By Rob Patrick
Debbie Stepp was talking to a friend from her hometown in Wynne recently and they asked her about her new job as the head softball coach at Bryant High School.

“They said, ‘Well, coach, what do you think?’” she recounted. “I said, ‘The way I can describe them best? Beasts.’ I mean, I am really impressed with the power we have.
“In the past, I’ve had one or two power hitters and I’ve played the short game a whole lot,” she said, referring to her tenure as the head coach at Wynne, her alma mater, since 2003 that culminated in a State championship last spring. “But I’ve been real pleased with what I’ve seen hitting-wise. We’ve faced live pitching with our pitchers some and, of course, we’ve done all kinds of drills and it’ll be different when the other team is out there. We’ll see who can come through.
“I think this is a complete team,” Stepp asserted. “I think we can play short game, long game, we can steal on people. We’re going to be able to move the ball around and I’m excited about that. I’m so excited, we’re all so excited and we’re ready to play.”
The Lady Hornets are set to open the 2010 season in a benefit game that will inaugurate the new softball facility at Benton on Monday, March 1, at 5 p.m. They’ll officially open the season at home against Lake Hamilton on Tuesday.