By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
There was no practice Monday, no opponents to scout. But there was an important game for Calvary Baptist softball coach Tiffany Wood a day after her Lady Cavaliers won their record sixth straight state championship.
Her 7-year-old’s little league game. Talk about back to the basics. No doubt many parents in the stands were hoping their girls one day might wear the green and gold Calvary uniform and have a chance to be part of one of the state’s most remarkable high school softball dynasties.
No school has ever won seven straight. Of course, losing only two seniors, Wood and her program already have that in mind. But this week, this month, that’s not the focus.
There was a Calvary team meeting Monday, and Wood’s message to her champions was get caught in the moment. Bask in the glow.
“Enjoy this,” she said. “As kids, and as people, we’re always looking forward to the next thing, graduation, summer, so many things. Enjoy it. This is a really special moment. It’s something that they’ve spent a lot of time and hours preparing for, and then in a weekend, it’s over. My message today was simple:
“Enjoy your hard work. Appreciate your hard work and what you accomplished, and don’t get past it too soon.”
It was a near perfect season (37-1, smudged only by a 3-2 loss April 6 at Class 5A West Monroe) that has kept Calvary near or atop national polls all spring. Currently they’re as high as No. 2, and Wood is tantalized by the possibility of finishing first.
“The goal for every year is to win the state championship, to be holding up the trophy at the end of season. The national rankings, that’s really cool to see your program listed there,” she said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m hoping we get in that No. 1 spot as the seasons of other teams continue to play out. But it’s icing on the cake. It’s just more to an already made season.”
Calvary was the obvious favorite to win this year’s Select Division III crown. Last season also ended with a 37-1 record, and plenty of talent returned, led by Georgia commit Kynzee Anderson in the circle – last year’s LSWA Miss Softball among all of the state’s classifications.
Destined for her fourth first-team All-State honor in a couple weeks, she was even better this season, said Wood.
“She’s been able to add to her already great tool box of pitching. She perfected her off speed, and she also did a lot of core workouts. She worked out a ton on her own, not just with us, getting stronger, being able to have more stamina, being able to throw harder, but perfecting the pitches that were already good. She was also able to get them a little better and to add to that off speed.”
As a team, Calvary was better, too. In fact, Wood chuckled when asked the inevitable question – is the 2026 squad, known internally as “Team 22,” the program’s best ever?
“All the way around, I would have to say yes. We’ve had a lot of really great players come through the program through my 15 years. But as a whole, through depth, through the entire lineup, as a whole, it is the best team.”
As for “Team 22” label, that is part of Wood’s philosophy that has guided Calvary for years, and helps the players deal with pressure – from within and outside.
“We just want to be Team 22, the 22nd team that Calvary has had. And it’s different each year. We don’t try to replicate Team 2. Next year’s Team 23 is not going to try to be Team 22. It’s different people,” she said. “You can’t repeat the same thing. You can still have success, but it’s going to be in different ways. If we take care of us, that’s all that matters.
“We just worry about what we need to do for us to get better.”
They don’t worry about the pressure. They work through it and channel it into a positive force.
“A lot of work is the short answer, but we talk to them a lot. From the very beginning, we let them know that pressure is a privilege — the pressure to win again, the pressure to do good, to be at the top, it is a privilege. It means you’re doing something right,” said Wood.
“People are expecting you to win. That means they’re expecting you to be good. It’s not a bad thing. And so we try to use a lot of that as motivation.
“We try to stay grounded and also let them know, you don’t have to be perfect. I think sometimes people expect Calvary softball to be perfect. Can’t give up any runs, no errors, no mistakes. But we do not have to be perfect. We just have to play as a team. And what’s cool about us is all of us together is a powerful thing. When you have to get past the entire team, that’s the hard part.
“They want to be the best. They want to be at the top of their game. When they want it, and it’s not just me as a coach wanting it, it makes it a lot easier. There were definitely games that we won that we don’t feel like we performed at our best. Those were games to learn from. You don’t have to lose to learn. We tried to find take away something from each game to get better at and to help us towards the end of the season.
“We are always on to the next thing and the next grind and the next word, that’s how the world works,” she said. “We get back to work this summer with the plan being we’re going to win it next year and there’s going to be a lot of people that are disappointed because, with losing Kynzee, they think they got a shot at us.
“We’re not gonna stop working, and we’ve got a lot of kids who are ready to prove those people wrong,” Wood said.
“But this week, I’m gonna enjoy it. I’m gonna live in the moment. Winning six state championships in a row is a huge thing,” she said. “I’m just gonna soak that in.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com