Peaking at the end

This year will be different for the Vestavia Hills High School softball team.

The lineup won’t be full of familiar faces from the outset of the season. There won’t be more seniors on the team than can be counted on one hand. There won’t be many sure things.

In other words, it will be the opposite of last year’s squad. 

Last spring, the Rebels entered the season with seven seniors, several returning starters and high expectations following a state tournament run in 2016. 

They got off to a strong start behind that group’s direction, but the end result left them wanting more. The Rebels were unable to make a return trip to the Class 7A state tournament, as they were ousted in the North Central Regional.

That team did win the area but perhaps peaked too soon. Coaches often talk about attempting to build a team that is playing its best at the end of the season, but the Rebels never consistently returned to that top form.

Three of those seven seniors decided to pursue softball in college. Pitcher Jessica Perley is now at Birmingham-Southern, while twins Kate and Audrey Meloun are playing at West Liberty University in West Virginia. Savannah Hayes, Ashley Dieguez, RaeAnn King and Kate Nash have also departed. 

There’s a large void to replenish if Vestavia Hills has its sights set on state again. And that’s why coach Lissa Walker doesn’t expect the Rebels to start the season on fire like last year.

“We’re not going to go out there like we did last year, where we only ended up losing two games in the first few weeks,” she said. “It’s going to be one of those processes where you’ve got to take your losses, learn from your mistakes. It’s definitely going to be a learning process from February through May.”

Walker hopes the ebbs and flows of this season more closely resemble those of the 2016 team that made it to state. That team fielded just two seniors — like this year’s — and continued a steady progression. Their record hovered around the .500 mark for the whole season, but everything clicked when the postseason rolled around.

“We flipped the switch, because we knew we had work to do,” Walker said.

While there are lessons to be learned from last season’s finish, Walker won’t dwell on it too much because the team dynamic hasshifted dramatically.

Shortstop Merritt Cahoon and first baseman Sarah Cain are the two seniors for the Rebels. Cahoon has been a key player since she was an eighth-grader; she was a second-team All-State selection last season and has signed to play at Samford.

“There’s just something about her, she’s one of those leaders,” Walker said. “She’s been a leader since she’s been up here.”

Cain was named All-State honorable mention last spring and will also be a key leader for Vestavia Hills. The other two returners with significant experience are junior right fielder Mary Sanders James and sophomore infielder Mary Claire Wilson.

Cahoon has proven to be a natural leader, but the younger group has noticed the efforts of all four returning starters.

“I see a lot of passion in these girls,” sophomore first baseman Claudia Turnbough said. “They all work so hard. Especially the older girls, because they’ve seen them get to state.”

Freshman Charity Bibbs said, “They’ve helped. When we’re working out, they’ll push us because they want us to be the best and be up there with them.” 

Outside of those four, there will be plenty of new faces for Vestavia Hills this season, including several freshmen. Because of that youth, Walker sees this team as being one that gradually gets better throughout the season as players mature and gain experience.

Cahoon added, “The whole season will be a journey. Tournament by tournament, it will be different.”

Not long ago, James and Wilson were freshmen getting their chance to prove their mettle on the varsity level. James remembers the learning curve of transitioning to playing at the high school level.

“You definitely have to understand the game more,” she said. “There are more situations you get put in and you have to have confidence. Going out there as a freshman, it does not matter about your age, it’s about your ability.”

And in those young players, there is no shortage of budding talent.

“They’re good,” Cahoon said. “I’m very excited about that and to see what happens.”

In the pitching circle, Perley and Nash have consumed the majority of innings the last few years, so the Rebels will be looking for someone to take hold of that role.

“It’s going to be a committee of whoever steps up,” Walker said. “We’ve got five capable pitchers. It’s going to be the one that we give the ball to and they decide to take the reins and go with it.”

If the Rebels peak at the end of the season like Walker hopes, then a repeat of 2016 may not be that unrealistic.

“I think they’re going to surprise people at the end,” she said. “There’s something about them, that we have a lot of talent. If they mature right, I think in the next few years, they’re going to be a team to be reckoned with.”