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Bulldogs lose just one key senior from 2024 squad, but Edwards was a good one
Monday, June 3, 2024
South Pemiscot High School senior pitcher Abigail Edwards throws against Holcomb in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 tournament last month at Holcomb High School.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
When the 2024 spring softball season came to an end for South Pemiscot last month in the championship game of the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 tournament, there was only one Bulldog senior on the field, as eventual Class 1 third-place finisher Holcomb stunned the Bulldogs with a rallying 10-9 win.
The fact that the Bulldogs had their most successful season (13 wins) in, maybe ever, AND were only utilizing one senior to close the season, really bodes well for the future of the program.
“I told the other girls,” third-year South Pemiscot coach Lance Crawford said following the loss, “that we are going to miss (senior Abigail Edwards), but we’re going to be back here next year.”
Without question, the future is bright for South Pemiscot, but that doesn’t diminish the positive impact that Edwards left on the program.
“She has been great,” Crawford said of Edwards. “She keeps us in games.”
That has been a challenge for Edwards throughout her four seasons as the main thrower for the struggling Bulldogs.
As South Pemiscot evolved from a pair of three-win seasons in 2021 and 2022, before soaring to 24 wins over the past two springs, it was Edwards who often bore the brunt of the young program and its inexperienced players earlier in her career.
“As our defense has gotten better,” Crawford explained, “it made her better. She has pitched since she was a freshman, and she has pitched in a lot of 15-run losses.”
That was still the case early this spring, but not so much late.
Of the Bulldogs’ final six losses, three were by three runs or fewer.
“Here in the last few weeks,” Crawford said at the time of the District loss, “it’s really just kind of came together.”
Crawford purposefully limited his schedule in Edwards’ earlier years, because the program wasn’t in a position to compete with a lot of other teams. That hindered Edwards’ ability to rack up statistics.
She finished her career with 370 strikeouts.
“Had she had a real schedule,” Crawford said, “she would have been over 400. So, she has done a great job.”
What is even more impressive is the fact that Edwards achieved the success that she has, with really just one pitch.
“She has never been good with a changeup,” Crawford explained, “so she does all of this by just throwing fastballs and locating them.”
Crawford would often have junior catcher Ayleighonna Farmer position herself just off of the plate for a target for Edwards to hit, and thus, try to entice hitters to swing at pitches just outside of the strike zone.
“We try to get them to swing at balls,” Crawford explained.
In her final outing against the ultra-talented Hornets, who eventually won 26 games, Edwards worked 6 1/3 innings on the mound and gave up 11 hits and struck out one.
Offensively, she connected for one hit against Holcomb and also drove in a run.
Edwards joined classmates Sonia Blagg and Savannah Dixon as the three seniors who graduated from the Bulldog program this season.