Ferriday — The 2014 inaugural softball season for Delta Charter School marks Jeannie Beach’s first opportunity at starting a program, but that doesn’t mean she became Delta Charter’s first softball coach without a plan.

Having played 12 games already this season, all coming against middle school competition, the 6-6 Delta Charter Storm will host its first home game of the season today, weather permitting, against LaSalle Junior High at 4:30 p.m. For Beach, the first home game represents one more step in what’s been a long building process.

In order to build a program from scratch, Beach said she needed support more than anything.

“It’s been spectacular,” Beach said.

The first step in Beach’s building process utilized the word “build” literally. With help from those around the community, Beach said some weren’t even players’ parents, Delta Charter now has a playing surface that players can be proud of. The makeover included moving the fence back 200 feet, adding new roofs to the dugouts, replacing broken windows in the concession stand, painting the concession stand and dugouts navy, fixing the plumbing and lining a PolyCap fence guard along the outfield at Delta Charter Field.

“Oh my goodness, it looks a whole lot better,” Beach said. “We basically just took what we had and made it better.”

Second on Beach’s list was gaining the backing of Delta Charter’s board members in the funding department. Beach wanted nice looking uniforms for Delta Charter to wear, and the board approved. In return, Beach is hoping her team looks and plays sharp.

Lastly, Beach has had to put a competitive product on the field. After implementing her coaching philosophy, Beach has seen both negatives and positives in the early goings. The Storm defeated Alexandria Middle Magnet School 18-0 in just one inning of play last weekend in a tournament held in Alexandria. However, Delta Charter lost to S.J. Welsh Middle School 3-2 in that same tournament because of poor defense, which Beach was quick to correct.

“I think we definitely have gotten better,” Beach said. “We still have a ways to go. I have some girls that aren’t hitting the way I know they can hit, and I’ve got some drills that will fix that.”

On Monday, Beach was forced to practice in the gym because of the weather, but she used colored whiffle balls and black-eyed peas in drills to improve team hitting. Beach held two different colored whiffle balls in her hands and would lob them to a batter while calling out which color to hit. She used the black-eyed peas to make her team hone in their vision at the plate and concentrate on a much smaller target to hit.

Beach’s colorful drills aren’t foreign to every player on the team. Of the 12 players on the roster, seven of them have played for Beach on a summer league team.

“Those seven girls know my philosophy on coaching,” Beach said. “It’s made it so much easier. I know their strengths and weaknesses, but not only that, they’re helping the other girls get adjusted to my style.”

Beach said she’s been overwhelmed by the support she’s received, backtracking to step No. 1 in her process. What’s stemmed from the local support is school spirit, which can be seen across Vidalia and Ferriday.

“Just look at the yard signs,” Beach said. “I’ll be driving and see one, and it will surprise me. I’m like, ‘wow, I don’t even think that person goes here!’”

Beach feels she’s on the right track to building something special at Delta Charter, taking it one step at a time. And though she’s following her process, she’s content with calling it a group project.

“I’m telling you, I haven’t done it on my own,” Beach said. “From the players to those who have helped us in the community, we’re building this together.”