By Erik Harris, sports editor
TRUSSVILLE – Hewitt-Trussville High School honored a talented group of student-athletes on Monday night.
On a proud evening for coaches, parents, family and friends, 12 Husky seniors took center stage in the school’s auditorium for a scholarship signing ceremony. Among those honored were five softball players, two cross country runners, a pair of baseball players, one girls basketball player, one track and field athlete and one golfer.
“When I look down the row at these 12 students in the six sports that they represent, it’s really exciting for me because I feel like all six of these teams have a chance to win a state championship for us this year,” said Hewitt-Trussville Athletics Director Lance Walker. “And a big part of the reason we can do that is because of the 12 people that are sitting here.”
Among the five signees representing head coach Taylor Burt’s softball team were shortstop Anyce Harvey (Middle Tennessee State University), outfielder Katelyn Murphy (Birmingham Southern), infielder Crystal Maze (Troy), first baseman Madison Mitchell (Birmingham Southern) and catcher Jenna Lord (Alabama).
“This group was my first freshman class here at Hewitt-Trussville and they give us 13 girls in the last four years that have signed to go on to play at the next level,” said Burt. “I think that is an incredible accomplishment. They are the beginning of our success and will help continue to bring success to our program.”
Most of that group helped lead Hewitt-Trussville to its first Class 7A state softball championship in 2019.
Cross country duo Nathan Knox and Aaron Himes will race for a state crown this weekend at Oakville Indian Mounds Park. Himes, a Lee University commit, finished 12th overall at the Class 7A, Section 3 Meet in Hoover last week. Knox, who plans to sign with UAH, finished up at 16th to help the Huskies qualify for state.
“I want to thank all the coaches I’ve had, especially coach Dobbs, for always being there getting me to not just where I am athletically, but also as a person,” said Knox.
Hewitt-Trussville head baseball coach Jeff Mauldin took a minute to recognize his two signees: pitcher Skylar Jones (Chattahoochee Valley Community College) and center fielder Trey Burrell (Grambling State).
“We’re looking for big things out of him this year,” said Mauldin of Burrell. “He’s probably one of the top 2021 outfielders in our state, he’s going to do great things at the next level, but he’s got one thing left to do and that’s to put a ring on his finger as a state champion this year.”
“He’s been our No. 1 pitcher the last couple of years,” said Mauldin of Jones. “He has never lost a game he has started for Hewitt-Trussville. He won every game he pitched as a sophomore, he won every game as a junior and that’s pretty remarkable with the competition that we play.”
All-state basketball forward Amiya Payne also had a seat at the table Monday night. Her head coach, Tonya Hunter, expects the Middle Tennessee State commit to eclipse 1,600 career points and 500 career rebounds this season as a senior. To get there, Hunter says to look no further than Payne’s work ethic.
“Me reading these credentials doesn’t tell you how long I see her in the gym,” said Hunter. “She’s in there before practice, she goes to the civic center, she’s putting in the time and she has earned everything.”
The lone track and field athlete on stage Monday night was Alabama pledge Julian Collins, who finished as an individual state champion in the long jump as a sophomore. His junior season was cut short due to COVID-19.
Hewitt-Trussville golfer Cole Davidson plans to sign with Auburn.
“You can measure how far somebody hits a golf ball, but you can’t measure character and integrity and passion — Cole’s got each of those attributes,” said head golf coach Steve Patrick. “He’s worked really hard to get where he is and he deserves to have his goals and dreams come true. He has all the ingredients that I know of to be successful in life and I believe he will be.”
Patrick also mentioned a second senior — Ethan Hacker (Huntingdon College) — who plans on signing a golf scholarship this year, but was unable to be in attendance Monday night.