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Photo by Kyle Parmley.
Anyce Harvey (44) hits the ball during a Sidney Cooper Invitational game last season at South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Georgia.
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Photo by Kyle Parmley.
Tori Hyde (4) pitches during a Sidney Cooper Invitational game.
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Photo by Kyle Parmley.
Jenna Lord (11) warms up during a Sidney Cooper Invitational game.
The Hewitt-Trussville High School softball program has a target on its back now.
No longer are the Huskies the hunters, they are the hunted.
And they do not shy away from it.
After winning the Class 7A state championship in 2019 for the first time in program history, Hewitt-Trussville entered the 2020 season with high expectations. The team was well on its way to fulfilling those hopes, sitting with a 12-1-1 record early in the season before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the remainder of the campaign.
“I think they handled it well, what little time we were able to handle it,” said Hewitt-Trussville head coach Taylor Burt. “We talked a lot about it leading up [to the season] that we were going to get everybody’s best.”
An assertive senior class led the charge to the Huskies’ title in 2019, and the senior duo of Abigail Dorsett and KK Hughes carried the torch in the abbreviated 2020 season. There are eight seniors this year, and their collective leadership style will evolve as the team begins its journey.
“That group’s not very vocal,” Burt said. “I have to remind them Abbie and KK were the same way. But when it was their time to step up, they did. That’s the same thing that we’ve had to learn again.”
Five of those eight seniors are future college softball players, with shortstop Jenna Lord (Alabama), first baseman Crystal Maze (Troy) and outfielder Anyce Harvey (Middle Tennessee) all set to play at the Division I level and with Katelyn Murphy and Madi Mitchell heading to play at Birmingham-Southern.
Tori Hyde, Meredith Whitt and Hannah Benjamin-Dobbins are also playing their final year for the Huskies and want to make sure the program remains at its peak.
“They don’t want to be looked at like that was a fluke [in 2019],” Burt said. “They’ve created a program that is going to have success for years to come. That was our goal as a group last year was to continue that.”
But as is the case every season in every sport, when seniors graduate, the chemistry changes, Burt said. The task for this year’s Hewitt-Trussville team will be to continue to play to the standard that has been set in previous years, while forming a unique identity for the 2021 team.
“It’s not going to be the same as it was in the past,” Burt said. “Coming off a big year in 2019, we talked about finding a way to create an individual identity for that group [last season]. That’s definitely something we’ve talked about.”
Outside of the obvious disappointment of not being able to finish last season, Burt laments the fact that much of this year’s roster is still relatively inexperienced since they were not able to play much last year.
“That’s vital experience that we’re going to have to get quick,” she said.
With Hughes now playing at South Alabama, the Huskies will look to the likes of Hyde and junior Sarah Hindman to lead the pitching staff this spring. Neither has a ton of varsity experience, but Burt believes both are certainly capable of being rocks for which the team can lean on.
“They’re older, they’re mature, they understand that and they know what’s expected,” Burt said.
Other players returning that possess significant experience include junior catcher Riley Tyree and sophomore infielders Hannah Dorsett and Kenleigh Cahalan. All three of them were major forces not only last spring but also on the state championship team. Cahalan drove in 15 runs in the state tournament as an eighth grader.
Olivia Stults, Riley Rudick, Emily Onofry, Ana Henson, Rubie Simon, Gracie Reeves and Maddie Wallace are juniors and sophomores that have been in the program and will be called upon this year as well. Fresh-men Sara Phillips and Kate Hicks and eighth grader Zaylen Tucker are also on the varsity squad.
The Huskies will compete in a loaded Area 6 in 7A, with Hewitt-Trussville joined by Spain Park (which was 21-0 last year), an experienced Vestavia Hills and an always talented Oak Mountain squad.
“Our area’s going to be really tough this year,” Burt said.
Hewitt-Trussville wasted no time in testing itself at the outset of this season. The Huskies took on Mortimer Jordan and James Clemens to open the season in the middle of February. In March, Hewitt-Trussville will challenge itself with the likes of Hoover and Auburn while also jumping into area play.
Upon entering the Hewitt-Trussville locker room, straight ahead the eyes are met by the state championship trophy, which rests on a hanging shelf. The shelf is big enough to add another piece of hardware, and that’s the goal every year.
“Of course, to do it again,” Burt said.
