For five years, Tony Wolfe has coached the Buford softball team, and for five years the team has ended its season as state champions.

Buford completed its "drive for five" this season with a 12-2 win over Pike County on Oct. 29 in Columbus.

But this particular drive was a bit bumpier than the previous four championships.

The team began its season 5-6 and, in the state tournament, had to fight out of the loser’s bracket to keep its streak of titles alive.

When adversity struck, however, Wolfe put forth perhaps his best performance as the team’s coach.

"We had the talent all year," said infielder Lexi Overstreet, who will play at Tennessee next season. "We just needed to figure out where everyone needed to go, and he’s perfect at that. He changed our whole season."

After its fourth championship, the team experienced a mass exodus of graduating players. It lost five seniors, including three out of four starting infielders.

"This year was the first year we had to endure a lot of graduations," Wolfe said. "We had four freshmen in our starting lineup, We still had a core of some experienced players, but we were young. So the challenges were a little different than in past years."

To help his team win yet another title, Wolfe was faced with the challenge of determining on the fly which positions each player was best suited to play.

While the team struggled early as he made those determinations, by the end of the season the Lady Wolves, which had all but one player at a different position than they started, were as strong as ever.

"I can’t say enough about our coaches," Wolfe said. "I thought that by the end of the year, we weren’t that far off from some of our other teams.

"You try to put kids in the right position and evaluate talent and skills to see where players are best suited to help. And we’ve got a great coaching staff. I think we did well, and determined their strengths and weaknesses well."

Overstreet also noted Wolfe’s style of coaching as a contributing factor to the team’s success.

While many coaches try to lead their teams in everything they do, Overstreet said that Wolfe often stands aside and lets the players take a bigger role in the team’s leadership.

"Just the fact that he lets us do that helped a lot," she said. "It tells you a lot about the kind of person he is that he lets us have a lot of control."

Wolfe said that was a big part of his coaching.

"I’m a big believer in letting our coaches coach and our players play," he said. "It’s not my job to micromanage them, but to let them fulfill their roles."

Wolfe said that he believed his biggest strength was his ability to instill tradition and leadership in his players. Winning five championships, he said, requires his players to be able to pass along their skills and knowledge to the younger classes.

"I think (winning five championships) says a lot about our tradition," he said. "We believe that the quality programs are able to pass core values from one class to another. Even when the graduations come, the same things that give you success now will give you success down the road when some of those players are gone."

Overstreet is one of those star players that will be leaving the team next year. She has signed to play softball at the University of Tennessee.

She said that Wolfe’s impact on her was more than just skills on the field.

"He helps me as a Christian," she said. "We talk about family and about God, and he changed my whole attitude about softball. He made my love for the game grow so much."

And next year, he’ll start all over again in pursuit of a sixth consecutive championship.

"We know sooner or later it will end," he said. "But we’ll start again next year, and our goal will be the same. Hopefully the result will be the same, too, but if it’s not we can find a lot of positives in all the other things we do."