Slow and easy worked out so well for Tuckerman during its state championship run a year ago that the Lady Bulldogs decided to use that same method to take another stab at a title this season.
So far, so good.
Tuckerman (24-5) will get a chance to capture a second consecutive Class 2A softball crown when it takes on East Poinsett County (32-2) at 1 p.m. today at the Everett Softball Field inside the Benton Athletic Complex. The Lady Warriors have won 20 of their last 21 games and are playing as well as anyone in Arkansas regardless of classification.
But the Lady Bulldogs have a specific goal they're trying to accomplish and aren't planning on doing anything differently than what they've been doing to accomplish it.
"We knew the pressure of everything going into the season," Tuckerman Coach Matt Dillon said. "We were aware of all of that, but these girls have just taken it a day at a day, a game at a time, an inning at a time. The next thing you know, we're right back playing for a championship just like we hoped we would be."
Hope has never eluded this group of Lady Bulldogs in spite of any pressure that was placed on their shoulders after they won last year's championship.
Tuckerman dropped its first game of the season, a 7-5 decision at Marion, and was 8-5 after back-to-back setbacks to out-of-state teams in early April. But a 15-0 pasting of Sloan-Hendrix on April 5 jump started a winning streak that's matched by only one other team in the state.
The Lady Bulldogs have rattled off 16 consecutive victories, which is bested only by the 30 straight games top-ranked Benton has won this season. The surge has been special for Dillon, but it's one that he admitted hasn't been all that surprising because of the mature manner that his team approaches each game with.
"Honestly, I was kind of curious to see how the girls would come in, with all the expectations," he explained. "As we've went along, you can kind of see that in every game, they just play what's in front of them. They've never wanted to look ahead at all. Instead, they've just been focusing on each game, each opponent as it comes.
"As a coach, you love to see that out of your team."
Dillon also enjoyed the actual product the Lady Bulldogs have put out on the diamond.
Sophomore Makaylie Gist, an all-state selection last year, is 12-2 with a 1.43 earned run average, while junior Hannah Nicholson is 10-1 with a 1.83 ERA. That duo has given Tuckerman a legit 1-2 punch in the circle that many other teams in its class didn't have. During last week's state tournament, the Lady Bulldogs didn't allow a run in any of their three games, with Gist striking out eight in seven innings to lead Tuckerman to a 7-0 win over Melbourne in the semifinals.
Also, Dillon mentioned that his team, aside from playing well defensively, has started to hit the ball much better as of late. Since April 28, Tuckerman, which has just two seniors, has scored 10 runs or more in 6 of its 8 games.
That scoring may be needed against an East Poinsett County team that's been just as dominant as the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Warriors, winners of 11 games in a row, are averaging nearly 10 runs and outscoring their opponents by almost nine.
"I didn't get a chance to see them until last Saturday," Dillon said of East Poinsett County. "But you don't win that many games without being good. I know their pitcher is good, and they've got some girls in the middle of the lineup that can swing it. So we've got our hands full, and we know that."
East Poinsett County pitcher Keegan McCorkle registered 27 strikeouts during the team's three-game run through the playoffs. She's also dangerous with her bat, as are several other Lady Warriors.
"It's gonna be tough," Dillon said. "That's a really, really good team that's going to be in that other dug out. For us, it's starts with pitching. If we can get a quality outing from Makaylie or Hannah, whomever we decide to pitch, that'll give us a chance to be in the game.
"We've got to have some timely hits like we did in the state tournament as well. But these girls are ready, and nothing seems to faze them. They've got that one game at a time mentality. They just go out and play ball."