By Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



In the sixth inning Monday night, Corner’s Haley Anderson hammered a home run to tie the Lady Yellow Jackets game with Gardendale at 4-all.

According to Anderson, it was her eighth home run of the season. The total, in only 29 games, is three more than she hit all last season in more than 60 games played.

“My timing at the plate is better this year. I’m hitting more homers because I’m waiting on pitches better than I used to,” Anderson said.

Anderson’s batting average, doubles and RBI totals have also increased over a season ago and she credits the help of Mortimer Jordan hitting coach Ken Hayes with her improvement at the plate.

“He helped me in the off season with my hitting and then I played fall ball with some of the girls on the Wallace State College team and I could see the things he told me were working,” Anderson said. “I knew I’d have a better year at the plate this year.”

Anderson, a senior, has been part of two Lady Yellow Jacket teams which have reached the 4A state tournament in Montgomery in each of the past two seasons.

Both times, however, Corner lost its first two tourney games, which left this year’s class of key seniors, including Anderson, Elizabeth Allred and Ashley Tolbert hungry to make it back to Lagoon Park in order to redeem themselves.

“We peaked way too early last season and we didn’t play well once we got to Montgomery,” Anderson said. “We’re concentrating this year on getting back there and playing well enough to win it.”

After Monday night’s loss to Gardendale, the Yellow Jackets are 20-9, but several of the losses have come to larger schools and many of the nine defeats have come in one-run games.

“We’ve lost some close ones, but we’ve haven’t lost our confidence,” Anderson said. “The seniors know this is our last chance to do something big, so we’re trying to be leaders. We’re not big-headed, though, we don’t think we’re better than any of the underclassman. We know each player on this team is important and if we’re going to win state, we all have to play well.”

Some of the key underclass players include Kortney Sloan, who pitches and plays first, catcher Mandy Slatton and Anderson’s younger sister Heather, who has a 10-1 record in the pitching circle this year.