On 9/25, the Lady Rebels softball team prepared to take the field for their last home game as they took on Dawson County. Although the night came with many emotions, the Rebels were determined to play their last home game with everything they had.

Fannin took the field in their all black uniforms, ready to put up a fight for a win. The Lady Rebels wanted a win and you could tell by their performance on the field. The Rebels had a solid defense for two innings where they kept the Tigers from scoring any runs. All of the seniors played a huge role in Fannin’s defense for the night. Maleah Stepp in center and Reagan Young in right had a great night in the outfield full of great catches, Kyla Seabolt was aggressive at third base where she got big outs, Macy Galloway at short and Alicia Jones at second had some great snags in the infield that resulted in outs, and Amelia Sneed pitched a great game where she struck out five batters. As Fannin held Dawson on defense, the Rebels started to make things happen on offense. Stepp and Jones led the Rebels in hits for the night with two a piece. Over the first two innings, Fannin scored one run in each, resulting in a 2-0 lead.

The teams reversed roles for the next two innings where Dawson took the lead. The Tigers scored two runs in both the third and fourth inning as they held Fannin on defense. Dawson was ahead 4-2 going into the fifth inning when they managed to add another run to their score and held Fannin.

Both teams put up a fight in the sixth inning where they refused to let the other score. Fannin finally broke the trend at the bottom of the seventh inning where they scored two more runs. Although the Lady Rebels out hit the Lady Tigers 8 to 3, they were unable to put the runs on the board to catch up to Dawson. After an intense back and forth game, Fannin endured a heartbreaking loss of 5-4 to the Lady Tigers. Fannin’s loss put their overall record at 10-13 and their region record at 3-8.

On 9/20 the Lady Rebels softball team traveled to Rabun County to take on the the Lady Wildcats for their senior night. Fannin had just come from a win over Chestatee the game before and looked to continue their streak. Rabun looked to redeem themselves from their first game against Fannin where they lost 9-0.

Fannin started off hot on offense where they put four runs on the board before Rabun could get their three outs. Alicia Jones and Riley Davis led Fannin in hits for the night with two a piece. Kayleigh Russell added to Fannin’s score with two RBI’s, followed by Alicia Jones with one. Fannin continued to add on to their score as they held Rabun on offense until the fourth inning where they reversed roles.

After Fannin kept adding onto their score and holding Rabun at zero for three innings, the Lady Wildcats started to score as they held Fannin. The last few innings they did score, Fannin only allowed Rabun to score one run in each.

Maleah Stepp had a great night on defense for the Lady Rebels with multiple diving catches in center field. Amelia Sneed had four strikeouts over seven innings on the mound for Fannin. While Rabun made six errors on defense, Fannin only made three.

Both teams had eight hits for the night, but Fannin was able to put more runs on the board. At the end of the seventh inning, Fannin found themselves with a 7-3 victory over the Lady Wildcats. The Lady rebels win put their overall record at 10-11 while their region record remained the same at 3-6.

On 9/29, the Lady Rebels softball team traveled to Dawson County to kick off the region tournament. The teams would be playing a double header that day to determine who would move on to the playoffs. The steaks were high and both teams came ready to play.

For the first game of the day, Fannin started off batting. Dawson came out and got an early lead over Fannin where they put one run on the board just for the Rebels to tie it up in the second. It was an even game until the sixth inning where Fannin started to put the ball into action and added four runs to their score. Fannin had a great offensive game where they earned ten hits while Dawson earned seven. Senior, Macy Galloway, led Fannin in hits for the night with three over seven innings. Galloway was followed by seniors, Maleah Stepp and Alicia Jones who each had two hits for the game. All three of the seniors had an RBI for the game. Senior pitcher, Amelia Sneed, earned two strikeouts throughout the game and claimed the 6-3 victory over the Lady Tigers.

