The Chattanooga area will be well-represented again in the TSSAA softball tournament, and there's no signs of that trend ending soon. Youthful rosters are a common thread among many of the seven qualifying local teams, including Class AA Central (28-12), but the future is now for one of the Lady Purple Pounders.
Sara Walker is Central's only senior.
"I knew coming up this year I was going to have to help keep them together," Walker said. "Next year I think they're going to have six seniors."
Coach LeeAnne Shurette came to Central's program when Walker was a freshman. Watching as Walker grew, and seeing her play every position except catcher throughout her career, now the coach can't discern whether she's a better team player or team leader.
"To me she is the perfect individual you would want on your team," Shurette said. "She's very consistent on the field. She's very consistent off the field. She makes good grades. She makes good decisions. I give her a lot of responsibility, but I trust her. She's just very mature, she has great character, and she's a good ballplayer. We're really going to miss her."
That's why there's been a season-long crusade within the Lady Pounders camp to try and win a championship this year on the heels of last year's fourth-place finish.
"Being that I'm a senior, it would be nice to go out with a ring," said Walker, who's batting .390 with four homers and 27 RBIs. "After I'm gone, they'll still have chances to do it. I know we've got to be more prepared than last year. That was the first time the whole team had been. I don't have any worries, but we're with the best of the best now. We've got to step up."
Also in Class AA, Bledsoe County (27-11) will be making its first state-tournament trip in any girls' sport. The Lady Warriors enter with seniors Jaclyn Saunders and Kayla Reagan, but they are customarily the third and fourth batters in the lineup.
Coach Janice Ritchie, whose sophomore daughter Lydia (20-6) is the team's pitching leader, said a lot of firsts were achieved this season at Bledsoe and the team plans on savoring the moment at the Spring Fling. That's not to say the Lady Warriors are happy just being there.
"We had a goal to make it to state. Now we'll set new goals," said Ritchie, who co-coaches with her husband, Ricky. "If we play flawless defense like we have this week, and all of them hit at the same time, we've got a lot of potential."
In Division II-AA, last year's runner-up Baylor (30-7) comes in with no seniors, but the Lady Raiders are the No. 1-seeded team from the East/Middle Region. They're seeking their sixth title and first since 2005.
Coach Kelli Smith feels her team has been at its peak performance since its last loss - April 29 to host Coffee County in a tournament in Manchester, Tenn. Baylor went 1-1 in pool play that Friday, then came back and won six consecutive the next day and earned the tournament title.
"It's been a total team effort," Smith said. "When our pitching's been a little bit off, the hitters have scored 10-plus runs. When we don't score so many runs, the pitchers have picked it up and gotten more strikeouts. They've picked each other up. They've really bought into the team concept and have played well together."
Four-time defending Division II-AA champion GPS dipped to 15-13 this season and has one senior, Mary Anna Caldwell, yet the Bruisers earned their way back to Murfreesboro.
"I've always told every team I've ever coached, 'Just get there and anything can happen,'" GPS coach Susan Crownover said.
How well pitchers Corey Swafford (9-7) and Madi Stanley (6-6) perform will be key for the Bruisers. Morgan Lane is coming off a nine-RBI performance in Friday's sub-state doubleheader.
In Class A, Grace Academy (37-7-1) is looking to erase the painful memory of losing last year's state-championship game by one run in extra innings.
"We've finished fourth and second the last two years," Grace coach Tina Walker said. "If we keep moving in the right direction, we should be No. 1 this year. That's the plan."
Grace's seniors are left-handed pitching ace Lacye Walker (28-3), who is also a home run threat, and Jessie Parker, who helps solidify the middle of the Lady Golden Eagles' batting order. Their other senior, Candace Miller, is out for the rest of the season with a leg injury.
Marion County (34-8) in the state tournament for the first time since 1994. First-year coach Chris Thomas, who had been an assistant, said he likes his team's mindset coming off a payback victory from a 2010 state section over Friendship Christian. He'd like to see more quick starts, like when senior Morgan Henderson made the Lady Commanders pay for a couple of walks with a three-run homer in the top of the first inning.
"We're going to have to hit pretty consistently," Thomas said. "Pitching-wise I think we're as deep as anybody can be. We've got four that I have full confidence in. That may come into play, if we're playing four days in a row."
In Class AAA, Soddy-Daisy (38-7) won last year's title but graduated about half its lineup, including three now playing at Tennessee Wesleyan. Kali Henderson will be joining her former teammates next season and the other Lady Trojans' seniors - Alex Everett, Millie Putnam and Mariam Wood - are all NCAA Division I signees.
Soddy-Daisy coach Clifford Kirk is aware how difficult it is to win back-to-back championships in the highest classification. In tournament history from 1979 to 2010, its been done five times and he's been the coach of three of them - Hixson in 1987 and '88 and Soddy-Daisy in '99 and 2000 and '06 and '07. No school has won three consecutive.
"I feel like we're going to be very representative," Kirk said. "We could win it. When you're in this situation, you've got to have some breaks. If they go in your favor, you're in good shape. If they go against you, you're in trouble."