University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball coach Frank Reed wanted Baileigh Pitts in the starting lineup last season, her first with the Mocs.
The only problem? Reed really didn’t have an opening for Pitts, a former Ringgold High School standout listed on UTC’s roster as a catcher and infielder, positions where the Mocs were pretty set for 2024.
And so Reed, needing the talented bat of Pitts, presented her with an opportunity she had not expected: to play outfield.
“When I told her she was going to play left field for us, she looked at me like I was crazy, which I sometimes am,” said Reed, who is entering his 24th year leading the Mocs. “But Baileigh’s one of those kids that just knuckles down and goes wherever you think you’d need her to go.”
Pitts, who spent her freshman college season at Georgia Southern in 2023 before transferring to UTC, admits she “was nervous” about the move to the outfield.