By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE — The Huskies are rolling at the Hewitt Invitational, with players hitting six home runs in the last two games against Helena and Hoover, and will play Austin at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Hewitt-Trussville 7, Hoover 5
Kenleigh Cahalan hit her second dinger of the tournament as part of a five-run burst in the third inning against Hoover that put Hewitt-Trussville on top, 6-5 after Hoover exploded for five runs in the first two innings and chased starter Kate Hicks. Sophomore hurler Sara Phillips came on in the third and pitched four shutout innings against the Bucs to secure the win.
Phillips also hit her second homer in two games, and sophomore third baseman Olivia Faggard went yard, too.
“She threw me a low, inside changeup, and I had been struggling a little bit the last few games,” Faggard said. “I went up there confident and … she threw me my pitch.”
The Huskies avenged a February 23 loss to the Bucs, when a baserunning error cost Hewitt-Trussville and the girls fell 4-3.
Hewitt-Trussville added another run in the top of the sixth for the 7-5 victory.
Hewitt-Trussville 3, Helena 1
Phillips made one mistake over the course of a complete-game seven innings, and Helena’s Cam Bailey made her pay with a home run in the bottom of the third.
“It was just one of those pitches that didn’t go right, and I had to let it go and bounce back off of it,” Phillips said.
The Huskies had taken the lead by manufacturing a run in the first when Hannah Dorsett stole second and advanced to third on a Riley Tyree single to shallow left. A sacrifice fly by Riley Rudick scored Dorsett to stake Hewitt to a 1-0 lead at the end of the first.
Phillips helped herself in the fourth, driving a ball deep over the left-field wall and re-taking the lead for the Huskies, 2-1. Cahalan dug in and drove a shot that landed somewhere in St. Clair County. (OK, that’s exaggeration for effect: The ball actually cleared the scoreboard and then shattered the windshield of a car parked behind it.)
“Every time we play them it’s a great ball game,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Taylor Burt said. “They’re great competition and we don’t shy away from competition. They’ve got some good ballplayers, so this was a good win for us.”