Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Chilton County High School looks to make it three-straight Chilton County Softball Tournament titles in 2023. However, five other hungry county programs look to dethrone the Tigers and take their spot atop the Chilton County softball mountain.

This year’s installment of the tournament will take place at Isabella High School and pool play takes place on March 9 and 10. The single elimination bracket play will be on March 11.

Maplesville, Thorsby and Verbena high schools are in pool A and will play their pool games on March 9. Maplesville will take on Verbena at 4 p.m. to open the tournament, and Verbena will finish its pool games at 5:30 p.m. taking on Thorsby.

“It is not very often that we are in talks to be a contender in the county tournament,” Verbena coach Geoffery Lockhart said. “This year, we have a great team, and I feel like we got a decent draw out of it. We are excited to see how our girls do and how they respond on one of the biggest stages in the county.”

Maplesville and Thorsby face off in the final pool A game at 7 p.m. Thorsby took down Maplesville 7-2 in the Rebels season opener on Feb. 23.

Chilton County, Jemison and Isabella high schools are in pool B, and they play on March 10 starting with Jemison and CCHS at 4 p.m. CCHS took down Jemison 11-1 on Feb. 28 in their matchup earlier this season.

“This is such a good community event county-wide, and it is great to see how much softball has grown in this county,” Jemison coach Leighsa Robinson said. “We have some great pitching in this county, and we have some great athletes in this county. It is always good to see everybody come together, play hard and still be friends at the end.”

CCHS will take on the host school Isabella at 5:30 p.m., and Jemison and Isabella will face each other in the final pool play game at 7 p.m.

“It is fun to see them get out there and compete against each other and have a great time,” CCHS coach Ashlie Harrison said. “It means a lot to use as one of the bigger schools, and obviously we are expected to do well. That also brings a challenge with that to get out there and perform at the best of their abilities.”

The single elimination bracket play on March 11 will start at 8 a.m. with the third-place finisher in pool A taking on the second-place finisher in pool B. The 10 a.m. slot will feature the third-place finisher in pool B and the second-place finisher in pool A.

The semifinals will be at noon and 2 p.m. The winner from the 8 a.m. game plays the top-finisher in pool A at noon, and the winner from the 10 a.m. game plays the top-finisher in pool B at 2 p.m.

“It is really exciting for us (as a program) to host it,” Isabella coach Kacie Adams said. “Being able to host it as a coach is really exciting to me, and it is an experience I hope the girls will use to have the home-field advantage.”

The 2023 Chilton County Softball Tournament championship game will be on March 11 at approximately 4 p.m.