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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

Stepping into the weekend with high expectations, the Helena Huskies gave it their all in three competitive contests and started the season off strong with two wins and a loss in the PBR Classic.

The Huskies recorded a 2-1 record in the three-game event, notching wins over the Vestavia Hills Rebels and Gardendale Rockets before dropping their final game to the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies.

Helena’s season began with a tight defensive battle on Thursday, Feb. 13 against Vestavia Hills at Vestavia Hills High School, one that did not see a lot of scoring.

The action started early in the bottom of the first inning, as the Rebels looked to set an early tone for the season.

After recording an error that saw Vestavia get a runner on second, Huskies’ starting pitcher Brayden Dockery gave up a hard ground ball up the middle into center field, scoring the runner and making it 1-0.

Helena did not let that deficit stay for long however. After getting out of the inning, Lane Harris got things going for his offense in the top of the second with a line-drive single into right field. A couple of batters later with two outs, Sam Odom hit a line drive into center field before handing the bat off to Nate Jones, who drove Harris in with a ground ball into center field to tie it at one run each.

Things stayed in a standoff from that point on, until the Huskies finally broke the ice with a Nick Peters solo home run to begin the sixth inning, making the score 2-1. 

Helena’s pitching staff and defense secured that lead safely, and after a lead-off single to begin the bottom of the seventh, it recorded a double play and flyout to earn the 2-1 victory.

Justin Mullenix walked away as the winning pitcher with 2.1 innings pitched, giving up no runs on two hits and recording one strikeout.

Helena came back the next day with a completely different performance, showing off its bats on Friday, Feb. 14 in a 10-8 win over Gardendale at Gardendale High School.

The Huskies kicked things off early in the top of the first with an RBI double into center field from Peters, driving in Jarret Scott and advancing Braydon Kendrick, claiming an early 1-0 lead.

That momentum stayed into the top of the second, as Brett Cannon hit a high sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Jonathon Roberto to extend things to 2-0. That lead slipped away in the bottom half however, as the Rockets tied it back up with back-to-back hit batters with the bases loaded.

Gardendale then used those mistakes as fuel in the bottom of the third to take a two-run lead after a sac fly and a solo home run.

Helena answered back in the top of the fourth with some noise. With two outs and a runner on second, Cannon came up big once again with an RBI double into right field, and later scored himself thanks to a triple into right field off the bat of Scott. Suddenly, it was 4-4.

The Rockets did not let that stay for long though, adding two more runs in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly, an RBI single into center field and a score off of a fielding error, making it 7-4.

The Huskies did not let that damper their offense and made their mark in the top of the fifth. Standing on third base with one out and Odom at the plate, Peters scored on a passed ball, while Davis Kelley advanced to third. Odom then hit a sac fly to right field, cutting the game to 7-6.

Later in the inning, three doubles from Jones, Cannon and Kendrick scored four more runs for Helena, blowing this game open and giving it a 10-7 lead in the blink of an eye.

The Huskies tightly held onto that advantage, and while they gave up one run in the bottom of the seventh, they improved to 2-0 with a hard-fought 10-8 victory.

Brody Butler recorded the electric win with three innings of work, giving up one run on three hits with three punchouts and two walks. Scott made the save, being the pitcher responsible for the final out.

That offensive power did not translate to the team’s finale though, dropping a 5-2 contest later that day to Hewitt-Trussville in a game that saw Helena give up three runs in the first inning.

PJ Guy’s squad now looks to earn its second win of the season over Vestavia Hills, as the Huskies will travel back to Vestavia Hills High School for a rematch on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m.