‘It’s surreal’: Senior laden Hazel Green baseball makes program’s third state semifinal

HAZEL GREEN, Ala. (WHNT) — It’s a season that Hazel Green players feel like has been years in the making.

The Trojans have made it to the baseball state semifinal for just the third time in school history, and it’s been a wild postseason run. It’s the first year that Andrew Dennis has been in charge of the program, which features eight seniors, and the Trojans have gone to a game three in each of their first three playoff series.

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“Ever since we were little kids, the group coming up, seven or eight of us, it was always when we got to high school, it’s going to be a good group,” Senior Andrew Beaverson said. “A winning group that wants to play for each other and wants to win.”

“It’s surreal, every day we get to come work, and it’s just like I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Beaverson said.

This is the first year since the 2022 semifinal team that has advanced past the first round of the playoffs.

“This year, we knew coming into it that we had a lot better team than that, and we knew we needed to make it farther,” Senior Bryce Zimmerman said. “He’s [Dennis] done a great job with us, really working with us. He’s kind of had the mindset all year of we are going to make a deep run, and it feels like we are supposed to be here, and we are.”

Dennis, who won a state title at Huntsville High in 2011, knows how special it is to make it to a state semifinal.

“You don’t get to do this every year, so that means when you do get an opportunity to do it, you’ve got to make the most of it. These guys, like I’ve said, have worked really hard to get here, and we don’t want to let this moment go to waste,” Dennis said.

The Trojans will take on perennial powerhouse Hartselle in the semifinals. The Tigers are the defending 6A state champions and now hold the record for most state semifinal appearances in state history.