Hewitt-Trussville Huskies ready for an encore performance
TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (BVM) — On May 20, 2019, the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies won their first AHSAA state softball championship. After falling into the elimination bracket in the first day of competition, they responded by winning six straight games to take home the title.
On March 18, 2020, the AHSAA shut down spring sports following an eruption of COVID-19 nationwide, prematurely ending the season for the Huskies. No chance to defend their throne, and two high school seniors’ careers ended prematurely.
“I had a really strong relationship with these two, we talked about how there’ll be tough breaks in life and this is one of those situations, probably one of the worst they’ll ever have,” said head coach Taylor Burt. “You just have to be selfless and understand it was for the greater good.”
Now nearly a year later in February of 2021, the Huskies will finally be retaking the field for a chance to repeat as state champions. The softball season will officially get underway, and although the girls’ previous season was canceled midway through, they will enter the season prepared. For champions, there’s no such thing as an offseason.
“A lot of these girls play summer league travel ball,” Burt said. “And they just do a lot of work on their own. They take a lot of accountability for their game.”
Though this time around, their team will look a lot different from their 2019 champion team. Since then, they’ve lost seven seniors, all of whom were starters. Their two seniors from the 2020 class were important ones, too, as they both will be college baseball freshmen this season.
But Coach Burt says this year they just reloaded on talent. After flying under the radar until 2019, the Huskies now have a target on their back. As state champs, they’ll need to bring their best every night in order to win in the competitive region they play in. Everybody will want to get a piece of them.
“Scoring lots of runs (will be our identity). Our defense will be good too making plays behind our pitchers,” Burt said. “But scoring lots of runs and putting the pressure on our opponent to do the same.”
Burt says their one-through-five hitters match up with any top five in the state. They return Crystal Maze who, during 2019’s state championship games, was 4-7 from the plate with three RBIs in each game, winning series MVP. They also return Kenleigh Cahalan who was 5-for-7 with six RBIs in those games.
These two, along with the rest of the Huskies, will have to play up to the hype this year in their extremely difficult region. This region includes Spain Park, last year’s 7A top-ranked team, who was 21-0 when the season got canceled, as well as Vestavia Hills and Oak Mountain, a top team from 6A moving up to 7A.
“Playing better teams gets you prepared for the playoffs, I guess,” Burt said. “Our region is the most challenging it’s ever been. You have to beat the best to be the best is the motto we are kind of going by.”
With a full season to go before the state tournament, Burt realizes that beyond the physical abilities of her team, they’ll have to improve mentally in order to be state champions once again. Staying in the right mindset when the season becomes a drag, coming to practice working hard every day and working on consistency.
With last season’s shutdown now behind them, this shouldn’t be a problem. Burt mentioned how the players are now more appreciative to be at practice, just having fun and working on their skills.
In this day and time the future is never promised, so expect the Huskies to make the most of the present.
