Hewitt-Trussville begins title quest as AHSAA area softball schedules set
It wasn’t the ending Hewitt-Trussville expected.
After winning Class 7A softball state championships in 2019 and 2021 — there was no 2020 championship because of the COVID-19 pandemic — the Huskies reached their third straight title series before falling to Thompson last season.
Hewitt-Trussville begins its quest for another shot at the title as softball area tournament play can begin today.
“We have a great group of seniors that have been a part of this program since my first year here as seventh graders,” said Hewitt-Trussville coach Taylor Burt. “Probably the smallest we’ve had in a while, but probably the most influential groups we have had. They’re just team first, incredible teammates, and want what is best for the program.”
The Class 7A second-ranked Huskies host Area 6 play beginning on May 2, taking on Oak Mountain.
The top two teams in each of 16 areas in Class 1A-6A and eight areas in Class 7A advance from the double-elimination tournament to one of four regionals set to begin play on May 9.
The North Regional is at Coffee O’Neal Park in Florence, East Regional at Albertville’s Sand Mountain Park, Central Regional at Montgomery’s Lagoon Park and South Regional at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.
Hewitt Trussville started slowly this season, posting a 4-4 record before winning 22 straight on its way to an undefeated area record.
“In the beginning we struggled with situational hitting,” Burt said. “Now, we are doing the little things right. As a program, in the past, we hit a lot of home runs, and we are still hitting the home runs this year. It’s just not something we can rely as heavily on. So we had to adjust our ability to situationally hit and play clean defense behind our pitching.”
The Huskies lost one of the top players in the nation when Kenleigh Cahalan decided to forego her senior season and enroll early at Alabama, where she’s second on the team with a .329 batting average.
Key senior Hannah Dorsett has started for the Huskies since the eighth grade. The left-handed leadoff hitter bats .513 with a .544 on-base, 60 hits and 44 stolen bases, all tops on the team.
“It’s going to take us peaking at the right moment to win again, getting hotter as the season goes on and not letting up,” Dorsett said. “This team is a lot of fun. We’re loud and obnoxious, we make up fun cheers and we make sure nobody is left out. No matter if you are having a good game or bad game, we want to bring the fun back into the game.”
See the complete area brackets below.
Class 7A area tournament brackets
Class 6A area tournament brackets
Class 5A area tournament brackets
Class 4A area tournament brackets
Class 3A area tournament brackets