After an abrupt coaching change more than halfway into the high school softball regular season, Beech’s Lady Buccaneers could’ve gone either of two directions. Considering what they did over the weekend in the 21st Lady Trojan Invitational, it seems clear which way they chose to go.
Beech held on and beat host Soddy-Daisy 3-2 in the Gold-bracket final Saturday at the Soddy Lake Kids’ Park.
Karns defeated Pigeon Forge 5-1 in the Silver final.
The Lady Bucs’ three new coaches aren’t new to the program. Wayne Smith, who coached them as recently as last year, had not seen a Beech softball game this season until the one he coached in Thursday. That 12-0 victory over Gallatin was the only game under the returning regime before the tournament.
“We got better as the weekend went on,” Smith said. “When there’s a change like this, you can either fold or step it up.”