NATCHEZ &045; A run at the state title three years ago while at Franklin County must have flipped some sort of switch inside Leigh Anne Mason.

That year the Lady Bulldogs lost in the state championship game in fast-pitch softball. In her first year as assistant coach at the school, the team under head coach Walter Beesley took off at the state tournament and nearly won the thing.

As for Mason, she was hooked. She stayed on, took over as head coach and will now coach both slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball at Natchez High.

&uot;That probably made me want to keep on coaching,&uot; said Mason, a former ACCS and Co-Lin standout. &uot;We lost in the first game (of the tournament) and came all the way through the losers’ bracket with one pitcher. They just did so well. We had a real good group. It was hard to replace them, but I learned a lot.&uot;

The experience can help Mason as she takes over a program that’s had success in slow-pitch but is still taking baby steps in the fast-pitch arena. But the slow-pitch squad is coming off its biggest season ever after winning its playoff opener for the first time in 13 tries under head coach Sue Johnson.

Judging by the turnout at tryouts back in May, that may be something to build on. Practices begin July 28.

&uot;I know they’ve won district and made it to the playoffs in the last few years, and that’s exciting,&uot; Mason said. &uot;I think we had about 50 come out for tryouts, and any time you have 50 come out for tryouts it turns out well. I don’t think she (Johnson) lost many seniors.&uot;

The fast-pitch program, meanwhile, may be the bigger responsibility as the Lady Bulldogs had problems with turnout in the first season ever to play fast-pitch. The team got a bonus when Honda Griffin moved in and took over the pitching duties, helping spur the team to its two wins.

Fast-pitch softball was a new concept for Mason until she arrived at Franklin County after coming up playing slow pitch. But thanks to watching baseball games where her husband, Matt, coached, she applied that to fast-pitch softball.

&uot;I didn’t know much about it other than what I knew about baseball,&uot; said Mason, whose husband was hired as head baseball coach at Trinity. &uot;I did some studying on it, went out there and did it. Last year she hardly had enough (players) to play. We’re hoping to spread the word and get them to some camps. We’re hoping to pump up fast-pitch some. That’s where the scholarships are coming from.&uot;