MONTGOMERY, Ala. — When Farish Beard was in the seventh grade, she dreamed of stepping off the bus at Lagoon Park in Montgomery to pitch in the state softball tournament for the Fairhope Lady Pirates.

They came up short that year. The Lady Pirates won just three games — and she pitched them. Six seasons later, as a senior, she and fellow seniors Brooklin Caudill, Lacey Dorsey and Brooke Lennicx led FHS to within one win of the 6A state championship round.

They rode home from the tournament as the third-best 6A team in the state. A little more blue than gold, but still the best Fairhope team in history with a new school record of 45-10.

“It’s been fun. It’s been long. It’s been long and fun, but I wouldn’t trade it,” Beard said through a misty-eyed smile. “We came a long, long way from winning just three games. Just to have a winning season was just awesome, but we wanted more. And when coach (Jonathan) Heflin came in, he challenged us to get better and play up to our potential. We didn’t go as far as we wanted to, but we did what we could. Just so proud of our team. We came together and I’m proud of everybody for never giving up, never settling for it and never quitting. We did the best we could do. But today it just wasn't in our favor.”

Beard expects the Lady Pirates to get back to Lagoon Park next year with help from sole incoming junior pitcher/outfielder Grey Adams and incoming seniors Allison Augustine, Megan Dowdy — who leads the team in batting — and Hannah Qualls. Incoming sophomores Catherine Knight and Courtney Piesco will have three years of starting experience along with underclassmen utility players Hannah Brown, Bronwen Crowe, Lauren Ponder and pitcher Payton Pierce. Augustine also pitches.

“They’ll be back,” Beard said. “They’re just going to get better and better. Grey can mow ‘em down. She’s a fighter like me and we both like the big game pressure.”

Beard went 3-1 in the tournament beating Sparkman 6-0, Bob Jones 9-0 and Tuscaloosa County 1-0. She pitched 24 consecutive scoreless innings (27 total scoreless) before Hoover shut out the Pirates 3-0 with a 3-run fourth inning in the semifinals.

Adams was tasked with facing eventual state champion Dothan in the winners bracket, but fell 5-0 striking out nine in a five hitter. She went 15-3 in 2011.

In her Fairhope career Beard won 100 games, struck out 1,461 hitters and had an ERA of 0.78. She was 29-5 with two saves and 324 strike outs as a senior.

“You don’t get that chance a lot as a coach and it's been a great experience,” Heflin said. “She already had the talent to go far and a great work ethic on top of that. But she always pushed herself, challenged herself to get better. She handles pressure very well. In fact she prefers it and her confidence really comes through with runners on in a big game. She loves it and it’s always exciting to watch someone like that play.”

Beard reports to the University of South Alabama this summer to join the Jaguars as a scholarship freshman.