RCHS, Woodland taking young teams to Choccolocco for state softball tournament
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RCHS defeated Ohatchee 19-4 to earn its spot in the class 3A state tournament for the second straight season.
This is a story about two county teams that will be playing in this year’s state softball tournament. So don’t fall asleep or get distracted when you read the next sentence.
RCHS has just one senior on its team, and Woodland has just two.
For a pair of programs that are relative newcomers to the state tournament stage, making the second of back-to-back appearances at Choccolocco Park with teams virtually devoid of seniors feels not like the end or even the middle of something.
It feels like the beginning.
Both programs have been building to this point for a long time. Woodland made the state tournament with a senior-heavy team in 2023 then needed a couple of years to rebuild back to that level. The last two seasons have been remarkably similar, with Woodland falling to Maplesville in the regional both years before clawing back through the losers bracket to punch their ticket.
Prior to last year RCHS couldn’t quite climb that mountain, even with a pair of Division I players in Brantlee Wortham and Talee Sims on the roster. But they broke through in dramatic fashion a season ago, then cruised into the final eight with a 19-4 run-rule win over Ohatchee in the East Regional in Albertville.
Even though the rosters of these two teams are sparsely populated with seniors, that’s not to say that those three players aren’t important.
Gracie Huckeba is RCHS’s starting shortstop and leadoff hitter. She is heading to Southern Union to continue her softball career next season. She is hitting .494 with a 1.419 OPS and leads the team with 64 runs scored and 29 stolen bases. She’s good. And she’s a major part of the team’s success.
She even admitted in a heartfelt Facebook post last Friday that she was fully aware of her sole-senior status, and she provided fascinating insight into how her feelings about being in that role evolved over the course of the season. You can read that full post by clicking here, and I encourage you do so.
Woodland celebrated its second straight berth in the state tournament following its win over Fayetteville in Montgomery last week.
Kinsley McDaniel and Emma Elsberry are critical parts of the Woodland lineup, with Elsberry often batting third in the order and playing right field in a way that keeps things worry free. McDaniel was one of the unsung heroes of last year’s playoff run, and she has gotten hot this postseason as well. She went 10-for-16 in last week’s regional and also has third base locked down defensively.
Without those players these teams would very likely not be where they are at this point in the season.
It’s also exciting to look at the rest of these rosters and let your mind wander about what the future may hold, especially in a state tournament that after this year will not include any private schools.
Sophomore Hannah Parmer leads a young RCHS lineup that also features leadoff-hitter-in-waiting Bryer Thompson, an eighth grader. Parmer absolutely erupted in the regional tournament last week, going 10-for-14 with four home runs and 21 RBI in four games.
Both she and Thompson are batting an even .500 this season, but they have achieved that number in vastly different ways.
Parmer is slugging 1.022, and after her offensive outburst in Albertville now has 9 home runs and 62 RBI this season. She also has struck out just three times in 107 plate appearances this season. Two of those strikeouts were looking, which – based on Parmer’s command of the strike zone and ability to make contact – makes you think the umpires may have gotten those two calls wrong.
Thompson also played well in the regional as she went 6-for-9 with five walks and scored eight runs. But she’s a left-handed slap hitter and most of those six hits never left the infield, a tribute to her quickness on the bases. Thompson’s on-base percentage is .657 for the year. She has 37 hits this season and all of them are singles.
Huckeba, Thompson and Parmer form a formidable first three for the Lady Tiger lineup, but the top seven hitters in RCHS’s starting nine are hitting .391 or better. The team scored 44 runs in its four regional games last week and averages over 10 runs a game this season.
For Woodland, sophomore Alyssa Taylor sets the tone at the top of the Bobcats lineup. More recognizable by her nickname “Sassy,” she lives up to that moniker with her laid back, carefree style of play on the field. She leads Woodland regulars with a .486 average, 3 home runs and 31 RBI, and her 1.401 OPS is far and away the highest on the team.
Eighth grader Allie Puckett makes it a youthful and potent 1-2 punch at the top of the Woodland lineup as she is hitting .440 with 2 home runs and 21 RBI. She also gives Woodland an option in the circle to spell ace Railey Williams.
Both RCHS and Woodland rely heavily on their junior No. 1 pitcher. Williams has continued her outstanding work from a season ago and pitched 157.1 of a possible 192.2 innings this year. She is 18-5 with a 2.27 ERA.
Abi Waters has carried a similar load in the circle for RCHS as she pitched 110.1 of a possible 149 innings this season. She is 17-6 with a 1.84 ERA and also has a save in 25 games.
The presence of private schools hasn’t been an obstacle at the 1A level in recent seasons. Woodland lost last year to Kinston and Spring Garden in a state tournament that had zero private schools in the eight-team field. This year’s field has one (Athens Bible) but that’s mostly because competitive balance rules have pushed most of the smaller stronger private school programs up to higher classifications.
Just ask RCHS.
In their first trip to state last year they lost to Madison Academy and Lee-Scott Academy in their first two games. This year’s field has three private schools with Madison Academy, Glenwood and last year’s state runner-up St. James.
RCHS won’t play a private school in its opener at 9 a.m. Thursday, but the Lady Tigers and the Lady Bobcats both have the pleasure of opening their tournaments against the defending state champions.
Woodland will take on Hackleburg at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, and RCHS opens against Wicksburg.
