Mt. Paran softball coach Russ Russell said his team fought through every injury he can think of, but the 2007 season was an indication that that his softball program is moving forward.

After playing a non-region schedule in 2005 when Mt. Paran went 10-2, the Lady Eagles advanced to the Class A state sectionals for the second straight year. They finished the season with a 13-10 overall record, which tied for the school record in wins, after having 13 wins a year ago.

Russell said the Lady Eagles exceeded last season's expectations in several ways. Their team batting average was 39 points higher this year - in seven fewer games. There was more depth this season with three freshmen - Erin Sparks, Micah Thurmond and Sarah Fair - playing pivotal roles.

Last season, Mt. Paran started out 3-11, but won 10 of their last 14 games to help them qualify for sectionals. This season, the Lady Eagles started out 9-2 and then an array of injuries and illnesses started to occur and forced them to a 4-8 mark the rest of the way.

Despite the setbacks, Mt. Paran was still the No. 3 seed in the Region 5A tournament, and wins over St. Francis and Whitefield Academy were good enough to earn a berth to sectionals as the No. 4.

"We've been grateful to have them healthy and happy when we could," Russell said. "We were able to play well enough to make it back to state. We beat everyone else (in region play) but Eagle's Landing Christian and Providence. Our goal was to finish third (in region play) and no worse than fourth (in the tournament)."

One of Mt. Paran's goals for next season may be to go further once it gets to sectionals. The Lady Eagles went 0-2, falling to Georgia Military College (5-1) and Hebron (12-2) to end their season.

But what also helped Mt. Paran was having five experienced seniors in Natalie Clinkscales, Sarah Hinton, Heather Edell, Leah Boyd and Amelia Williams.

Clinkscales was Mt. Paran's leading hitter with a .458 average and 33 runs batted in. Hinton held it together as the Lady Eagles' No. 1 pitcher, even though she was battling a shoulder injury. Edell successfully made the transition to third base from center field. Williams made improvements offensively, and Boyd continued to be one of the team's stronger hitters.

The Lady Eagles will be a younger team next year, but goals will likely stay the same. Not having any sophomores this year means they won't have a junior class unless someone moves in. But they plan to return junior Marlee Cox, who finished the year with a .348 average.

"We're going to be young next year," Russell said. "We hope we can maintain what's we're doing, build a softball tradition and get to the level of the baseball guys."

acarrington@mdjonline.com

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