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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Thorsby High School picked up a win in the 2023 AHSAA Class 2A State Softball Tournament on May 16-17 before falling out of the tournament in the second round. The Rebels were one of the final eight teams to make the state tournament at Choccolocco Park in Oxford and secured a top-six finish by advancing out of round one.

Thorsby began its tournament with a 2-1 win over Sumiton Christian School on May 16 that saw a scoreless game go into the fifth inning before Sumiton took a 1-0 lead. Makinley Turner gave the Rebels a spark with a leadoff home run to start the bottom of the sixth inning and tie the game. Turner was 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

The game went to extra innings still tied at 1-1, and Turner knocked an RBI double to score the winning run and push Thorsby into the semifinals. Turner had a great game in the circle as well, going the full eight innings and giving up just four hits, one run and striking out 15 Sumiton hitters. Brooklyn Reeser had a double as well for Thorsby.

The win set up a semifinal matchup with Wicksburg High School, but the Rebels were up-ended 13-7. Thorsby began the game in the afternoon of May 16, and a weather delay after Thorsby went up 2-0 pushed the remainder of the game back until 9:30 p.m. that night.

“We started out pretty well and played Thorsby softball, doing all the little things right, and we were able to pull out the first game,” Thorsby coach Holly Matson said. “I think we lost some of our energy from sitting around during that weather delay, and we really did not know when we would be able to start it again.”

Braelyn Whitefield led the team with a 2-for-4 effort with three RBIs, and Turner and Reeser each had an RBI and a double. Turner handled pitching duties again for Thorsby and struck out 11 Wicksburg hitters. Wicksburg would go on to appear in the tournament final on May 17.

Thorsby drew J.U. Blacksher School in its first game in the loser’s bracket and had to play at 9 a.m. on May 17 to make up for the weather delay the day before. Turner’s arm, after pitching just a few hours before, could not hold up after one inning and she was removed from the game. Reeser knocked a two-run home run, and Whitfield and Camila Castillo each had an RBI. However, the Rebels season came to an end with a 14-4 defeat.

“I will definitely remember the girls’ hard work and dedication they put in, and they really surprised me,” Matson said. “Everyone knew that this may be a growing year for us, but those girls worked hard … Just the growth of the team this year is what I will remember most. Them proving everyone else wrong and saying this was not our down year.”

Thorsby’s 2023 season comes to an end with a 17-8 record, an AHSAA Class 2A Area 6 title and an AHSAA Class 2A Central Regional title.