Huskies impressive in Year 1 under Burt
The season ended with just one bad day.
In Hewitt-Trussville High School’s first appearance at the Class 7A state softball tournament since 2015, the Huskies lost their first two games and were eliminated from contention.
“I think we had a good year,” first-year coach Taylor Burt said. “That was hard for me to say to begin with, because we didn’t show like we wanted to at the state tournament.”
Coming off two dominant wins at the North Regional to advance, the Huskies were hoping for a deep run at state.
“That day when we warmed up, they were calm and collected,” Burt said. “I had no worries about their nerves. It really kind of took us all off guard that the day went like it did.”
Hewitt-Trussville began the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Spain Park, followed by a 7-2 defeat to Fairhope. The Huskies gave up all three runs to the Jags in the first inning, and Burt said that “set the tone” for the day.
“We just didn’t hit,” she said. “That was our thing [all season]. We hit 70 home runs and averaged almost 10 runs a ballgame. We had two runs in two ballgames and had opportunities. It was those RBI hits that we’ve been getting, and we didn’t get them.”
Despite the disappointing end, the Huskies put together an impressive season. They finished with a 46-10 record, and the 70 home runs they hit as a team were just one off the previous state record of 71, set by Pisgah in 2011. The Huskies also won the Hoover Classic and were runners-up in the competitive Gulf Coast Classic over spring break.
Burt has no question the Huskies’ program has potential to bloom in the coming years.
“The sky is kind of the limit, especially with the way they work,” she said. “Those girls work really hard. They’re willing to do it year-round.”
Burt credited Hewitt-Trussville’s five seniors with helping to establish her ideals in the program. Center fielder Tate Moseley is heading to Auburn after being a mainstay at the top of the Huskies lineup for the last several years. Jade Thomas will play her college ball at UAH. First baseman Kaitlyn McDaniel, second baseman Abi Inman and Ashley Dorn also completed their final seasons.
“They all had great leadership qualities about them,” Burt said. “They’ve had a group that had several different coaches, and they could’ve easily not really accepted me, but they wholeheartedly did and ran with it and that was all the difference in the world.”
Moseley wrapped up her career by hitting 11 homers and driving in 45 runs on the season, while hitting for a .416 average. Inman added eight homers of her own.
Molly Cobb and Hayden Neugent shared most of the innings in the pitching circle for the Huskies throughout the season. They each improved as the season progressed and will both return next season.
“They busted their tail,” Burt said of the pitchers. “They came in and started working specific spots.”
Cobb posted a 17-5 record with a 2.27 ERA, while Neugent was 16-3 with a 2.70 ERA.
KK Hughes also provided some quality innings, and Burt expects her to see the circle more next year with another offseason of honing her arsenal. Hughes started 12 games and won 10, with a 2.38 ERA.
Burt said, “They kept us in every single ball game. Even when we were making errors in the field, they did a great job mentally staying in it.”
The Huskies do have several key contributors returning next season, including catcher Hannah Borden, who led the team with 18 homers and 75 RBIs. Third baseman Crystal Maze smacked 10 homers and drove in 67 runs. Cobb was also a big part of the offense, hitting 11 homers with 69 RBIs.
Anyce Harvey and Abigail Dorsett posed the main speed threats for the Huskies, with Harvey stealing 42 bases and Abigail Dorsett swiping 29 on the season. Samford commit Kailey Walters had a solid season as well, driving in 23 runs and scoring 40 times.
Katelyn Murphy and Bailee Adcock will be back next season as well, along with a trio of middle schoolers in Katie Flannery, Kenleigh Cahalan and Hannah Dorsett.