The youth movement for Islands High School’s softball team extends from a roster without seniors to a first-time head coach in 28-year-old Aliyah Speight.
The early returns this season have been positive.
The Sharks opened 6-1, outscoring opponents 74-19.
Islands sophomore Elise Anthony delivers a pitch against St. Vincent’s earlier this season. Anthony is one of four sophomores on the Sharks’ roster, which has no seniors. (Photo by Magnolia Manor Creations)
Islands won five games last season, after a 6-17 campaign in 2024 and a 4-16 campaign in 2023.
The 2022 squad, which had a strong senior class, went 21-10 and reached the GHSA state tournament semifinals for the first time in program history.
The 2026 Sharks (now 6-4, 0-3 in Region 3-3A) don’t face that lofty outlook. They’re just getting started, as is their coach.
Islands head softball coach Aliyah Speight leads a roster without seniors in her first season at the helm.(Photo by Magnolia Manor Creations)
“They didn’t have too many expectations,” said Speight, who was hired by the school last spring. “They put a lot of confidence in me. That helped me out, too, thinking they knew I could do a little bit something here.
“What I did was take the experiences I had in high school and college,” she continued. “I’m trying to bring it over here to the girls. I know a good bit of them want to play in college, so I kind of can gear them toward that way and help them understand how it’s going to go in college.”
Speight grew up in Savannah playing recreational softball, then was an infielder at Jenkins High School (Class of 2016) and played at Fort Valley State University.
She transferred to Savannah State (Class of 2022) and, while a student, made the commute to Islands High to work as a paraprofessional teacher from 2020-22, including one season as an assistant softball coach with her background in the sport.
That season helped signal to Speight, who earned her degree in sociology, that she wanted to coach. She worked as a physical education teacher for about three years at Juliette Gordon Low Elementary before pursuing the opening at Islands as a P.E. teacher and head softball coach.
“It’s a little different from what I’m used to, but honestly, I love it,” she said. “I connected with my littles a lot. Coming here, knowing I’m helping the older kids get to where they want to be is rewarding.”
Speight admits to being nervous at the start as head coach, but that went away as she got to know the team.
“I didn’t know much. I was a little blind coming in, which is fine with me because I like to work with whatever I have, anyway, because I can kind of shape them how I want to shape them,” Speight said. “I knew the team was young. That was something in my head, like, ‘OK, they’re young, so it might be a little different.’ But I was very excited coming in and working with the girls. The first day of practice, the girls already knew what they had to do and they got right on it. It made the transition a little easier.”
Players took initiative and followed instruction, with two players standing out as leaders and being named team co-captains: junior center fielder Avery Ramsey and sophomore first baseman Kaylee Mosley.
The team has two juniors, four sophomores and seven freshmen. Ramsey, in her third season on the varsity, said the Sharks graduated starters at catcher, second base, shortstop and third base from the 2025 squad.
Islands juniors Skyler Fuller, left, and Avery Ramsey help lead a young Sharks softball team that has no seniors. Fuller and Ramsey are the only juniors on the roster. (Photo by Magnolia Manor Creations)
“When we got new players, they weren’t as experienced,” Ramsey said. “We don’t get a lot of travel ball girls, and travel ball girls are a really big thing. We have a lot of travel ball girls now. With the coach, the coaching just made it a healthier environment with everyone.
“I feel like everybody’s friends, we all get along,” she added. “I’d rather have a healthy (environment) team than a good team, in my opinion.”
Not so much of a generation gap
Asked if the relative closeness in age between the head coach and the players helps communication, Ramsey, 16, said Speight is easy to talk to and understands what the teens are saying more than some parents might be.
She credited Speight for being “like a big change in the environment,” as well as assistant coach Terry Hines.
“I feel like they work great together,” Ramsey said. “They help out the team a lot.”
Speight, likewise, spoke of Hines’ positive impact as a veteran coach who is also at the helm of the Islands boys basketball team.
“He is great. I’ve learned a lot from him,” Speight said. “Honestly, I am thankful because coaching-wise, I don’t know where I would be learning – I’d have to start from ground zero. He gives me pointers on everything.”
Islands athletic director Jacob Inness said Speight has established a strong culture.
“The girls are really getting along well,” Inness said as the team began its September schedule. “They’re taking to the culture well. I think that positive team culture she’s built is translating in the win-loss column so far. They’re young. She’s got a really young team just getting into buying into the right things. She’s been a great fit for us at Islands so far.”
Speight remembers things her father has told her in trying to turn around a program with a recent history of losing seasons. Her father is Milton Speight, who has played and coached a variety of sports and is the Savannah-Chatham Public Schools System’s District Assistant Athletics Director.
“Play every game like it’s our last. That’s something that my dad instilled in me when I was in high school freshman year,” she said. “Just play each game like it’s your last, no matter what is happening in the game. Keep our heads up high. After the result of the game, move on to the next game. Don’t worry about what happened in the past. You can’t change it.”
As for the future, Ramsey believes the Sharks can make a run to the state playoffs.
“The goal is obviously to try to win state,” she said. “Realistically, I just want to play.”
Islands freshman catcher Channing Mathews prepares to throw. Mathews is one of seven freshmen on the Sharks’ roster this season. (Photo by Magnolia Manor Creations)
Growth by a program without seniors could set up for an even better 2027.
“We should be getting a lot more girls next year,” Ramsey said. “I feel like, for my last year, we’re going to be pretty good.”
Photos courtesy of Magnolia Manor Creations.
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