THS player Kaitlyn Vandiver tags a Sheffield runner out at first and looks to third. Photo by Bart Moss.

By Bart Moss

For the FCT

The Tharptown Wildcats hosted their annual Wildcat Classic over the weekend.

The annual event has become a prelude and warm-up for the area and state tournaments. The teams participating get stouter every year as well.

This year the participants were Tharptown, Russellville, Walker, Hamilton, Cherokee, Colbert Heights, Sheffield, and Hatton.

In this year’s classic, the Hatton Hornets came out of the loser’s bracket to win two straight games over Colbert Heights to take the trophy.

“This is a big event every year,” Tharptown coach Tanna Benford said.

“We are proud to have such quality teams participating. It speaks to the tradition and history of Tharptown softball.”

Tournament scores:

Colbert Heights 1, Russellville 0

Hamilton 7, Walker 0

Hatton 5, Cherokee 0

Tharptown 3, Sheffield 2

Russellville 7, Sheffield 2

Russellville 4, Walker 2

Cherokee 8, Sheffield 0

Hatton 8, Tharptown 1

Tharptown 3, Russellville 2

Walker 10, Cherokee 2

Walker 3, Hamilton 2

Walker 4, Tharptown 2

Hatton 11, Walker 2

Hatton 7, Colbert Heights 1

Finals:

Hatton 5, Colbert Heights 4