It’s been a season of change for the Allen County-Scottsville softball team.

That change began at the end of last season when longtime coach Rick Roberts retired.

Assistant Mark Carter was tabbed to replace Roberts in July, but Carter’s tenure ended before it began, and athletic director Kerry Harwood was named the interim coach in October.

School officials won’t comment on why Carter was replaced, but it created a unique situation for a team that was already in transition – with five upperclassmen total on the 2013 roster.

The offseason carousel hasn’t slowed down the Lady Patriots, who are 8-4.

“We’ve become better teammates,” junior third baseman Ali Skaggs said. “We’re working as a team instead of working as individuals.”

Harwood, who coached ACS baseball for 16 years before retiring in 2012, said he agreed to step in this season since his daughter Kassey, a freshman, was part of the team.

Harwood has taken a hands-off approach, though, focusing more on the administrative details, like prepping the field and making sure umpires are there. He’s leaving the coaching to assistants Robert Bunton and Ernie Stafford, with former player Katie Yates helping the pitchers.

“It was different for us,” ACS senior pitcher Micaela Atwell said. “We expected Carter to come back and then we got Harwood as a coach. We lost a lot of seniors last year, so we had to come back as a team and get some bonding going. We’ve done a pretty good job with it.”

Atwell said she is trying to be more of a leader.

Junior outfielder Katie Young said it’s led to players taking more responsibility in game strategy.

“We had to adjust and get used to it at first,” Young said. “I think we’ve gotten used to it now. We kind of came together a little closer as a team. We’re kind of having to make our own decisions because we haven’t got coach Roberts there and (Harwood) is new with softball.”

The new approach has produced positive results. The Lady Patriots are averaging seven runs a game and have scored 35 runs in the last three games.

And as the wins continue to mount, junior first baseman Erica Pitchford said the chemistry gets better. Now ACS has its sights set on a District 15 title and a deep run in the postseason.

“We knew we were getting a good coach and we knew it would be different from coach Roberts,” Pitchford said. “We spent the offseason getting to know each other because we knew we had a young team. We’ve gotten really good at supporting each other and are really close.”

— Micheal Compton covers prep sports for the Bowling Green Daily News. Follow him at twitter.com/Mcompton428 or visit bgdailynews.com.