It’s the bottom of the first inning against Southwest Georgia Academy and Lady Cat lead-off hitter Mabry-Grace Briggs digs into the batter’s box and waits for the pitch, when the dugout suddenly erupts in a cheer.

Sophomore shortstop Desirae Beachem bangs out a beat on the lid of the water cooler and the rest of the chants along to the beat.

“Mabry. Mabry-Grace. Mabry, Mabry, Mabry, Mabry, Mabry-Grace. Mabry-Grace. Grace. Grace-Mabry. Grace, Grace, Grace-Mabry, Grace-Mabry.”

For each batter the team has a unique chant featuring her name or jersey number.

“We basically base the chants on our names and whatever rhymes with our name or number,” Beachem said.

The tradition started last season when Beachem and fellow sophomore Makayla Hamilton joined the team.

“Me and Makayla played softball together for a long time,” Beachem said. “The more that we played the more that we heard chants from other teams and we just added our teammates names to them.”

The upbeat atmosphere and the loud chants help keep the Lady Cats in the game and having fun throughout. Even when they fall behind they know they can lean on the energy created by the cheers to give them a boost.

“I think its very important because when you start losing everybody starts getting down, and you want to make everybody get back up,” Beachem said. “It motivates our teammates to stay up and even if we are losing. Most likely when we cheer we all get pumped up and try to find a way to come and win.”

For head coach Chris Bryant, he finds value in the impact the chants have on his team and also the opponent.

“The upbeat nature of the chants keeps the whole team motivated and in the game,” Bryant said. “It can also disrupt the other team’s concentration.”

Hamilton and Beachem are the Lady Cat’s unofficial cheerleaders. They came up with the chants and the beat and Beachem drums along on the water cooler during the games.

“I’m a [Bearcat] cheerleader, so I know a lot of cheers,” Hamilton said. “I took some of the cheers that I use for basketball season and put them into softball. It just keeps the team up and they just like to cheer.”