By Erik Harris, sports editor
A pair of local softball teams have swept through their respective area tournaments this week, with Class 7A Hewitt-Trussville winning the Area 6 crown and Class 6A Springville cruising to an Area 13 title.
See full recaps below.
Class 7A, Area 6 Tournament
The Vestavia Hills Rebels ran into a big red wall of offense on Friday in the Class 7A, Area 6 tournament championship game at Spain Park High School. The wall came in the shape of a Hewitt-Trussville Husky and its foundation — sophomore Kenleigh Cahalan — was quite strong.
Cahalan followed her two-home run, four-RBI winner’s bracket outing on Thursday with another pair of shots and six RBIs on Friday, as Hewitt-Trussville ran away with a 21-6 win in four innings. As a team, the No. 1-ranked Huskies piled up 24 hits, including three home runs, five doubles from five different players and one triple from Katelyn Murphy. Hewitt provided run support in all four innings, punctuated by an eight-run fourth.
Take a look at Hewitt’s eye-popping individual numbers:
- Anyce Harvey 5-for-5 with four RBIs and a homer
- Hannah Dorsett 4-for-4 with three RBIs
- Cahalan 3-for-3 with six RBIs and two home runs
- Jenna Lord two hits and two runs scored
- Riley Rudick two hits and two runs scored
- Murphy 3-for-4 with a triple and three runs scored
- Rubie Simon 3-for-3 with two RBIs
The Area 6 champions won three straight in the league tournament this week over Vestavia Hills 2-1, Spain Park 7-4 and again over the Rebels 21-6. Hewitt-Trussville looks next at the East Central Regional in Montgomery and a Friday matchup with Central-Phenix City.
Class 6A, Area 13 Tournament
No. 4-ranked Springville strung together three straight victories to claim the Area 13 tournament championship this week. In the championship finale on Friday, the tournament host Tigers rolled by Southside-Gadsden 14-4 in six innings.
Freshman Bella Bullington earned the win in four-plus innings pitched with five strikeouts, two walks and four earned runs allowed. Reagan Cornelius closed things out with 1 ⅓ shutout innings. The senior fanned three and surrendered one hit to punctuate the championship win.
For Springville, Tori Barnes doubled and finished with three RBIs while Layla Bradshaw drove in one run on three hits. Makalyn Kyser went 2-for-2 with a homer and two RBIs. Mckenzie Brown also finished with two hits and as many RBIs for the Tigers, who advance into the East Central Regional next week.