Michelle Cheatwood was one of 28 players named to the 2008 All-North Jefferson Team.

Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



Votes from area coaches have been counted and today, The North Jefferson News announces the 2008 All-North Jefferson softball team.

Due to ties in the voting, 28 players were named to the first team.

Newly crowned 5A state champion Mortimer Jordan leads the list with six members of the 2008 team.

Listing the team alphabetically, Corner’s Elizabeth Allred won 23 games this season, including two at the state tournament, the first two wins by Corner at Lagoon Park since the 2004 season.

Allred’s teammates, Haley and Heather Anderson both made this year’s team.

The senior Haley led the area with 11 home runs, while younger sister Heather recorded double-digit wins in the pitching circle and hit over .350 at the plate.

Tabernacle’s Natalie Axt compiled a 9-3 record in the pitching circle and hit over .400, on her way to capping her high school career with the Alabama Christian Education Athletic Association state tournament’s MVP award.

Axt helped the Lady Torches to the first ACEAA state softball title in school history.

Gardendale’s Lindsay Blakey hit .346 with 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored in her first season of full-time duty for Brad Myrick’s Lady Rockets.

Gardendale senior Kaitlyn Casaday hit .357 with eight doubles, three home runs, 27 RBIs and 28 runs scored, while playing outstanding defense in center field.

Mortimer Jordan’s Michelle Cheatwood capped an incredible high school career by winning the 5A state championship game to end the year with a 24-2 record.

Cheatwood set a standard for all Lady Blue Devil pitchers to follow as far as career-wise statistics are concerned. She wound up her four years on the Jordan varsity with an 87-32 record, 32 shutouts, seven no-hitters and recorded 804 strikeouts.

Hayden freshman Mara Conner hit .435 with 11 doubles, two triples, 18 runs scored and collected 14 RBIs.

Conner’s teammate Madison Durham, who was solid behind the plate for the Lady Wildcats hit .359 with two home runs, eight doubles and drove in 18 runs.

Gardendale senior Beth Erwin took the lead pitching role for the Lady Rockets after the graduation of 2007 wins leader Tyler Easterling.

Erwin, who had not pitched since seventh grade won 16 games, had 110 strikeouts and recorded a 1.84 ERA.

While playing at shortstop on the days she didn’t pitch, Erwin finished the year with a .309 batting average with four home runs, 10 doubles and 19 RBIs.

Erwin scored 33 runs as the Lady Rockets reached the first round of the sub-state playoffs, where they lost a tough three-game series to eventual 5A state runner-up Hartselle.

Mortimer Jordan sophomore Morgan “Mo” Estell continued to torment pitchers all season as she finished with a .490 batting average, scored a area-leading 67 runs, drove in 44. She collected 23 walks, stole 16 bases, had 14 doubles, eight triples and hammered nine home runs.

Estell’s teammate, senior third baseman Shelbey Faucett, hit a career-high .374 with nine homers and an area-leading 17 doubles. Faucett, who hit a grand slam to break a 3-all tie in the state championship game, drove in 40 runs and scored 41.

Mortimer Jordan freshman shortstop Danae Hays hit .414, collected 15 doubles, four triples and six home runs. She drove in 51 runs and scored 47 times for the state champs.

Fultondale junior catcher Haley Hill recorded the sixth-highest batting average in state history as she went 42-for-77 to finish at .545. She slammed nine home runs, collected nine doubles, drove in 34 runs in 34 games and scored 25 times.

Hill was also known for her defensive skills as the Lady Wildcats backstop.

Hill’s teammate, junior shortstop Britani Howell hit .375 with five doubles and 16 RBIs. She scored 32 runs and stole 12 bases.

Mortimer Jordan freshman Blair Johnson excelled in both the pitching circle and at the plate. She led the area with 25 wins, going 25-1, with 203 strikeouts and a area-leading 0.61 ERA.

Gardendale junior second baseman Kellie Johnson hit .348 with four doubles and three home runs. She drove in 24 runs and scored 27. Meanwhile, she played solid defensively at second base.

At the plate, Johnson hit .423 with 11 doubles, 14 triples and five home runs. She scored 62 runs and drove in 45. She also stole 12 bases.

Gardendale senior first baseman Delena Kennedy had a career year with a team-high .373 batting average. Kennedy had seven doubles, hit two homers, drove in 24 runs and scored 33 times.

Fultondale eighth grader Cadi “Boo” Oliver was productive as a hurler and a hitter.

Oliver won 10 games, record four shutouts and struck out 100 batters in only 74 innings of work.

At the plate, she hit .485 with 13 doubles, six triples and an inside-the-park home run. She drove in 26 runs and scored 37 times in 32 games. She also stole 10 bases and she also had more walks 16 than strikeouts nine.

Oliver missed a week of the second after being spiked in the wrist by a sliding player, while patrolling her second base position.

Hayden’s Kris Quick was known for her defensive ability in the outfield, but she also excelled at the plate, as she had five doubles and scored 20 runs.

Quick’s teammate Laila Russell scored 15 runs and drove in 12 more.

Corner junior catcher Mandy Slatton hit .364 with nine doubles, 33 runs scored and drove in 34 more runs.

Slatton’s teammate Kortney Sloan hit .313 with eight doubles, five triples, 39 runs scored and 27 RBIs. In the pitching circle, she won four games and had 54 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings of work.

Fultondale freshman pitcher/third baseman Shelbi Smith won five games, while compiling a 1.57 ERA. She struck out 86 in 84 2/3 innings of work. At the plate, she hit over .300 and played solid defense at the hot corner.

Corner junior center fielder Jennifer Tolbert hit .425 with 54 runs scored and 28 stolen bases.

Tabernacle’s Robyn Whaley hit . 587 with 11 doubles and five triples. She drove in 22 runs in 20 games and scored 23 times.

Whaley’s teammate Meredith White hit .568 with 10 doubles and three triples, with 35 runs scored and 25 stolen bases.

Mortimer Jordan senior Brandy Worden hit .441 with 15 doubles, three triples and four home runs. She scored 48 runs and collected 53 RBIs.

For Allred, Cheatwood, Conner, Erwin, Estell, Kelllie Johnson, Oliver, Slatton, Tolbert and Worden, their selections on the first team, were the second in the past two seasons for each player.

In addition, Axt, Hill, Howell and Sloan were on the second team in 2007 and received their initial first team selection this season.

With 11 seniors honored this season, their are 17 players on this year’s team who will return to playing fields in North Jefferson in 2009.

Five of the 11 seniors—Allred, Anderson, Cheatwood, Faucett and Worden have already signed to play college softball beginning next season.