From Tribune staff reports
TRUSSVILLE — When Jeff Mauldin took over the Hewitt-Trussville High School baseball program in 2013, he promptly took the Huskies to the state championship series in his first season.
In Montgomery, they would face Pelham High School, the team Mauldin had left to move his wife, Chrissy, back home to Trussville.
The 2013 Panthers would deny their former skipper the state championship.
But on Tuesday night, the 2024 HTHS team took on Pelham in what would be a milestone win for their coach. The rabid pack of Huskies shutout the Panthers 11-0 and made Mauldin the youngest coach in Alabama history to win 700 games.
His career record now stands at 700-217-1.
Hewitt’s Christian Helmers took the mound and struck out 6 batters on his way to a no-hitter. Offensive power was supplied by UT Vol commitment Steele Hall who scored 3 runs on 3 hits for the night.
The Huskies’ Brett Moseley added 3 runs with his 2 hits while Cooper Huffman and Cameron Simpson combined for 3 RBI in the winning effort.
Mauldin became just the sixth coach in Alabama high school history to reach 700 wins and he accomplished the milestone as the youngest coach ever to do so. His 76% winning percentage is the highest among the six coaches.
Mauldin has won 306 games in his 12 seasons at Hewitt-Trussville. He won 176 games at Pelham from 2007-2012 and he won 218 games at Clay-Chalkville where he began his coaching career.
Hewitt-Trussville Athletic Director and data digger extraordinaire Lance Walker complied a lengthy list of Mauldin’s career accomplishments;
Coaching Highlights
Career Record 700-217-1
Winning Percentage .763
2 State Championships (2003, 2016)
5 State Runner-up (2005, 2006, 2013, 2018 and 2022)
9 Final Four Appearances (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022)
15 Area Championships in 24 years
18 State playoff appearances in 24 years
Over 120 players played at the college level
11 players drafted in Major League Baseball Draft
8 former assistants went on to be head coaches at high school level
Coaching Honors
2001 North-South All-Star Coach
2002 Jefferson County 6A Coach of the Year
2003 Alabama Sports Writers 6A Coach of the Year
Birmingham News East, West and North Coach of the Year
Alabama High School Athletic Association 6A Coach of the Year
Jefferson County 6A Coach of the Year
2005 Jefferson County 6A Coach of the Year
2006 Jefferson County 6A Coach of the Year
2009 North-South All-Star Coach
2013 Birmingham News Coach of the Year
2016 Alabama Sports Writers 7A Coach of the Year
Alabama High School Athletic Association 7A Coach of the Year
Al.Com Birmingham/Central Alabama All-Region Coach of the Year
National High School Federation Alabama Coach of the Year
National High School Federation South Sectional Coach of the Year which includes:
(Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee)