Their diminutive leader is a first-year head coach. They have not one, but two girls on their roster named Charlie. And despite having nothing in the way of a winning tradition in high school softball, they have no fear of programs that do.

Rhea County’s Lady Golden Eagles are not your average team. They’re way above that.

The District 5-AAA regular-season and tournament champions are 25-7-1 heading into the Region 3 tournament Monday. They’ll be hosting six-time state champion Soddy-Daisy (23-12) at 6 p.m. in one semifinal.

District 6 champion Ooltewah is hosting Bradley Central at 7 in the other.

Soddy-Daisy has won the last two state championships. The Lady Golden Eagles had never won a district title before this year.

Rhea County also earned another first this season. It had never beaten Soddy-Daisy until March 22, when a 1-0 victory in a game shortened by a time limit eliminated the Lady Trojans from their own tournament.

District co-most valuable player Katie Freels was the winning pitcher, which has been the case more than 20 times this season. Unfortunately, one of the biggest supporters for her and Jessi, her sister and teammate, died recently — grandfather Gene Dunn. The team made a trip to the funeral home together Thursday.

“Katie is one of the best pitchers I know,” third baseman Charlie Wooden said. “She puts 100 percent into every pitch, and she’s got us behind her. We beat Soddy-Daisy once. We’re out to show everybody that wasn’t a fluke.”

If anyone can back up those words it’s Wooden, the team’s cleanup batter and leading hitter. After missing about a quarter of the season, she’s back playing with the torn ankle ligaments she suffered in the opening game.

The Rhea first baseman is Charlie McCuistion. Her fifth-inning single was the difference in a 1-0 victory over Bradley Central in the district final.

Wooden said she’s named after her great-grandfather on her mother’s side of the family. She thinks McCuistion’s case is something similar.

“We’ve never played on the same team in summer ball until this summer, but we’ve always played together in middle school and high school,” Wooden said. “It’s always been the Charlies and first and third. She’s like my sister. Everybody calls her Chuck. That’s how they tell us apart.”

Coach Brittany Hayes was playing high school softball as recently as 2003. That Cumberland County team finished state runner-up — to Soddy-Daisy.

Wooden said playing for Hayes, who is about half her size, has been a great experience. Wooden particularly likes how the coach is able to lift the spirits of those who need it.

Hayes gives a great deal of credit to Rebecca Eldredge, from whom she inherited the coaching position. Eldredge played high school softball at Soddy-Daisy.

“She built a great program,” Hayes said. “All of these girls have been playing together a bunch of years. Finally they’re able to get together on their high school team.

“They’re a great group of kids. That helps out. They all love softball, and they’re very competitive.”

Second baseman Jenny Keener, an all-district selection along with Wooden, is also a post player on the basketball team, which didn’t win a game last season. She said that sport is viewed as nothing more than “recess play” by the new generation of Lady Golden Eagles.

They say the softball tradition starts now.

“I really think this is the most support any girls’ team has received at any given time in any sport at Rhea County,” Keener said. “The community has backed us 100 percent. We’ve put our hearts into each and every thing we’ve done, and we’ve come a long way. If we continue to put our hearts and souls into it, we can do anything.”

Monday’s Schedule

(All times Eastern)

Region 3-AAA semifinals

Soddy-Daisy at Rhea County, 6

Bradley Central at Ooltewah, 7

Region 3-AA semifinals

Chattanooga Christian at Sweetwater, 5

Meigs County at Hixson, 6:30

Region 3-A semifinals

Sale Creek at Grace Academy, 5

Silverdale Baptist at Whitwell, 7

All-District Teams

5-AAA

McMinn County — Britney Rogers, Tinasha Holland; Cumberland County — Rachel Rich, Lindsey Thompson; Bradley Central — Emily Hilliard, Heather Lynn, Leah Banks (co-MVP); Cleveland — Courtney DeLay, Morgan Shamblin, Payton Tipton; Walker Valley — Laurel Allen, Ashley Bryson, Makayla Lawson, Lauren Whaley; Rhea County — Jenny Keener, Charlie Wooden, Katie Freels (co-MVP).

5-AA

Meigs County — Lindsay Arndts, Courtney Combs, Kirstie Jennings, Jordan Scott, Ashley Shaver; Boyd-Buchanan — Lauren Cline, Adrian Hemphill, Taylor Neal, Allie Payne, Gia Reno.

6-AA

Howard — Tanique Harden; Notre Dame — Emily Gadd; East Ridge — Daisha Goff; Bledsoe County — Candace Holloway, Chelsea Marsh, Kayla Reagan; Grundy County — Alyssa Dickerson, Alex Sanders, Casey Myers; Marion County — Alissa Davis, Hannah Layne, Kristen Long; Chattanooga Christian — Laura Curtis, Courtney Hitchcock, Jennifer Long; Sequatchie County — Chelsea Burgess, Brittany Cooley, Courtney Dawson, Chelsea Tabor; Hixson — Whitney Galloway, Porschia Johnson, Taylor Lanham, Dawon Millwood.

5-A

Tennessee Temple — Mary Shiraef; David Brainerd — Natalie North; Copper Basin — Brittany Hyatt, Bridget Miller; Silverdale Baptist — Ashley Dill, Amanda Patterson, Kathleen Shoemaker; Grace Academy — Kaitlyn Eldridge, Courtney Patrick, Lacye Walker, Erica Elleman (MVP). Co-Coaches of the Year: Silverdale’s Chip Liner and Grace Academy’s Tina Walker.

6-A

Lookout Valley — Kayla Baylor; South Pittsburg — Paige Case, Ayana Garth; Arts & Sciences — Erin McCance, Briana Shoulders, Kali Thomlinson; Sale Creek — Stephanie Lewis, Ashley Malone, Leslie Stephens, Brittany Tipton; Whitwell — Shanda Barnett, Kaiti Hubbard, Whitney Long, Taylor McDaniel, Aja Medina, Amber Webb (MVP). Coach of the Year: Whitwell’s Grace Pickett.