For three years Skylar Lee labored in the shadow of Hayden Joiner and Bekah Johnson who are two of the best softball players to ever suit up for Bryan County High School.
The two were talented and leaders which no one disputes but they’ve moved on. Joyner is now at Georgia Highlands College and Johnson is at Troy University.
It’s a new look Redskins team and the cover girl is Lee who established her bonafides as a player and leader to be watched going back to her freshman season. Lee patiently bided her time while earning all-region honors not only as a catcher in softball but also in soccer where she was the goalie on the first Bryan County state playoff team since 2016.
It’s not as if the hard-hitting senior, who will play third base this season when not catching, has gone unnoticed.
Coach Jason Roundtree and his staff along with Redskins fans have been aware all of along of Lee’s value to the team. So have the coaches at Georgia College and State University where Lee has already signed to play. Taking on the leadership role for a team looking to defend its Region 3A-D1 championship after graduating six senior starters is one which Lee is not shying away from.
“It feels good,” Lee said of having the leadership role placed on her shoulders. “It makes me feel a little special. I feel like the younger girls are looking at me and I can’t mess up.
“We have a lot of young players but I think we’re going to have a really good team this year.”
If the first game of the season against Wheeler County is any indication Lee is going to be fine.
Lee drove in four runs, three of them coming on a three-run homer to center in the sixth inning that broke a close game wide open. The Redskins led 4-3 but scored five times in what proved to be a 9-5 win.
Sophomore shortstop Liz Harvey, another player Roundtree is counting on to have a big season, had a home run and drove in two runs as did senior second baseman Alex Robertson who had a two-run double in a three-run third inning.
Roundtree started promising freshman pitcher Emily Johnson – she’s the younger sister of Bekah – and the pressure of her first varsity start and no doubt having to live up to expectations based on Bekah’s play, no doubt contributed to a rough start.
Johnson did not get out of the first inning as she got one out while giving up two runs after walking two batter and allowing one hit. Sophomore Eris Deal came on and went the rest of the way to pick up the win.
“Our pitching is going to be good,” Lee said. “Emily is pretty fast…she’s a power pitcher. Eris and Abigail (Lee) are slower but they’re very accurate.”
Lee is looking forward, she said, to her final season. She’s played on teams that have won two region championships, gone to the Final Four and Elite Eight.
“I think we have a good chance of repeating (as region champions),” Lee said. “I had a good summer, too, lots of travel ball.
“It’s a big relief to have already signed,” Lee said. “It makes the game more fun because I don’t have to worry about getting offered and committed. You just have to worry about playing.”
Georgia College is a DII program and plays in the Peach Belt Conference where it is perennially one of the upper division teams.
“It’s a good program,” Lee said, “and it’s really pretty up there (Milledgeville). Takes a lot of the stress off.”