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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

ALABASTER – Ready to begin their journey towards another trip to the Class 6A state playoffs, the Helena Huskies began the season on a strong note in the Thompson Presidents Day Invitational with four consecutive wins over the Oak Mountain Eagles, Hazel Green Trojans, St. Clair County Fighting Saints and the Chilton County Tigers.

Helena began the season with a strong defensive performance against Oak Mountain on Thursday, Feb. 13.

The offensive production took a while to take place as things were at a stalemate for most of the game. That changed in the top of the fourth when Addison Draiss started the inning off with a double into left field, which was just the Huskies’ second hit of the game.

Lily Sanderson followed that at-bat with a ground ball to the shortstop and reached on an error. Then, with runners at the corners and no outs, Henley Traywick flew out to left field, but scored Draiss in from third base. Sanderson also came into score as well following an error on the throw in from the outfield, making it 2-0 Helena.

The Huskies firmly held onto the lead and secured three straight outs in the fifth inning to finish the game and secure the win.

Marlee Parsons pitched a complete game for Helena, recording a masterful 11 strikeouts and giving up no runs on one hit in her season debut.

The Huskies continued that momentum into game two of the day with another complete outing, this time against Hazel Green in a 7-3 win.

Macie Brashears led things off with some fireworks, as on the first pitch of the night, she sent the ball back up the middle and over the wall for a solo home run, giving Helena an early 1-0 lead.

That was not it though. In the top of the third with Baleigh Sprouse sitting on second base, Brashears hit a fly ball to right field that was caught, but it was enough to send Sprouse all the way home to extend the lead to 2-0. Later in the inning, Sanderson drove in another run for the Huskies with a double into center field to score Draiss from second base.

Carrington Schiefer continued the party in the third, as with runners on second and third, she singled to the Tojans’ pitcher, who committed an error and allowed both runs to score and make it 5-0.

Hazel Green stopped the damage, but could not get on the board until the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double and single in back-to-back plate appearances, bringing the score to 5-2.

Helena extended the lead back out to 7-2 when Sprouse knocked in two on a single to left field with the bases loaded and two outs. 

The Trojans would score one more run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Huskies ultimately capped off the 7-3 victory.

Hayden Traywick threw a complete game in the circle, throwing nine strikeouts and three walks while giving up three hits and three unearned runs.

Helena picked up exactly where it left off on Friday, Feb. 14 when it began the day with a statement 10-2 win over St. Clair County.

The Huskies once again kicked off the scoring in this one with a ground ball off the bat of Schiefer that resulted in an out, but drove in Henley Traywick from third base.

The Fighting Saints responded quickly in the top half of the third with a two-RBI line-drive single into center field, making it 2-1 in the blink of an eye.

No runs were scored again until the bottom of the fourth, but that is when Helena turned on the jets. With Draiss on third base, Henley Traywick laced a single into left field and drove in a run to tie things at two runs each.

Later in the inning, Tatum Cooper sent a line drive into left field with runners on first and second, recording a bases-clearing triple and making it a 4-2 game. Cooper was then brought in by a Hayden Traywick single into center field, extending the score to 5-2.

The scoring party was not finished just yet. Just two batters later with runners on first and second, Brashears doubled into left to score a run, handing the bat off to Draiss who hit a two-RBI single of her own to make it 8-2.

Henley Traywick closed the marathon out with a line drive into left field with two runners on, one that cleared the bases off of an error and increased the score to 10-2 in favor of the Huskies.

Helena then recorded the final three outs to end things and move to 3-0 on the invitational.

Schiefer picked up the win in this dominating win, surrendering two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

After that game, things died down for the Huskies in their final game of the two-day showcase. Nonetheless, they pulled out a 1-0 win over Chilton County.

This game saw both teams not be able to produce much of anything on the offensive side of the ball.

Helena made its move in the bottom of the fourth though, as Henley Traywick led the frame off with a walk. A double play on the following at-bat erased the free pass and set things back. Cooper and Hayden Traywick each responded to that with a single before a Gracie Storey walk loaded the bases.

Suddenly, an opportunity arose in the next at-bat, as Cooper saw a ball go by the Tigers’ catcher and scored to record the only run of the game. The Huskies then finished things off and finished the week off with a fourth win.

Up next for Helena is a date with the Pell City Panthers on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 4:30 p.m. at Pell City High School.