The Athens High School softball team is on a roll, in the middle of a historic season that has them touting a record of 23 wins and four losses.

Given that two of their losses have come back-to-back in their most recent games – versus Buckhorn, a top 6A program, and Bob Jones, a top 7A program – it highlights the success that the Lady Golden Eagles have had between the lines this season.

They have premier pitching, multiple players lighting up the bats, stable leadership from players and a coach that understands the expectations of one of the top 6A softball programs in the state.

Head coach Travis Barnes has been with Athens before, taking over in 2014 for three seasons. After a brief stint elsewhere, Barnes rejoined the coaching staff during last season, before taking over as the head coach once again.

Because of this, Barnes has rapport with many who are familiar with the Athens softball program. Additionally, he has plans to go all the way to the state title.

This is made possible largely due to the leadership seen on the team, which comprises of eight seniors on the roster, something that is rare in high school softball.

“We have eight seniors on the team, so we have a lot of leadership,” Barnes said. “You don’t see many teams with eight seniors. I knew what the expectations were here.”

Every coach has a motto or slogan they use to motivate their team to loftier goals. For the Athens softball team and Barnes, they abide by three letters: SCR.

SCR stands for a “state championship rep,” which means, in other words, that the Lady Golden Eagles want to take advantage of every ground ball hit to them in practice, every swing of the bat they take in the cages and every workout they do in the offseason. No days off and no plays off.

“Every rep we take, we want it to be a state championship rep. That is our goal,” Barnes said.

They are led at the plate by Morgan Stiles, who has a batting average of .527 and also is touting 11 home runs. She has been a regular on varsity since she was in 7th grade, and last season hit 17 home runs as a freshman.

Also hitting well at the plate, and being an even better leader behind it, is catcher Anna Carder. She is hitting .414 on the season with eight home runs, but also serving as an anchor behind home plate.

“She is all-around what you think of when you think of a leader” Barnes said. “You know what you’re going to get with her.”

They also have a pitching duo on the mound that features twins Katie Simon and Emily Simon. While both have not been healthy all season, Barnes is hopeful to get them both healthy come tournament time.

Moving forward, Barnes says he wants his team to learn from their recent losses and continue building on their positive momentum from their highly competitive schedule.

“Being 23 and 4 with our schedule is something,” he said.