Helena earns 1st state title
Helena took home the Class 6A state championship to cap off the 2025 season.
Just like that, the 2025 high school softball season has come to a close.
Class 6A finished off an eventful and memorable week at the state tournament, with Helena capturing the program’s first state title with a 5-3 win over Saraland on Friday afternoon at Choccolocco Park in Oxford.
Helena’s Carrington Schiefer finished off a brilliant tournament by throwing the complete game and tallying three hits for the Huskies, earning state tournament MVP honors.
The Huskies have been on the doorstep of a state title before, and finally broke through this spring. They have a program that continues to produce a high number of solid players that conduct themselves the right way.
Saraland wanted nothing more than to claim the blue map for itself, but what the Spartans accomplished this season cannot be overlooked. They were back to the state tournament for the first time since 2021 and made an impressive push in what many probably thought would be a rebuilding year. Donna Sunnycalb and her staff are as good as it gets in this state.
Athens ended up in third place in what many also probably thought to be a rebuilding season under first-year coach Chuck Smith. Even with star catcher Amaya Green slowed by injury in the season’s final few weeks, she embodied that team’s spirit by gutting it out and producing in big moments in the state tournament.
Green and her fellow senior Lily Lowery will go on to do big things in Division I softball, but they should be commended for what they did this season, leading a team with a bunch of young players to great heights. Athens softball will be a force for years to come as a result.
Pell City returned to the state tournament this spring and ended up in fourth place. The Panthers gave Athens everything they had in the first game of the day, coming up with several clutch hits before Athens finally pulled it out.
Here are some stats from Friday’s games:
Athens 6, Pell City 5
- Abby Lopez (A): Walk-off hit, 2 RBIs; 7 IP, 10 H, 5 R (3 ER)
- Amaya Green (A): 3B, RBI
- Lily Lowery (A): 2-for-3, 2B
- Caitlyn Tedford (A): 2 RBIs
- Nyla Treptau (PC): 3-for-4
- Kherington Keith (PC): 2-for-4, 3 RBIs
- Savannah McGaha (PC): 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R (3 ER)
Saraland 6, Athens 1
- Jadyn Byrd (S): 3B, RBI
- Gracie Dees (S): 2-for-4, 2 2Bs
- Kori Simmons (S): 2 RBIs
- Mallory Brown (S): 3-for-3, RBI
- Myleigh Dobbins (S): 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R
- Jaicey Harty (A): HR*, RBI
Helena 5, Saraland 3
- Carrington Schiefer (H): 3-for-4, RBI; 7 IP, 8 H, 3 R
- Gracie Dees (S): 2-for-4, RBI
That puts a bow on the 2025 high school season. It’s been a fun ride and it wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable without the support of so many of you. Until we meet again on a softball field near you!