CAIRO — A summer filled with teaching moments for the young Cairo Syrupmaids softball team has head coach Randy Adams excited heading into fall practices, which begin Aug. 1.

“We’ve tried to make it as game-like as possible before we throw them into the fire. They’ve learned a lot, and it shows,” Adams said.

Instead of playing an exorbitant amount of games this summer, the focus has been on intra-squad and team practices, especially during June.

“A lot of that was really trying to teach them the way we want them to do things,” Adams said. “We spent that whole month of June teaching them how we want them to compete and at least trying to get their mechanics in a better state. They’ve really worked hard. We’re young, but I like the group. We’re actually a lot more athletic than we’ve been the past couple of years.”

Cairo is talented but is limited in game experience amongst the returning players. The key returnees include senior pitcher/infielder Turner Maybree Baggett, senior infielder McKenna Knight, senior infielder Macy Ellis, sophomore pitcher Megan Meadows and junior first baseman/outfielder Navayah Johnson.

Adams is especially high on his incoming freshman class. This summer was especially valuable for them.

“I love our ninth grade group, I think we’ve got some girls that are going to be pretty good,” Adams said. “But that group of youngsters and even some of our JV girls last year, some of them still have that rec ball mindset where a ground ball is hit to me, I’m going to get in front of it, field it and throw her out at first. They don’t worry about where their feet are moving to; what side of their body they’re fielding it on, stuff like that. 

“The first couple of weeks of summer practice, we really hammered them on that. Since then it’s just been all situations. When you play teams like Thomas County Central or we’ll play Lanier or Cook, some of them have girls that are pretty athletic. If your feet aren’t moving toward the bag when you field the ball, they’re going to be safe.”

Defense will be especially key this year. The Syrupmaids don’t figure to have the same firepower at the plate as they have had in recent years. Adams has insisted his players be aggressive, almost stupid, at the plate.

“You can not take a pitch off,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to take an extra base anytime you can. You’ve got to get bunts down. If we hit and run, you’ve got to get the ball on the ground. We’ve got to be able to execute.”