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Photos by Kyle Parmley.
Hewitt-Trussville celebrates Chaney Peters (27) during the Gulf Coast Classic on March 27 at Gulf Shores Sportsplex in Gulf Shores.
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Photos by Kyle Parmley.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Zaylen Tucker (14).
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Photos by Kyle Parmley.
The Hewitt-Trussville High School softball team won the Gulf Coast Classic for the fifth straight time over spring break.
Winning is nothing new for the Hewitt-Trussville High School softball team.
The Huskies have won three of the last five state championships in Class 7A, consistently asserting themselves as one of the top programs in the state in recent years.
But each season is a building and growing process, and 2024 is no different.
The Huskies have started out strongly enough in the win column, getting their 20th win in the 24th game of the season. But back-to-back losses in early March (even if they were to powerhouses Thompson and Curry) had some people concerned.
They responded to those two losses with nine straight wins, then won the Gulf Coast Classic in Gulf Shores for the fifth straight time over spring break.
The final day of that tournament was a 12-hour day for the Huskies. Hewitt beat Southside-Gadsden in the morning and followed that up with wins over Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Hartselle and Thompson to win the title.
“It was a long day, but it was fun,” Hewitt head coach Taylor Burt said.
That day was important for Hewitt-Trussville in many respects.
For starters, the Huskies got contributions from everyone over the course of the day. Zaylen Tucker and Kate Hicks provided critical supplemental innings in the pitching circle, so Sara Phillips wasn’t overworked. Phillips was a key factor, both pitching and hitting. Infielder Peyton Hull stepped up when called upon, starting a few games and driving in three runs.
Corey Goguts hit three home runs on the day. Olivia Faggard, Chaney Peters, AhKeela Honeycutt and Lexie Kelly had big offensive days as well.
“We may be on our way to figuring it out. I’m proud of them,” Burt said.
The day also gave the Huskies some experience in a setting similar to the postseason, where multiple games held over long days are the norm.
“We played five games, and the length and time of day was almost exactly the same [as the postseason],” Burt said. “It’s about as comparable as we can get. Let’s face it, our postseason is survival of the fittest. We basically just played our state tournament on this side of the bracket.”
As the Huskies head toward what they hope to be another deep postseason run, that week in Gulf Shores provided belief that they are on the right track.
The road for Hewitt-Trussville will never be easy, no matter how good the Huskies are by the time the regular season concludes.
“It’s finding consistency in our bats and being able to find the right combination that works for us,” Burt said. “I’m sure the combination will be changing even in May.”
Burt has what she labels a “good problem” in the fact that the Huskies are a deep team with plenty of capable players. In order to make it all come together, that requires sacrifice from everyone.
“People may not be doing the things they want to, but accepting that role and us being able to be selfless and move forward [is required],” she said.
The Class 7A, Area 6 tournament will be played somewhere around April 26-30. The Huskies will need to either win or finish runner-up against Spain Park, Oak Mountain and Chelsea.
If they advance, they would head to the North Regional in Florence on May 6 to play against the top two from an area consisting of Austin, Bob Jones, Florence and James Clemens.
The top two from that regional are among the eight 7A teams at the state tournament, which will be played at Choccolocco Park in Oxford for the fourth year after relocating from Montgomery. The 7A state tournament is set for May 13 and 14.
