Tuscola softball season recap: Mounties show resiliency

Jul. 8—Tuscola softball finished its 2021-22 season fifth in the Mountain Seven 3A Conference, going 12-8 overall and an even 6-6 in the conference.

Despite the .500 conference record, the Lady Mountaineers earned a playoff berth in the 2022 North Carolina High School Athletics Association 3A State Softball Playoffs.

In round one on May 15, No. 30 seed Tuscola fell 4-0 to No. 3 seed North Buncombe (19-1, 12-0) in an away game. North Buncombe later reached the state championship game, but fell to Eastern Alamance.

Down a leader

The Lady Mounties began their season down one of their biggest playmakers and leaders, senior Delany Buchanan, who tore her PCL in the last basketball game before the conference tournament.

"That was a really big blow to our team. She's one of my captains. My kids have really adjusted. I'm very proud of them. It's not going to be an easy season," said then-head coach Amy Brown, who stepped down from her head coaching duties March 16.

In 2020-21, Buchanan had a strong outing, leading the team with a .529 average and batting in 26 RBIs, scoring 15 runs and hitting five home runs.

After her injury, she stepped up as a player-coach, using her experience and passion to positively influence her team, earning her the moniker "Coach Delany" from her teammates.

Starting strong

Tuscola opened its season with a slate of non-conference games to prepare the girls for conference action.

The Lady Mountaineers went 3-0, downing Asheville twice by a combined scored of 45-6 and Erwin once, 15-5.

"They're resilient. They're having to overcome playing positions they've never played before. Kids are gonna have to step up and they've already proved it in these first [three] games," Brown said.

The 18-girl softball team was comprised of six seniors, a loaded junior and sophomore group and two starting freshmen.

The girls hit their first road bump in the first conference game against Franklin, losing 5-1.

To compound the loss, their head coach Amy Brown stepped down from her coaching duties March 16.

Assistant coaches Lindsay Markos and Bronson Cook took over shared head coaching roles.

"In the Franklin game, [allowing a comeback] hurt us big time," Cook said. "We had four errors. I don't think we've ever had four errors in a season. Bronson [Cook] had a good point. He said, 'An L does not reflect a loss, it reflects us learning.' That was the pivotal move right there. We had to completely turn that around and find out what works with us."

With the season in the balance, the girls picked themselves up and never missed a beat. Tuscola won five straight games, three of them conference matchups. In that run, the team outscored opponents 44-8.

"We had to it take it game by game," Cook said. "That was the thing that we kept telling ourselves."

Falling down, building back up

After a March full of winning, Tuscola hit a slump in early April, going 2-4 over the course of six games and losing by thin margins.

The Lady Mountaineers fell 7-5 and 6-5 to A.C. Reynolds and 6-5 to Franklin.

"We had a few games where we were winning, but, all of a sudden, [our opponent] came back and [we] lost," Cook said. "What could we have done different? We just had to finish the games. We were playing five or six innings, but the last two innings were where we fell apart. We had four games where we lost by one run."

Despite the close losses, the girls turned it around by the end of April, capping the month with three straight victories, two over conference opponents.

Tuscola beat North Henderson 6-5 and trounced East Henderson 15-2.

Cook said the improvement came in building chemistry and trust among the players.

"We had six seniors, but we had a pretty young team. Even though most of these girls have played together in travel ball or in middle schools, we had girls playing different positions. We had two freshmen starting in impact roles: shortstop and lead-off hitter. The juniors and the seniors had to figure out, 'what is my role and where am I going to fit?' Once we got that figured, out, that's when we saw it come together. You could see their confidence in each other build, let alone in themselves," she said.

End-of-season slump

An end-of-season slump began April 29, in a rematch against crosstown rival Pisgah. Tuscola won the first meeting, a 3-2 home win, thanks to a walk single.

But the second time, it was the Bears who triumphed, sending the Mounties home with a 2-1 defeat.

The loss jettisoned momentum the girls had built in the preceding weeks, and sent them on a three-game losing streak to end the season, with conference losses to Smoky Mountain, 13-1, and West Henderson, 4-3.

Thanks to its overall conference record, however, Tuscola earned a state playoff berth.

Tuscola's round one matchup was against arguably the best softball pitcher in the country, Karlyn Pickens, and an undefeated (in its conference) North Buncombe squad.

Despite an admirable outing, the Lady Mountaineers fell 4-0.

Cook said there were signs of improvement compared to their meeting against the North Buncombe squad last season.

"Last year we could hardly touch her. This year we had hits and bunts. They did amazing," she said. "It was going to be a tough game either way."

High expectations

Tuscola has six seniors graduating in 2022: Delany Buchanan, Alanah Lockhart, Jessie McElroy, Zoe Sanford, Alley Trogdon and Abbey Webster.

"That group has been up for the challenge. The last four years for them were not the easiest," Cook said.

She said this class of seniors did what was best for the team and reached a lot of goals they'd set for themselves over the last four years.

"They always had a smile on their face. We're definitely going to miss these girls a lot. They brought a lot to the table," Cook said.

The Tuscola squad has reason for optimism next season, with three rising seniors who made the 2021-22 all-conference team: Kadie Arrington, Faith Caldwell and Ava Kirkpatrick.

"I definitely see a core group forming. I've always told my kids this, 'You wanna be put with the best player out there. You wanna pair up with a player that is going to push you to be the best player that you can be,'" Cook said.

Heading into next season, Cook said the team has very high expectations.

"We know that most games that we will play will be close games. That's why little things will come into play. The experience with game-like situations and knowing what to do in high pressure situations, we're definitely going to overcome and come out on top because they've had the experience."