Andrews – With the N.C. High School Athletic Association splitting up the state into East and West regions, long playoff trips for 1A teams are common. Usually the playoff draw happens a few days before the first round, which can give teams making long trips time to prepare.
That wasn’t the case for Andrews softball this year. The softball playoff draw was released on May 9, with the first round scheduled for the next day. The Lady Wildcats were 33rd in the 1A West RPI rankings, meaning they would be the first team out of the playoffs if teams 1-32 opted into the postseason.
But Mitchell, who was projected to be the No. 29 seed, opted not to play. That meant Andrews slotted into the No. 32 seed, and with it a 261-mile bus ride to No. 1 seed and defending 1A West Regional champion South Stanly. The team found out for sure it was in the playoffs at 1 p.m. May 9 and was on a bus headed to Norwood 20 hours later.
“Administration worked very hard,” head coach Matt Mealer said. “Which includes the athletic director, the principal, the bus personnel, the workers from the cafeteria packed us lunch bags. Everyone was very accommodating, very, very helpful; it couldn’t have went better, really.”
The Lady Wildcats stopped twice along the way to South Stanly; once at the Waynesville rest area, and again in Hickory for lunch. Then it was on to Norwood to face one of the top teams in 1A this season.
The Rowdy Rebel Bulls (22-3 overall) lived up to their billing, dispatching Andrews (3-17) 15-0 in five innings.
Mealer said he didn’t do the best job preparing his team for the game, but that was always going to be a challenge given the level of competition and having less than 24 hours to prepare. Still, he was glad that this year’s team – especially the seniors – had one more game together.
“It was just a blessing to get one more game for these girls,” he said. “A trip where they get to spend the whole day together; everybody had a really good attitude.”
It was another trying year for Andrews softball, but the Lady Wildcats did have two key breakthroughs. They won their first Smoky Mountain Conference game since 2018 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Next, Mealer wants to grow from that point to where his team expects to be in every game rather than just hoping to be competitive.
“We just need to have the attitude that us beating them is not an upset, us losing to them is an upset,” he said. “And I think when we get to that point. I think we’ll be good.”