By Erik Harris
TRUSSVILLE — There might be something wrong with this picture.
Hewitt-Trussville, who occupied the top spot of the Class 7A state rankings for three consecutive weeks, is 16-7. All but one of the Huskies’ losses came against teams currently ranked in the top three of the state in either the Class 6A or Class 7A Alabama Sports Writers Association polls.
To this point, the Huskies have notched wins over Class 6A No. 6 Briarwood Christian, Class 6A No. 7 Homewood, Class 5A No. 6 Etowah and Class 5A No. 9 Helena. They’ve also found a pair of wins over two teams – Grissom and Sparkman – currently knocking on the door of the Class 7A poll.
During the week of spring break, Hewitt-Trussville stepped outside the Alabama High School Athletic Association footprint to compete in a national tournament in Bradenton, Fla. Head coach Jeff Mauldin saw his team work its way to a fourth place finish at the IMG Academy National Classic, which occupied some of the stiffest competition available.
The Huskies are considered one of the toughest outs in the state. However, Hewitt-Trussville, ranked No. 4 in the latest Class 7A poll, has a major problem.
The three teams currently ranked ahead of them all reside in Class 7A’s Area 6. That’s right, the top four teams in Area 6 are considered the top four teams in Alabama, according to last week’s rankings, and only half of them can reach postseason play. Two of the top four teams in the state will not be invited to this year’s playoffs.
“There’s going to be 16 teams make the playoffs and we feel like at least 10, we’ll be better than they, but it’s kind of the hand we were dealt and we’ve got to live with that,” Mauldin said.
After an 18-13 loss at the hands of area foe No. 1 Mountain Brook on Thursday, Mauldin’s team has been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. The defeat gave the Huskies an 0-4 mark in area play. Mountain Brook is 4-0 in the area, Vestavia Hills is 3-1 and Spain Park is 1-3.
“I’d rather be in a tough area and lose out than just get cake walks,” said Hewitt-Trussville sophomore Grayson Cash. “It’s the best area in the state.”
The Huskies got league play off to a rocky start, being swept in two games by No. 3 Vestavia Hills. Mountain Brook sealed their fate with another two-game sweep.
“One moment you’re on top of the world thinking, ‘We’re in this thing,’ and then the next moment you’re feeling lost as a team,” said Hewitt-Trussville senior catcher Cyle Moore.
Hewitt-Trussville begins a series with No. 2 Spain Park on Tuesday, but there will be nothing more than pride on the line for those in red.
“We just have to forget about it and play for fun now, just play to win and just do what you can to have fun,” Moore said.
Mauldin feels like change is needed in order to avoid this problem in the future.
“I think there’s some better ways to do it,” Mauldin said of the Class 7A playoffs system. “We hope that they look at it.”
He doesn’t stand alone it that belief.
“I’ve talked to Mountain Brook’s coach and Vestavia’s and Spain Park’s, we’ve all been talking over the past several weeks (about) us coming up with some proposals to maybe make it a little bit better, not for just us, but for all the 7A schools,” Mauldin said.
There seems to be an imbalance of the playoff criteria among Class 7A and the other six classifications, and that’s what has coaches concerned.
“We just want it to be more consistent across the state,” Mauldin said. “(1A) through 6A, it’s consistent. 7A is not, and they can’t tell us that it is.”
The consistency he’s referring to stems from the fact that every classification other than Class 7A gets 32 teams in the playoffs. Only 16 Class 7A programs reach postseason play. Class 7A also plays through one fewer round of playoffs than the other six classifications.
Seeing change for the 2016 season seems unlikely, but the members of Area 6 intend to pursue adjustments sooner rather than later.
“There are some ways to make it to where everybody is doing the exact same thing,” Mauldin said.