VALDOSTA – The Lowndes High Vikettes had a tremendous season, ending up in the Elite Eight in Columbus for the third year in a row, and it showed when it came to All-Region honors, placing more players on the All-Region teams than any other school. Lowndes finished the season ranked 6th in the 7A classification with a 25-7 record. The Vikettes also set a single season team record for homeruns, knocking 40 out of the park this season, breaking the previous record of 34, set two years ago.

Coach Stewart Thomas was named the Region 1 Coach of the Year for the third year in a row, in a season that saw him achieve his 200th career win. Rylin Hedgecock was named Pitcher of the Year for the third year running, and Sophie Sumner and Madison May were named Co-Players of the Year.

Lowndes had five players to make First Team including Rylin Hedgecock, Sophie Sumner, Madison May, Jacie Johns and Tori Hedgecock. Vikettes making 2nd Team All-Region were Kayden Dickey and Lexi Metts. Joiner Merritt was named as a Honorable Mention.

Lowndes is losing a lot of leadership as Sophie Sumner, Rylin Hedgecock, Jacie Johns and Madison May are graduating and extending their playing careers at the next level. These seniors had a tremendous season and career. They finished with a 104-31 career record at Lowndes High and plenty of personal bests and team records.

Hedgecock finished with a .549 BA, 12 home runs and 43 RBI’s. She also got her 500th strikeout in her pitching career at Lowndes High on September 27th, while finishing the season with a 1.108 ERA. She is heading to the University of Arkansas to further her softball career. May finished the 2018 season with a .405 average, set a new single season homerun record at Lowndes with 14, and notched 41 RBI’s. She will be playing on Clemson University’s inaugural softball team. Johns ended the season with a .350 average, 17 RBI’s, 34 runs and a .946 fielding percentage and is still considering several offers to play college ball. Sumner finished the season with a .494 BA, 8 home runs and 27 RBI’s, as well as a perfect fielding percentage. She is signing with Mercer University.

Tori Hedgecock, as a sophomore, is verbally committed and will follow her sister to Arkansas.

The school and town is extremely proud of what these girls have a accomplished and can’t wait to see what they all do next year.