Lexi Patterson, senior at Brooks County High School, recently finished her high school softball career. Born and raised in Brooks County, Patterson has started for the Lady Trojans since her freshman year of high school. But, her softball story is not over yet as she committed to play outfield at Valdosta State University (VSU) in Valdosta, Georgia.
“I worked with the [VSU] coach and did lessons with him before, and I wanted to stay local and stay where my community could come watch me and my family could come watch me,” said Patterson.
Mike Patterson’s father was her inspiration to get started in softball from a very young age. He coached all of her travel teams and they were able to form a special bond through softball. She found much success in travel softball throughout the years, moving from smaller, local teams to major travel teams.
“Ever since I was young, he has always been my travel coach,” said Patterson. “It really, really helped and developed who I was as a player.”
Being from such a small, rural town helped the bond between the softball players be strong. The majority of the graduating class played recreational, travel and school softball together for years.
“It helped us team-work wise, we learned how to play with each other and it helped us unify a lot,” said Patterson.
Patterson was awarded Second Team All-Region her freshman year and has been awarded First Team All-Region every year since. Not only is Patterson successful athletically, but academically as well. She was named the STAR Student – the senior with the highest SAT score – of the Brooks County senior class and has won academic awards for the Lady Trojan softball team multiple times.
As a team, the Lady Trojans went 9-14 overall with a 7-7 region record this past season. Patterson played any position needed to help the team get a win, but she was primarily a pitcher and center fielder for Brooks County.
Brooks County made it into the 2021 GHSA Class A Public State Fast Pitch Playoffs as the No.4 seed out of region two. However, they ended up losing the first round to Telfair County by a score of 16-0 and 8-0.
She finished her senior season with a .421 batting average and a 5.18 ERA while striking out 68 batters in 47.1 innings pitched. For her entire Brooks career, she had 112 hits, 63 RBIs, six home runs and struck out 230 batters.
Though she is still unsure, Patterson is leaning towards pursuing a nursing degree from VSU. The Blazers season will officially begin on Feb. 4, 2022 against Rollins College in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Lexi Patterson will join the Blazer softball team during their 2023 season.
Written by: Kennedie Weems
