While one season is winding down for the red and blue another is about to get cranked up. Fort Dale's first-year coach Scarlett McNaughton, a graduate of Troy State University, moved from the volleyball courts to the softball diamond and is set to stand at the helm of the Lady Eagles softball team.

"I'm excited about the season," said McNaughton. "We needed at least 10 girls to sign up to have a team for the season, and now we have 15 so we're doing good. So far we've got a big team."

This is the Lady Eagles third softball coach in four years.

Last season, the squad posted a two-win season.

"We are going to work on it and hopefully change that," said McNaughton. "They just need consistency and hopefully I can be that."

Monday afternoon, the Lady Eagles took to the field at Beeland Park for tryouts.

15 potential Lady Eagles displayed their prowess in the art of hitting, fielding, throwing and pitching.

"We've got some new girls that have not played softball since first grade so we are going to do a lot of practice with them," said McNaughton. "Today they did ok."

During Monday's practice, the Lady Eagles had the opportunity to take their hacks at the plate, which in some cases, weren't their strong suit.

"I think that's going to be the main problem, their hitting," said McNaughton.

"We didn't work on that a lot [Monday] because I figured that they would be getting enough of that during the season."

For the Lady Eagles, they have three weeks until their first game of the season. They will take the diamond March 7 at Escambia County.