South Johnston softball picking up the play, wins Harnett Central tournament

There’s plenty of carryover for athletes at most schools between the girls basketball and softball seasons.

When a school has the same coach for both sports, there’s bound to be even more of a blurring of the lines between winter and spring sports.

That’s true at South Johnston, where Amanda Smith leads both programs. And it took some time to complete the transition.

The Trojans (12-7) have now won six of their last eight games, including the Harnett Central Softball Spring Break Tournament with a 2-1 win over Princeton on Monday.

The athleticism of her team, featuring Carmen Keene, Reagan Byrd and a few other basketball holdovers, is starting to show up as well.

“Offensively, we’re doing a lot of things and we’re fast,” Smith said. “We’re making things happen. … We’re figuring out the lineup and where people need to be to score.”

More runs on the board add up to more wins, and more wins will help Smith take the team in the direction she’d like it to go.

“I try to tell them, ‘Have fun,’ ” she said. “Have fun and enjoy it, because you don’t get these days back. And when you’re having fun, better things happen.”

South Johnston has four games left in the regular season, including a rematch with Two Rivers 3A leader Cleveland on April 18.

“We talk about doing the small things well,” Smith said. “If you do the small things well, it creates big results. When you don’t do the small things well, it creates big opportunities for (the opponent).”

This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 2:59 PM with the headline "South Johnston softball picking up the play, wins Harnett Central tournament."