After a short break, the teams were ready to take on their second game of the day. This go around, Fannin would take the place as the home team and hit the field first. Both teams put up a fight on defense for three innings until Dawson was able to score one run in the fourth. The Tigers continued to score and Fannin responded in the bottom of the fifth with two runs. Rebel junior, Emily Waldrep, was the big hitter for the game with her two hits. Senior, Maleah Stepp, earned two RBI’s for Fannin and contributed to the score. Although Fannin out hit Dawson 8 to 7, the Lady Tigers walked away with a 4-2 victory over the Lady Rebels. With both teams winning one and losing one, they were matched up to compete at Dawson again the next Monday.

On 10/01, Fannin traveled back to Dawson County for their final game. The winner would be moving on into playoffs while this would be the losers last game. The coin toss before the game determined that Fannin would once again take the spot as the home team and take the field first. Fannin was ready for a game like the last when Dawson’s hitting came alive. After so many games against the same pitching, both teams started to adjust at the plate and made things happen. The Lady Tigers were hitting the ball in all of the right places and putting runs on the board while Fannin was still trying to adjust to their offense. The Lady Rebels started to hit in the bottom of the third and managed to get one run on the board before Dawson closed out the inning. Senior, Macy Galloway, earned three RBI’s throughout the game and added to Fannin’s score. Both teams had a perfect defense by not allowing any errors in the field. Amelia Sneed, pitched a great game for Fannin by earning two strikeouts. It was a high hitting game where Dawson County out hit Fannin 15 to 12. Despite both teams hustle and heart, Dawson County walked away with a 7-5 victory over Fannin. The Lady Rebels had a great season where they kept improving from the beginning and finished with an overall record of 11-15.

On 9/24, the Lumpkin County softball team traveled from Dahlonega to take on the Lady Rebels. Fannin had just come from a win the game prior to the matchup and looked to continue the trend while Lumpkin sought to remain undefeated. It was an important week for the Lady Rebels where they would play three region games that would determine their ranking.

The Lady Indians started off with too much heat for the Rebels to take. They had a strong offensive game by being able to determine where they hit the ball. When they saw that the outfield was deep, they hit short. When the defense was playing up, they would hit it to the fence.

Lumpkin put eight runs on the board before Fannin began to adjust their defense. Amelia Sneed pitched a great game for Fannin, but was throwing right in Lumpkin’s power house. During the first inning, Fannin put in Kaelyn Hensley for a change in speed. When Fannin finally got their three outs, they managed to only get one run on the board to end the inning.

Fannin managed to adjust to the Indians offense for the next few innings. The Rebels scored five more runs while they only allowed the Indians to score one run until the sixth inning.

With the score at 9-6 in the sixth inning, Lumpkin found their second wind. They started hitting like they did in the first inning and added six runs to their score. When Fannin went up to bat in an attempt to make a comeback, Lumpkin earned three outs before the Rebels could score a run. The Lady Indians closed out the game in the sixth inning with a 15-6 victory over Fannin.

Lumpkin out hit Fannin 16-9 over six innings of play. Lady Rebel, Emily Waldrep, played a major role in Fannin’s offensive game for the night where she had three RBI’s. While fannin had six errors on defense, Lumpkin only had one.

The Lady Rebels loss put their overall record at 10-12 and their region record at 3-7. Lumpkin got to keep their undefeated streak, and remained at the number spot in the region.

On 9/13 the Lady Rebels softball team traveled to Flowery Branch to take on the Lady Bears. Earlier in the season, Cherokee Bluff traveled to Fannin County where the Rebels beat them 7-3. Fannin was looking to continue the trend while the Bears were looking for their first region win.

The Bears had a hot start in the first inning that took the Rebels by surprise. Fannin was not able to score any runs with their first at bat and could not stop Cherokee Bluff from putting five on the board when they went up to bat. With the Bears up 5-0, Fannin started to fight back on offense. In response to their opponents five runs, Fannin was able to score five of their own to tie up the game. Maleah Stepp, Alicia Jones, and Kyla Seabolt led Fannin in hitting for the night. Each of the seniors racked up two hits for their team. Cherokee Bluff fought to get their lead back in the bottom of the second inning. The Bears scored two more runs, putting them ahead of Fannin 7-5.

After Fannin almost made a comeback, the Bears started to put all the pieces of the game together. As they continued to add one run to their score in every inning but one, they held Fannin with their defense by not letting them add anymore runs to their score for the entire game.

