Tift County’s Ragen Lasseter throws out a runner during a 2016 game.

TIFTON — Tift County’s Lady Devils softball team and head coach Kyle Kirk are taking the 2017 season “one pitch at a time.”

The Lady Devils are looking to bounce back from a six-win season in 2016 and make their way back into the state playoffs. That’s a doable achievement, Kirk said.

“It’s a very reachable goal,” he said.

Tift missed out on the playoffs a year ago, despite some close calls in Region 1-AAAAAAA games.

This is a new season, however, and Kirk thinks they can contend in the region race.

The summer schedule was a good start.

Last year, Kirk said, the Lady Devils won a single game during the summer.

This season?

“We were 2-2-1 at Georgia Southern,” he said, adding “We won three of four at Moultrie.”

Even sports that aren’t softball have gone well. Despite only having five players available, the softball crew won a volleyball tournament last week against Tift’s cheerleading squads.

Helping the squad out is a more seasoned lineup. Four players graduated from last year’s squad, but “most everybody’s a returner” this season.

Among these are Ce Ce Garcia, Ragen Lasseter, Joslyn Reyes, Hannah Hartsfield, Nia Hood, Tehya Hood, Alaina Stephens, Alayna Davis, Abi Sumner and Emily Henderson.

Most athletes can play multiple positions. Their versatility means that Kirk will have even more arms than usual available to pitch. Sumner has the most experience in the circle, but he will also use Henderson, Lasseter, Reyes and he also has a few freshmen, including Maddie Grace Kirk.

The season gets started Thursday with the usual scrimmage against Worth County. This year, the game will be in Sylvester at 5:30 p.m. The regular season has Tift on the road for a Monday contest at 5 p.m. against Coffee and another Aug. 10 at Ware County for a doubleheader that starts at 4 p.m.

The Lady Devils will play their home opener Aug. 14 against Worth County at 6:30 p.m. The next day, they have a home game against Veterans at 6 p.m.

Veterans is the first of several games against teams not from the immediate area.

“We’re going to do some traveling,” said Kirk.

The Watermelon Invitational at Cordele (Aug. 18-19) usually pits them against a variety of opponents. They have a road doubleheader against Islands High of Savannah later in the month, then Sept. 1 play two games in Madison. The first will be against Putnam County and the second will be against their hosts, Morgan County.

Tift will return the favor of early season home games by traveling to Early County and Veterans during September.

Region play starts Sept. 15 at home versus Lowndes.

The Lady Devils are in a four-team region. Three teams qualify for state, meaning that they have to beat out only one team to make state. They could also qualify in the power ratings, though those usually favor north Georgia schools because of strength of schedule.

All regular season region games will be doubleheaders. Tift hosts Camden Sept. 21 before heading to Colquitt a week later.

Lowndes should be one of the top teams in the region, Kirk said.

Most of Tift’s non-doubleheader games will start later this year, most starting at 6 p.m. Kirk said the change in time was to accommodate fans and to also beat some of the summer heat.