Members of the 2015 Hartselle High School softball program are Jada Hayes, Taylor Wascavage, Hannah Jenkins, Sydnee Wiley, Sydney Crow, Riley Corum, Ali Forth, Hope Cain, Sara Faulk, Anna Stinson, Makayla Hayes, Bailey Powell, Mary Jane Wooley, Kennadi Hogan, Gracie Poe, Rose Braun, Kaitlyn Spangler, Jordan Finn, Lindsey Robinson, Abbey Vinzant, Taylor Spangler, Kaylee Murphy, Anna Mathis, Kylie Dubose, Kayla Harris, Kenzie Parker, Reagan Martin, Brooklyn Wallace, Laninya Wiggins, Natalie King, McKenzey Worley, Carrington Standridge.

After winning a championship, most coaches shy away from letting their players think about being a defending champion.

However, Hartselle head softball coach Christy Ferguson is not one of them.

Instead, she wants her team to embrace their 2014 Class 5A state championship and use it as motivation to continue their success as they move to Class 6A.

“I want our players to embrace it and remember what it took to win the state championship,” Ferguson said. “Obviously, we don’t want to get complacent, but I also want them to enjoy it because it was such a great accomplishment. And they know what it took to win it.”

Ferguson said her team was overwhelmed with the atmosphere of the state tournament at Montgomery’s Lagoon Park. Part of the reason for that is that the Lady Tigers hadn’t been to state since 2011.

“They heard me tell them stories about it, but they really didn’t understand it until we did it last year,” Ferguson said. “I know they got tired of me telling them stories of when we had won state championships years ago, but now they have their own stories to tell now.”

While many of the starters from last year’s state championship team return for at least one more year, the Lady Tigers do have to replace several key members from the squad that finished 48-14-1 a year ago.

Gone are Sarah Ellen Battles, Ashley Boggs, Madeline Sittason and Emily Lipinski. Battles is now two-sport starter at Wallace State while Lipinski is now with Alabama A&M.

However, Hartselle returns a plethora of experience. Tournament MVP Jada Hayes, a University of Alabama-Huntsville signee, returns after finishing with a 23-8 record last season with 200 strikeouts, an ERA of 1.81 and allowing 1.15 walks and hits per inning pitched.

Hope Cain’s numbers were just as impressive as Hayes, as Cain finished with an 18-5 record with 159 strikeouts, an ERA of 1.02 and 0.931 walks and hits per inning pitched. Cain, a junior, is committed to the University of Mobile.

Hartselle also returns its top four hitters from a year ago – Taylor Wascavage, Hannah Jenkins, Cain and Hayes.

Wascavage, also a UAH signee, finished with a .439 batting average with 15 home runs, 45 RBIs and 63 runs scored. She will play at catcher and shortstop.

Hayes, who is also a shortstop, had a .385 batting average with nine homers, 53 RBIs and 39 runs scored while Cain, who also plays at first base, hit .423 with 36 runs and 21 RBIs.

Jenkins, a Calhoun signee, finished with a .288 batting average with 34 RBIs and 20 runs scored. The sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot, clinched the state championship for Hartselle with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 2-1 win against Moody.

Other players who will start for the Lady Tigers include returning left fielder, Sydnee Wiley, returning right fielder/first baseman Riley Corum, Sydney Crowe and Ali Forth. Crowe and Forth will play at first and second base.

Ferguson said several other players could step up and get into the rotation throughout the season.

Ferguson is assisted by Robin Riley, Anna Hall and Robert Slack.

2015 Hartselle Varsity Softball

Feb. 20-21 Hazel Green Tourn. TBA

Feb. 24 at Bob Jones 4:30 p.m.

March 2 Hoover 4:30 p.m.

March 3 at Lawrence Co. 4:30 p.m.

March 5 at Huntsville 4:30 p.m.

March 6-7 at Spain Park Tourn. TBA

March 12 at Grissom 5 p.m.

March 13-14 Hartselle Varsity Tourn. TBA

March 16 Etowah 4:30 p.m.

March 17 Austin* 4:30 p.m.

March 19 Decatur* 4:30 p.m.

March 22-25  at Gulf Shores Varsity Tourn. TBA

March 31 Decatur* 4:30 p.m.

April 2 Bob Jones TBA

April 3-4 Bob Jones Varsity Tourn. TBA

April 7 Cullman* 4:30 p.m.

April 9-11 Morgan Co. Tourn. TBA

April 14 at Austin* 4:30 p.m.

April 15 Grissom 4 p.m.

April 16 at Mortimer Jordan 5 p.m.

April 20 Lawrence County 4:30 p.m.

April 21 at Cullman* 4:30 p.m.

April 23 Oak Mountain 5 p.m.

April 24-25 at Hoover Tourn. TBA

April 30-May 1  Area Tourn. (TBA) TBA

*-area game

2015 Hartselle JV Softball

Feb. 20-21 Hazel Green Tourn. TBA

Feb. 23 Brewer 4:30 p.m. (DH)

Feb. 24 at Bob Jones 6 p.m.

Feb. 27-28 Hartselle JV Tourn. TBA

March 2 Hoover 6 p.m.

March 3 at Lawrence Co. 6 p.m.

March 5 at Huntsville 6 p.m.

March 9 at Arab 4:30 p.m. (DH)

March 12 at Grissom 6:30 p.m.

March 16 Etowah 6 p.m.

March 17 Austin 6 p.m.

March 19 Decatur 6 p.m.

March 31 Decatur 6 p.m.

April 2 Bob Jones TBA

April 7 Cullman 6 p.m.

April 9-11 Morgan County Tourn. TBA

April 14 at Austin 6 p.m.

April 15 Grissom 5:30 p.m.

April 20 Lawrence Co. 6 p.m.