FAIRHOPE, Alabama — The Fairhope Lady Pirates are geared up to host their first softball tournament this weekend on their home field and adjacent Founders Park diamonds. The Blue and Gold Invitational gets underway Friday at 5 p.m. and continues Saturday.

“We're excited about doing this,” Fairhope head coach Jonathan Heflin said. “We have been wanting to for a while and though we're kind of starting out slow keeping it small, we hope it grows and can become a tradition. Like any tournament it benefits your players to get that experience of playing two or three or even more games close together. And in this sport you have to have that experience to go very far. And you have to play good competition to get the most from it."

The teams include a mix of local and upstate competition as Buckhorn and Hoover will be down to take on Faith Academy, Foley, Robertsdale, Spanish Fort and the Blue and Gold host team.

"We think we have a good, strong group in it," Heflin said. "Buckhorn is very, very good out of the Huntsville area and of course Hoover is one of those that just has great teams year in and year out. Faith, here, closer to home as well as Spanish Fort are always tough competitive 5A teams. Robertsdale and Foley always play hard and give it their best. So, we want to win it, of course, but it will be a battle.”

Now with former local fastpitch players in longtime assistant Jamie Forsythe (Foley, Class of '03) and freshman coach Anna Shartzer (Robertsdale, '09) as assistant coaches, Heflin said everything from practice to putting on the tournament is running smoothly.

“Having two former pitchers on the staff is a huge help for me, but also it's good for our pitchers. To have someone who has been in the circle and been through the wars out there in their position to help guide them is another big asset. Jamie was a pitcher at Foley and Anna at Robertsdale. We're thrilled to have her with us this year. And she played infield, outfield also as well as pitched. And of course with her dad, Steve Shartzer (former softball coach at Robertsdale and at the collegiate level), she knows something about coaching from the inside. But just to add a third coach out here allows us to be much more flexible with our time, too. And to have someone who knows so many aspects of the game like Anna as well as being able to relate to the girls is just a blessing. Coach Forsythe has always handled that part of things so well, but she has some extra school projects going on and can't get out here as early. So the timing of getting Anna just couldn't have been better for all of us. She's just a fantastic asset on a softball team.”

Forsythe agreed that Shartzer, who played college ball at Auburn of Montgomery and the University of West Alabama after an all-state high-school career, was a good mentor and coach.

“Well, she's already a really good coach," Forsythe said. "I took on an extra program at school this year, so sometimes I'm late to practice and having Anna here is a tremendous pressure off me as teacher. And you know you can count on her 100 percent to be here and get things going and going right. And with the tournament this year, we really are happy she's here. That's something the girls and I and coach Heflin have been wanting, so it's great. It's something special.”

Pool play continues with an 8 a.m. start Saturday. The elimination rounds start at 11:15 a.m. with the No. 1 seed in the bye position.