By Gary Lloyd
Hewitt-Trussville is the Class 6A, Area 12 champion.
The No. 9 Hewitt-Trussville baseball team swept a doubleheader at area opponent Gardendale on Friday, 10-3 and 7-3.
Junior Alec Talley and senior Bill Brown earned wins in the doubleheader. Talley tossed a complete game five-hitter, allowing three runs while striking out six. Brown pitched 4 2/3 of no-hit baseball in the second game, but walked nine while striking out eight batters. He allowed one run on a wild pitch.
Junior Riley Stokes had five RBIs in the doubleheader. Sophomore Carter Pharis was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run in the first game. His brother, senior Will Pharis, was 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the second game.
The win in the latter game gave Hewitt-Trussville (23-9) its first area championship since the late 1990s. Hewitt-Trussville will host the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs April 19-20 against either Vestavia Hills or Mountain Brook.
Hewitt-Trussville lost 7-2 at home to Gardendale Tuesday, a loss that meant the Huskies needed to sweep the doubleheader at Gardendale to win the area championship.
“I’m just proud of the way they separated Tuesday night to tonight,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Jeff Mauldin said after the doubleheader.
Mauldin said the team didn’t change anything between the Tuesday loss and the Friday doubleheader. He said it was “business as usual.”
“The situation does not dictate what we do,” he said.
No. 10 Pinson Valley (21-10) clinched a Class 5A state playoff spot last week when it beat Class 5A, Area 11 opponent Springville, 9-2. The Indians host area foe Moody Tuesday at 6 p.m. and travel to Moody on Thursday for a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m.
Clay-Chalkville (21-8) last week swept a Class 6A, Area 13 doubleheader at Pell City, 10-1 and 11-1. Those wins give the Cougars the top spot in the area with a 3-1 record. Pell City is 2-2, and Oxford and Gadsden City are 1-2
. Clay-Chalkville hosts Gadsden City on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. and travels to Gadsden City on Thursday for a 4:30 p.m. doubleheader.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.