On defense, neither team had any errors. Amelia Sneed pitched a great game from the mound where she struck out four batters over six innings. Out of her many pitches over the course of the night, twenty of her first pitches to a new batter were strikes. Although Fannin kept up with Cherokee Bluff defensive wise, they unfortunately fell short to them on offense. The Bears earned twelve hits for the night while the Rebels had eight.

Cherokee Bluff walked away with a 10-5 victory over Fannin, giving them their first region win. The Lady Rebels loss put their overall record at 5-10 and their region record at 3-5.

On 9/11, the East Hall Lady Vikings softball team traveled to Fannin County to take on the Lady Rebels. Fannin had just come from a big win at GAC the week prior and was looking to add another region win. East Hall was determined to keep their undefeated streak in region games and hold on tight to their first place rank.

The game started off pretty even with both teams fighting for the lead until East Hall ran away with it in the last two innings. However in the first inning, Fannin allowed East Hall to score only one run. The Lady Rebels played solid defense and were able to score one run on offense.

Just when Fannin saw a glimpse of hope to catching up to East Hall’s one point lead, the Vikings started to bring their A game. It was a chain reaction throughout their batting lineup where they racked up six runs. They continued the trend in the fifth inning by hitting the ball in all of the right places and adding five more runs to their score. Fannin started to answer the Vikings call  in the top of the fifth inning where they added three of their own runs to the board. The Lady Vikings walked away with a 13-4 victory over the Lady Rebels, leaving them at number one in the region.

Despite Fannin’s efforts to make a comeback, it proved to be too late in the game, resulting in the run rule. East Hall’s offense and defense seemed to be superior for the night where they only had three errors on defense and eleven hits on offense. Fannin however had six errors on the field and four hits for the night. Senior, Amelia Sneed, pitched for 3.1 innings where she struck out one batter. Junior, Kaelyn Hensley, closed out the game from the mound where six of her first pitches to a new batter were strikes. Fannin’s loss put their overall record at 5-9 and their region record at 3-4.

The first Thursday of this month, the Lady Rebels softball team traveled to Norcross to take on the Lady Spartans. Earlier in the season, GAC traveled to take on Fannin at their home field where the Rebels defeated them 6-3. Two games before the matchup at Fannin, the Rebels endured a 3-2 loss to the Dawson County Tigers. The day before the matchup at Fannin County, the Lady Spartans took on the same team where they won 7-0. The Lady Spartans were looking to continue their winning streak and redeem themselves from the first time they played the Rebels. Fannin had just come from an 11-8 loss at Murray County and was hungry for a win.

GAC got an early lead in the first inning with a score of 2-1 and hoped to hold onto it for the rest of the game. You could tell each team wanted to win just as badly as the other through the intensity that showed on the field. The score remained the same in the second inning where both teams managed to hold the other on defense. Fannin was able to add another run to their score in the third inning to tie up the game, just to have the Spartans to pull ahead by putting three more runs on the board.

It was an intense game of back and forth with each team fighting until the end. The Rebels finally started to put it all together on offense and defense in the last two innings. They held the Spartans on defense by not allowing any runs to cross the plate in the last two innings while Fannin racked up on hits. In the sixth inning, the Lady Rebels scored four and continued the trend in the seventh by adding three more runs. Fannin’s bats were hot throughout the night as they got twelve hits and GAC got ten. On defense however, the Lady Rebels made three errors while the Lady Spartans only made one. Amelia Sneed made up for those errors on the mound with an amazing night of pitching. Sneed pitched all seven innings for Fannin and had four strikeouts.

After a long seven innings of play, Fannin walked away with a 9-5 victory over GAC.  The Rebels win put their overall record at 5-8 and their region record at 3-3.

As school is approaching, so is the Lady Rebels softball season. As many of Fannin’s sports teams are having to do, the softball team spent the summer adjusting to the coaching staff changes that were thrown their way.

