BY DANIEL LOCKE
FOR THE OBSERVER
BEAUREGARD —
Softball season continues to ramp up as April moves along and the postseason is not far away. The Beauregard Hornets are improved from last season and have won four of their last five games.
Beauregard hosted its annual invitational tournament this past weekend at the Auburn Softball Complex and went 4-1 on the weekend. The Hornets defeated Montgomery Catholic, 5-3; 5A No. 3-ranked Moody, 16-9; 5A No. 1-ranked Brewbaker Tech, 17-6; and 6A No. 9-ranked Saraland, 2-1. The Hornets lost 4-3 to 7A No. 10 Auburn in the tournament championship game.
“Our two pitchers pitched five good ballgames,” said head coach Scott Meadows. “Our defense was not perfect but it was better than it had been for several weeks. What we are struggling with there is we don’t have any depth, so there is not much competition for playing time. If you don’t have someone pushing you for your job, it takes a true competitor to practice well day in and day out in my opinion.”
Pitchers Hannah Parham and Raegan Brooks recorded two wins and eight strikeouts each in the tournament. The Hornets were led at the plate by freshman Mary Payton Dees, senior Bailey Abernathy, junior Berkley Wilson and sophomore Aubryn Sward. Dees had eight hits including four doubles and four RBIs. Abernathy had six hits including a home run and five RBIs. Wilson had five hits including two doubles and a home run with three RBIs. Sward had five hits including a home run and five RBIs.
The tournament provided a good opportunity for the Hornets to compete against solid competition and will have a positive effect on the team, Meadows explained.
“We saw four really strong teams,” Meadows said. “We beat three of them and came up just short in the championship game against Auburn. They should be more confident now, and as I have said all along, if we can ever put it all together, we can compete for a regional spot.”
Beauregard plays in a tough region, so seeing more skilled teams in regular season play will help the team maintain a high level of play as the season starts to wind down.
“Our area is tough,” Meadows said. “Elmore County and Tallassee are tied right now at the top.”
Meadows recognizes that the team still has some work to do despite seeing some success lately.
“We must push ourselves to get better each day,” Meadows said. “We need the leaders to take charge even when they are not having their best day. I still love the team chemistry and how they get along so well.”
The Hornets had a road contest against Smiths Station this week and will head to Albertville for a tournament this weekend with postseason play just over a week out.
