Three Lady Falcons sign with Columbia College

DARLINGTON – The emotions are still running high in Darlington after the Lady Falcons’ varsity softball team brought home the school’s first-ever state championship with their 3-1 win over J.L. Mann on Thursday, May 15.

Another event brought parents and players together again on Friday, May 16.

Stacy Weatherford, Taylor Wiley and Courtney Kickery signed their agreements to play for the newly formed softball team at Columbia College.

The Lady Koalas will begin their inaugural season in 2009 in club play and will elevate to intercollegiate play in the 2009-10 season.

“I can’t wait for us to have games,” Columbia College head softball coach James Morrison said at the signing. “I know they’ve enjoyed [the players] have enjoyed their time here, and now they get to take the next step.”

Wiley, Weatherford and Kickery have been playing together since they were eight years old. “It’s just a bond that’s there,” Weatherford said. “We’re close.”
The trio said they would miss the rest of the team since most of them have been playing together for most of their lives. They have also been playing under their coaches and fathers.

Tears ran down all threes faces as they pondered the prospect of playing softball without the coaches that have always been in the dugouts with them.

The girls and their parents reminisced the careers the girls had with tears in their eyes. “This has become like one big family,” said Lisa Wiley, Taylor’s mother and wife to head coach Tim Wiley.

“They are all like my children,” Tim Wiley said. “You can teach any kids how to play, but you can’t put what [these girls] have in them. They have heart. They never quit. That’s why it is a special group because they are like sisters, and they feed off of each other.I’m just proud I’m a part of it.”

The girls referred to the state championship as bittersweet because it was their last game. “It was a good graduation present,” Kickery said of the final game. They also said the gravity of the first-ever Darlington High state championship took a day to fully set in. “I woke up the next morning and thought ‘We won a state championship,’” Wiley said.

“Maybe more people will start looking at the girls’ sports and start supporting them, instead of the traditional sports,” Weatherford said when asked about the legacy of which they were now a part.”

“I think it will give more publicity for the program,” Kickery said.

The girls listed meeting new people and possibly winning another championship with their play at Columbia College.

Kickery said she had a special reason for choosing the newly formed team at Columbia College, aside from being with her lifelong friends. “We can be the first players on the team.”

“We’ll make history their, too,” Weatherford said.

Darlington High School athletics director Rick Drawdy beamed with pride over the championship team. “To win a state championship it takes a lot of things. It takes a lot of heart, and they have it. It’s a great thing to win the big dance. I’m proud of these players and coaches. I’m proud of all of them.”

The Lady Falcons finished the season with a record of 32-4 on the season and will be remembered as the team to bring a state championship to Darlington High School.