Alexis Collis O’Neal

As the 2008 softball season rolled around, the Fannin High Lady Rebels were in the throes of a 20 game losing streak. There was cause for optimism, however, since the 2008 team was loaded with a lot of young talent. The 13 player roster included 6 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 2 juniors and only one senior. Most significantly, one of the freshmen was Alexis Collis. Alexis is the daughter of 2016 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame inductee Alan Collis. Her two younger brothers, Taylor and Carson, were both state champions in wrestling in 2023, so athletic DNA runs deep in the Collis household. The 2008 team put an end to the losing streak on the way to winning seven games, matching the 2005 total. The young ladies on the 2008 roster, along with a strong group of players moving up from the junior varsity squad, formed a strong nucleus that led to a four-year period of success in the softball program. The 2009 team won fifteen games while losing eight in the first winning record in Fannin High history. In 2010, the ladies posted a 15-12 record and advanced to the state tournament for the first time in school history. In her senior season of 2011, Alexis Collis and her teammates recorded a mark of 24-14 and a 5th place finish in state competition. On the offensive side of the ball, Alexis put up some highlight reel type numbers. For her career, she hit for an average of .373 with 103 hits, 31 stolen bases, 55 RBIs, 69 runs scored, 27 doubles and 5 home runs. In her senior season of 2011, she played first base and hit .410 in 38 games with 22 RBIs, 10 doubles and three home runs. She scored 27 runs, walked 13 times, had an on-base percentage of .496, a slugging average of .610 and had four stolen bases. Alexis was selected as All-Region 8AA second team in 2010 and first team All-Region in 2011. She was a first team Class AA All-State selection in 2011. She was chosen to play in the Georgia Dugout Club All-Star game in Columbus in 2011. While there, she won the outfield skills competition and batted .666. She won her team Offensive Award in 2008, 2009 and 2011. In addition to her playing career with the Fannin High Lady Rebels, Alexis played with the Atlanta Vipers amateur team from 2009 through 2012. The Vipers won the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) State Championship in 2009 and placed 5th at the ASA National Tournament in 2009 and 2010. Alexis received a scholarship offer to play at Kennesaw State but the offer occurred prior to a knee injury that Alexis had suffered in pre-season basketball practice before her junior season. The injury required surgery, ending her basketball career. Her excellence in the game of softball continued, however, and the school kept the offer on the table. Alexis signed on the dotted line to play college softball at Kennesaw, and she played there for two seasons appearing in 48 games at first base and in the outfield in 2013 and 2014. As a freshman she hit for an average of .255 in 25 games played. After two years at Kennesaw State, Alexis decided that a change was in order. She received a scholarship offer from NCAA Division II powerhouse, the University of North Georgia Nighthawks. Alexis settled in at North Georgia and competed there for two seasons. She played in the outfield in 2015 and 2016, appearing in 49 games as a junior and 62 games as a senior. She had a batting average of .258 for two years with eight doubles and 33 RBIs. Her fielding average for two years was .951. The high point of the softball career of Alexis Collis came in 2015 when her North Georgia team won the NCAA Division II National Championship. Both Alexis and fellow 2025 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame inductee Candace German were members of that great team. The 2015 team was inducted into the University of North Georgia Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020. Alexis graduated from North Georgia in 2017 and married Noah O’Neal in November, 2018. They have two children, Norah age three and Emmett age 1. Alexis works as an environmental scientist. The Collis and O’Neal families are closely involved in the community life of Fannin County. Noah teaches Language Arts at Fannin County High School and his father, Eddie O’Neal, has been the Director of the Fannin County Recreation Department since 2012. Eddie may also be heard on the broadcasts of Fannin County football games in the fall. Alan Collis is currently an assistant principal at Fannin High and Heather Collis, mother to Alexis, Taylor and Carson, is the Director of Curriculum and Instruction with the Fannin County School System.