Lady Bulldogs looking for bounce back year

Published 3:56 pm Thursday, July 31, 2025

THOMASVILLE– It’s a new day for the Thomasville Lady Bulldogs softball as they prepare for the 2025 season. 

Under first year head coach Colby Melton, the Lady Bulldogs have high hopes for a lot of success this season. 

“I have high expectations for the girls anyway. They’ve been working hard all offseason.” Melton said, “They just give max effort every single day, whether it’s practice games or whatever we’re doing. We’ve got a pretty strong squad this year.” 

Two of the top returners for Thomasville are seniors Cece Meyers and Khiler Oehlhof.  

Oehlhof is coming off a stellar year in the circle, posting a 2.48 ERA and a school record 100 strikeouts; the Lady Bulldog ace will look repeat the same success in 2025. 

At the plate, Meyers brings power to the lineup after leading the team with 29 RBI last year, in addition to five homers, as she counts on being a solid contributor to Thomasville this season.   

“A lot of the young girls that we have this year, since we are so young, look up to both of them,” Melton said. “I’m super, super glad that we’ve got them back this year and they can help lead the team to hopefully a good season and a lot of success.” 

This Lady Bulldogs team is fielding a lot of young talent this season as well. With Coach Melton expecting to see contributions from freshmen Ava Simpson and Audrina and Gisele Hance.  

“She is a pitcher, and she plays a little bit of first base for us.” Melton said about Simpson, “She’s 100 percent going to be very involved in the circle this year, coming down the stretch for region games and into playoffs.   

Talking about the Hance sisters, Melton said, “Audrina is going to do a majority of our catching this year. She is a die-hard go-getter. She’s not going to let anybody outdo her.  She also has a lot of pop, which is going to be good for our lineup.” 

“Giselle is a utility player. She can run the outfield, and she can come play in the infield. And I have no issues putting her in any spot. And even in the lineup, she’s a situational hitter and gets the job done.” 

Finally, the schedule looks to be favorable in the early half for Thomasville.

However, as the season goes on, it will get tougher with games against Brantley County, Bacon County and Jeff Davis who all finished top three in the region last year.  

In addition to facing two playoff teams last year in LaGrange High School and Northside Columbus at the LaGrange tournament.  

But, Melton is looking at using the early half of the season to hammer down the lineup.

“We got Bainbridge, Seminole, and Cook. So these first couple non-region games, it’s kind of touch and polish and figure out how our lineup’s going to work out.”

Tough schedule aside, Melton is confident with the team he has going into the season. 

“So, we don’t have an easy schedule this year and with the seniors we have returning and a lot of young talent coming in, they get thrown in the fire pretty quick,” Melton said. “But, I’m super excited because these girls don’t know when to quit. They don’t have quit in them. 

The Bulldogs open their season at home against Bainbridge on Friday, August 1st at 5:30pm.