Photo courtesy of Allyson Ritenour.
The Berry Middle School softball team won the Metro South Conference tournament April 9.
The Berry Middle School softball team was determined to make amends this spring.
After losing to Hewitt-Trussville last spring in the Metro South Tournament championship game, the Jaguars flipped the script April 9. Berry knocked off the Huskies 8-3 to cap off a perfect tournament run and deliver the third conference title in program history.
“They went into that tournament and were like, ‘We’re winning it,’” Berry head coach Allyson Ritenour said.
The Jags made good on their word.
Berry began the tournament April 8 in a 12-2 win over Homewood. In that game, Teagan Huey hit a solo home run and drove in a pair of runs in the game, with Kaylynn Nutter driving home two runs as well. Five other Jags notched runs batted in, while Jaley Young threw four innings in the circle. Young allowed two runs on three hits, piling up seven strikeouts in the start of a stellar run of pitching for her in the tournament.
The following day, the Jags had to pick up three wins to take the title. They began the day with a 7-0 win over Bragg, the school Berry defeated in 2016 to earn the program’s first Metro South trophy. Young put forth a dominant effort in that contest, allowing just three hits and striking out eight in five shutout innings. Allie Whitaker hit a home run and led the team with three RBIs, with Nutter tallying two more. Hailey Nichols, who caught every game of the tournament for Berry, knocked home a run of her own.
In the tournament semifinals, Berry took down Thompson 4-1, in a contest of the two teams battling for the top seed all regular season. The Jags scored twice in the first inning on Briley Easton’s single and held the lead the whole way. Easton hit a two-run double in the fourth inning, driving in all of Berry’s runs in the contest. Young was strong yet again, allowing a run on six hits in her five innings.
Hewitt-Trussville pushed through the loser’s bracket to reach the final against Berry, needing to win twice to earn its second straight Metro South title. But the Jags put up five runs in the first on the way to an 8-3 win.
Young’s two-run double got the scoring started in the first inning, and she drove in another run later in the game. She went the full seven innings in the circle as well, allowing the three runs on seven hits, piling up seven strikeouts. Klara Thompson tallied two hits and two stolen bases and knocked in a run.
“I knew right after tryouts, there was something special about this team,” Ritenour said. “It was such a fun group. They had a lot of love for each other. They worked really hard; they played tough every play.”
Young was named the MVP of the tournament and was All-Metro South for the season, along with Whitaker, who played shortstop. Huey and Thompson, also infielders for the Jags, made the all-tournament team.
Reagan Roberts and Olivia Zajac also started throughout the tournament, with Bella Angelone, Lexie Beard, Hayden Burns, Josie Provost, Skylar Simpkins and Zadi Thompson-McWhorter also contributing to the team throughout the season.
