If there were ever any question as to why softball is a big deal in north Jefferson and southwest Blount counties, one need only look at the list of players we’ve selected for the 2012 edition of The North Jefferson News All-Star Team.
Four of them were also named to the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s all-state first teams, and one more received an honorable mention.
All five of the public high schools in our area advanced to the regional tournament round of the AHSAA playoffs for the first time since that format was introduced in 2007.
And then, there’s that McCleney girl.
The choice of Haylie McCleney as the most valuable player on our list is undoubtedly the easiest we’ve ever made. An outfielder on Mortimer Jordan teams for five years and a starter for four, she has a collection of three state championship rings, and has appeared in the last five Class 5A state title games.
She easily broke the state single-season record for highest batting average, hitting .692 this season. She struck out only once all year, and stole 65 bases in 66 attempts, including 60 straight successful steals.
If she’s good enough to be named Miss Softball by the ASWA and Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year by ESPN, and also good enough to be signed by Pat Murphy and the NCAA champions at Alabama, then she’s certainly the best in our list.
But this year’ team is hardly a case of McCleney and some also-rans.
Blue Devil pitcher Bailey Murphy didn’t even join the team full time until North Jefferson Middle School completed its own season. But when the eighth-grader moved up to varsity, her effect was immediate — the Devils did not lose a game in which she pitched until they reached the state tournament. She was one of only two eighth graders named to the ASWA all-state first team, and the only one in recent memory who did not play most of the season for her team.
Jordan’s Shelby Maze earned an all-state honorable mention. And her dad, Devils first-year coach Shawn Maze, is our Coach of the Year for leading Jordan to the state championship game, in a year when many pundits thought Jordan would miss a trip to Lagoon Park for the first time in nearly a decade. The Devils’ Alyson Linn is also an All-Star selection.
Corner’s Jordan Entrekin, named to the all-state first team in Class 4A as a second baseman, joins teammate Madison McCormack on our squad.
Katie Parr, the pitcher/third baseman for Hayden who also made the 5A all-state team, is an All-Star choice as well. She joins fellow pitcher Caitlin Kirkland on a Wildcat team that made its first-ever regional.
Gardendale’s big-swinging trio of Sara Beth Williamson, Bragan Burns and Chelsey Deloney also made our team, along with Fultondale catcher Sarah Day and pitcher Katrina Hubbard.
Local Sports
The NJN All-Star Softball Team: Diamond Jewels
McCleney leads one of our strongest All-Star Teams ever
- Local Sports
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State softball tournament: Hayden 3, Saraland 2 (10 innings)
Brooke Meadows hit a lead-off double, then scored the winning run when Meleah Hargett bunted her way on base as Hayden defeated Saraland 3-2 in 10 innings in the quarterfinal round of the AHSAA Class 5A state softball tournament.
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State softball tournament: Hayden 12, Shelby County 0 (6 innings)
Hayden has advanced to the winner's bracket second round of the AHSAA Class 5A state softball tournament, thanks to a 12-0 beatdown of Shelby County that ended after six innings.
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State softball tournament: Corner eliminated by Oak Grove
After breezing through their regional qualifying tournament without a loss, then dispensing with a top-10 opponent in the first round of the state tournament, Corner’s softball team showed all the appearances of a juggernaut headed for a big finish to the season.
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Regional softball qualifiers: Corner, Hayden advance to state tournament
Corner took the express lane, while Hayden took the back roads with lots of twists and turns.
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Baseball playoff semifinals: Hartselle 7-10, Pinson Valley 2-0
Pinson Valley’s pitching had no answer for Hartselle’s bats.
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Boys soccer semifinals: St. Paul's Episcopal 2,Pinson Valley 1 (shootout)
Pinson Valley’s boys soccer team has seen this show before, and it wasn’t any better the second time.
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Softball regionals: Tuscaloosa in rain delay
The opening of the AHSAA North Central Regional Softball Tournament will not get started on time, thanks to rain in the Tuscaloosa area.
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Gardendale athletes sign scholarships at annual ceremony
Eleven graduating senior athletes at Gardendale High School were honored Thursday night in the school's annual scholarship signing ceremony.
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Softball: Regional tournament schedules for local teams
Here are the schedules for the first two rounds of play by local teams in Friday’s AHSAA regional softball tournaments.
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Baseball playoff quarterfinals: Pinson Valley 4, Southside-Gadsden 3
Pinson Valley pitcher Bailey Chesser didn’t sleep much Friday night, in anticipation of his call to the mound for the deciding game of the Indians’ Class 5A quarterfinal playoff series against Southside-Gadsden.
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