Alan Collis was a previous assistant coach for the Lady Rebels three years ago, but has returned this season as the head coach of the softball team. When asking coach Collis about his thoughts on the upcoming season, he said, “We are so excited for this season. We are excited to take off and get started to see how much we improve each week. Our girls are working hard each practice to help the team improve. We want to be in the playoffs. We want to be one of the final four teams and I believe we can do that if we improve each week. In order to achieve this, we cannot take any steps back. We have to keep striving everyday to raise the bar and to get better than the day before. If we do that, we are going to be sitting exactly where this coaching staff wants to be as one of the top four teams in the end to make it to the state playoffs.”

The Lady Rebels practiced through the hot months of June and July so that the team can reach this goal at the end of the season. The coaches not only taught the players the fundamentals of the game, but also the importance of becoming and playing like a team. When they weren’t on the field practicing, the Rebels really focused on team bonding. Whether it was putting on team devotionals or hiking Amicalola Falls to receive their uniforms, the Rebels spent as much time as they could growing closer together.

Travis Stone has been a coach at Fannin County High School for years now. Just like the players, Stone has also had to adjust to the coaching changes that have come his way. The past few years, Stone has been an assistant coach for baseball. This year however, he has been changed to the head coach for baseball, and an assistant coach for softball. “I’m looking forward to watching the girls improve and work hard each day. We have to get one percent better everyday. If we get one percent better each day, we will be right where we need to be to reach our goal. Infield and outfield have been improving over the summer. We are working hard on making better throws, transferring the ball well, getting an idea of where we go with the ball, pitching, and backing up the pitcher. If we can continue to get better at these small aspects each day, we will be a great team,” coach Stone shared with the FYN sports team.

The Lady Rebels officially kick off their season on Saturday, August 4. They will play a double header at home where they will take on Gordon Central at 11am and Pace Academy at 3pm. Come out and support your Lady Rebels!

Last Thursday, the Lady Rebels softball team traveled to Gainesville, Georgia, to take on the Chestatee War Eagles. Both teams were looking to redeem themselves from the tough losses they endured their games prior to the matchup.

Fannin hit the field first where the War Eagles got an early lead. They started hitting the ball in all of the right places and getting runs on the board. After Chestatee scored two runs, the Rebels got their third out and started swinging the bats. Fannin had a hard time putting the ball into play on offense until the third inning where they put two runs on the board and tied the game.

The Lady War Eagles continued the trend at the bottom of the fourth inning by adding two more runs to the score where the Lady Rebels were unable to do the same. Fannin started to make errors on defense, leading Chestatee to continue to add runs to the board. The War Eagles continued to advance their lead while the Rebels were struggling to score more runs. Fannin was having a hard time putting the ball into play and when they did, it went right to the defense.

Chestatee outhit Fannin 6-4 while the Lady Rebels made 5 errors throughout the game on defense while the Lady War Eagles made two. Although Fannin struggled with their fielding and hitting, they pitched a good game from the mound. Lady Rebel senior, Amelia Sneed, pitched six innings and struck out seven batters. The War Eagles finished the game with a 5-2 victory over the Rebels, putting Fannin’s overall record at 0-4.

On 9/19, the Lady Eagles softball team traveled from Chestatee to take on the Lady Rebels at home. Fannin lost their first match up to the Eagles 5-2 earlier in the season and was looking to redeem themselves.

Chestatee hit first where they got an early one point lead over Fannin in the first inning. After the Eagles scored their first run, Fannin started to clean up their defense and held Chestatee on offense. The Lady Rebels started to adjust to the pitching in the bottom of the third inning where they were able to put three runs on the board. Emily Waldrep, Kyla Seabolt, and Reagan Young each got two hits throughout the night and led Fannin in hits. Out of Young’s two hits, one was an inside the park home run where she also hit Seabolt in, adding onto Fannin’s score.

Fannin was on fire for the rest of the game where they held Chestatee at one for the rest of the game and added three more runs to their score. The Lady Rebels earned eight hits for the night while Chestatee had four. Both teams were even on defense where they each had two errors on the field. Amelia Sneed was on the mound for the Rebels where she struck out six batters over 6.2 innings.

Fannin’s 6-3 win over Chestatee put their overall record at 9-11 while their region record stayed the same at 3-6.