on both sides of the ball. His team scored the only runs of the session before the teams went to scenarios involving runners already on base, when Lauren Head hit a two-RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.
"We definitely figured out where a couple of people belong defensively. We had some pretty good swings, especially in the second inning when we hit the ball pretty good," Richardson said.
Subs and player movement was also a big part of the exercise for Central, the coach pointed out.
"We don't have many players in the program, so we dressed 17 of our 22 today, and we can actually move some people around," he said.
Brittney Head recorded most of the pitching duties for Central, but Richardson also gave some time to sophomore Ashlyn Capp, whom he said will mostly pitch JV but looked good during the Tuesday session.
He also complimented both Head sisters, as well as Jamie Strickland's defensive showing on the left side of the infield.
"Everybody did something good today ... and I'm very, very happy with them," said Richardson.
"We know South is pretty good. They're going to be solid and they're going to make plays the right way, and when we can work on it against somebody like them that plays good defense, we're in business. They are far above most of the teams we'll see in region play."
Both teams were scheduled to get after it for real Friday, with South playing host to Milton and Central visiting Peachtree Ridge.
With nothing on the line, the two teams played three regular innings, then wiped the slate clean to finish out the evening with situational at-bats. Central led 2-0 after the scored portion of the meeting.
"It's a good test early," South coach Ronnie Davis said.
"You get in a lull sometimes with running stuff against your own team all the time. You know what your plays are, you know the whole nine yards. You know people's tendencies. It's good to be able to see another team that you're not as familiar with as you are with your own group."
Davis said he used the meeting — sort of a hybrid between an extended practice and a full-fledged scrimmage — to get a better idea of how his players fit together on the field, using individual players in multiple positions during a session heavy with substitutions and player movement on both sides.
Alexa Ditmar handled most of the pitching duties for South, with Lakan Smith and JV player Tonia Soto also seeing time on the mound. Davis said that Soto, a sophomore, could see some chances to pitch for the varsity during in-season tournaments.
"Obviously there's a lot of things that we need to work on, but you know, there were things that we did very well in the process too," Davis said.
Central coach Bill Richardson was pleased with what he saw on both sides of the ball. His team scored the only runs of the session before the teams went to scenarios involving runners already on base, when Lauren Head hit a two-RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.
"We definitely figured out where a couple of people belong defensively. We had some pretty good swings, especially in the second inning when we hit the ball pretty good," Richardson said.
Subs and player movement was also a big part of the exercise for Central, the coach pointed out.
"We don't have many players in the program, so we dressed 17 of our 22 today, and we can actually move some people around," he said.
Brittney Head recorded most of the pitching duties for Central, but Richardson also gave some time to sophomore Ashlyn Capp, whom he said will mostly pitch JV but looked good during the Tuesday session.
He also complimented both Head sisters, as well as Jamie Strickland's defensive showing on the left side of the infield.
"Everybody did something good today ... and I'm very, very happy with them," said Richardson.
"We know South is pretty good. They're going to be solid and they're going to make plays the right way, and when we can work on it against somebody like them that plays good defense, we're in business. They are far above most of the teams we'll see in region play."
Both teams were scheduled to get after it for real Friday, with South playing host to Milton and Central visiting Peachtree Ridge.