He coached Northside to 3 state titles. Now, his Harris Co. team plays them in semifinal
Editor’s note: Harris County beat Northside 9-0 Friday to advance to the final round. Northside dropped to the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will play Eastside-Covington at 11 a.m. Saturday. The winner will play Harris County at 1 p.m. Saturday. Harris County would win the championship with a victory. If Harris County loses, a deciding game would be played at 3 p.m. Saturday. All of these games will be on Field 5 at South Commons in Columbus.
These two Columbus area high schools are rivals in every sport they play — especially in softball on the state level, where the Northside Patriots and Harris County Tigers have been perennial powerhouse programs.
But no game between them has had such compelling storylines as the one scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m.
That’s when they will play their Georgia High School Association Class AAAA semifinal at RG Jones Field, the South Commons stadium in Columbus.
Making this matchup more intriguing, Harris County head softball coach Brandon Jenkins led Northside to three state championships, including each of the past two seasons and defeating Harris County in the semifinals both times.
And his successor at Northside, Sydney Karastury (maiden name Sprague), is a former Columbus High star who set the program’s career home run record before she graduated in 2013. Jenkins hired her as an assistant coach at Northside in 2020.
“It’s unbelievable, kind of a surreal moment,” Jenkins told the Ledger-Enquirer. “It’s two great teams.”
Jenkins, who has lived in Harris County since 2010, left the Patriots for the Tigers so he could coach where his children attend school — just like his late father, Murphy, did when he attended Columbus High.
Still, departing Northside and the program he built over 11 seasons was “pretty difficult,” Jenkins said.
“Those seniors, I coached them for four years,” he said. “Their parents, I hung out with them as family friends.”
Karastury is savoring this moment. As much as the players and coaches may feel pressure to prevail, she noted, the game can be viewed as a celebration of softball excellence in the Columbus area.
“It’s crazy that our schools are only (17) miles apart or whatever and we’re two of the best teams in the entire state,” Karastury told the Ledger-Enquirer. “So it’s pretty remarkable, just for this area to have this amount of talent.”
Northside senior pitcher Abby Lovell, who will play on scholarship for Troy University, told the Ledger-Enquirer she will focus on what she can control during the game, but she admits the close connections between the two teams enhance the atmosphere.
“Being together in the state tournament that’s in our hometown,” she said, “that is just like awesome for us to make it to this point.”
Harris County junior pitcher Riley Huckaby welcomes the opportunity.
“We’ve always been big rivals, but Coach Jenkins coming to us has really just added to that and made it really a lot stronger,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “But a bunch of our girls are really close with the Northside girls because we grew up playing softball together, so we all know each other, and it’s really fun being able to compete against them.”
Northside (32-2) and Harris County (32-3) are undefeated in this double-elimination state tournament’s eight-team Class AAAA bracket.
The Patriots beat St. Pius 10-2 Wednesday and Kell 6-3 Thursday. The Tigers beat Ola 3-2 Wednesday and Eastside-Covington 7-4 Thursday.
The winner of Northside-Harris County semifinal advances to the championship round Saturday at 1 p.m. The loser plays Saturday at 11 a.m. — and, if victorious, would have a rematch with their local rival.
Northside and Harris County split their two meetings this season. The Tigers won 7-6 at home Aug. 15, then the Patriots won 5-1 at home Sept. 19.
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 7:29 PM.
