OXFORD – Despite a winning pedigree that includes a Class 6A state championship two years ago and a state runner-up finish last year, tempered expectations greeted a young Athens High school softball team when this season opened.
The Golden Eagles entered 2024 with a roster littered with not just underclassmen but three players not even in high school yet. They also had other ideas than rebuilding.
Last Wednesday at Choccolocco Park, Athens defeated rival Hartselle 12-9 in an “if necessary” game to claim its second Alabama High School Athletic Association championship in two years, first since 2010 and third fast-pitch title overall. The Golden Eagles also won state slow-pitch championships in 1989, 1990 and 1999.
“I’m just so proud of a team that nobody expected us to be here,” Athens coach Travis Barnes said, “and to win the state championship is just really, really special.”
The Golden Eagles (29-14) defeated Hartselle (38-15-1) three times in the tournament, first in the championship bracket final and then in the championship after the Lady Tigers forced a second game. But Athens prevailed with a blend of older and younger players contributing.
“I still think I’m a little in shock,” Barnes said following the final win. “This team, they just showed a lot of grit, showed a lot of determination. They’re real close. They got a lot of good chemistry and you know, just battling in the circle after losing that first game the way we did, just for them to battle back, I had no doubt that they would battle back in the second game.”
Athens fielded just two seniors — Morgan Stiles and Carly Ennis, named the 6A tournament Most Valuable Player — in addition to four sophomores, three eighth-graders and a seventh-grader.
“During the game I looked up on the (score) board,” Barnes said. “I see seventh-grader, eighth-grader, eighth-grader, so we are young. We got just about the perfect mix of veteran players and young players. So the veteran players kind of show the younger players what it’s like to get here and just when you get here, anything can happen.”
WINNER’S BRACKET FINAL
Athens 11, Hartselle 1: Sophomore Caitlyn Tedford went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Stiles had three RBIs while sophomore Charlie Barnes, Ennis and seventh-grader Jessica Waggoner added two hits each. Sophomore Camry Townsend pitched six innings to earn the win.
FINALS
Hartselle 18-8: Brit Godfrey had four hits and six RBIs, and K.J. Prather went 5-for-5 for the Tigers.
Athens 12-9: Junior Lily Lowery pitched a complete game. Tedford went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while eighth-grader Kara Crews and Stiles drove in two runs apiece. Ennis, the tournament MVP, finished 2-for-3 with one RBI and three runs scored.
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