Repeating as state champions is rarely easy. It’s even harder when a program loses an impactful senior class that included the Emerald Coast’s best bat in Alyx Hall, when its leader in hits and one of its top returners transfers away, and when the schedule ahead features a murderer’s row of elite competition.
- That was the reality facing Fort Walton Beach softball entering this season.
Hannah Isham transferred to Pace in the offseason, taking her bat with her. The schedule included three defending state runners-up in Niceville, Pace and North Bay Haven, playoff-caliber programs in Gulf Breeze, Navarre and Milton, and quality out-of-state opponents in Gulf Shores, Daphne, Springboro and Greenwood.
Viewed through that lens, the Lady Vikings’ 2-10 start makes sense.
Since then, though, Fort Walton Beach has looked like a different team. Following a loss to Greenwood on April 6, the Lady Vikings have won six in a row, including a victory over Navarre and a sweep of Milton.
Head Coach Taryn Gray attributes the turnaround to her players buying in after a series of team meetings.
- “The girls started having meetings together and started having real conversations and they started to trust each other,” Gray said. “They finally got on the same page.”
The roster still features plenty of talent.
Two-way force Izzy Douglas anchors the group, and the hitting core includes returners Anna Abernathy, Meredith Miller, Kelsie Hearne, Macy Borgen and Anna Beyhl. New faces have made an impact as well. Destin transfer Brenna Williams leads the team in hits, and freshmen Elyse Heymann and Ava Blankenship have contributed early.
What has impressed Gray most is how her players responded when the losses piled up.
“What’s impressed me is you lose as many games as we lost in the beginning of the year, a lot of people can throw the towel in and be like ‘we’re done, this season’s a bust,‘” Gray said. “They bought into the fact that we’ve played tough opponents. The direction we were going in, they stopped it and redirected it.”
Now the challenge is maintaining that trajectory.
- “We need to keep working in the right direction,” Gray said. “They’ve taken an approach of getting a little bit better every day. I think that as long as they continue to keep buying into what we’re trying to do, they’re going to have a lot of fun throughout this postseason.”
Gray believes another deep playoff run is well within reach.
“If they’re all bought in and they’re taking practice into games and they believe and trust in what they do – what their teammates do – the ceiling is all the way,” she said.
The remaining regular-season schedule sets up favorably. Only Choctaw and Gulf Breeze remain, both at home. With a relatively manageable district and region outside of Baker County and Columbia, the Lady Vikings are positioned well heading into the postseason.
Whether Fort Walton Beach can keep buying in remains to be seen. If it does, another special season could be in the cards.
