Hancock softball makes history in face of tragedy
When the Hancock Hawks softball team took the first base line ahead of its playoff game against Ocean Springs Monday, each player sported something in common.
Their faces sparkled with glittered orange paint and orange ribbons hung from their hair and their belts. The roster symbolically stood six kids deeper, four from Hancock High, two from Bay High.
The orange ribbons, representing awareness for gun violence prevention, brought the two young souls taken from the community onto the diamond.
“It’s something (the team) wanted to do to try and bring awareness to gun violence,” first-year Hancock coach Josef Rankin told the Sun Herald. “It something that, unfortunately within the nation, we really have to deal with. You see it all the time on the news and all of a sudden it hits home, that’s tough. That’s something they wanted to bring awareness to and I’m just proud of them for that.”
The Lady Hawks’ round two matchup came less than 48 hours after a tragic shooting in Bay St. Louis killed two teens and hospitalized four others.
Rankin said he asked his team Monday if they wanted to try and move the game later into the week, but they chose to go ahead and play so they could honor their classmates.
The result was a thrilling 8-7 win over the Greyhounds that sent Hancock to the South State semifinals.
“For anybody, that’s hard,” Rankin said of his Lady Hawks taking the field Monday. “Especially when you’re talking about teenagers losing people that they know. That’s just a tough situation. I’m very proud of them for staying locked in as much as they could and just fighting.
“As a coach, you’re not sure how things are going to go. That’s something nobody should ever be asked to do. But I’m very proud of the team for hanging in there and doing what they needed to do to get a win.”
Catcher Adriana Cuevas and two-way sophomore star Teegan DeWitt said the practice Monday before the game was unlike any they had held before. There was less chatter, and in a solemn rarity, no music was played.
“I was determined to play for (the victims),” DeWitt said. “This was something we can do for the school to bring positivity and just something to look forward to.”
A new trust pushes Hancock
Hancock is prolonging what has been a very successful season. The Lady Hawks are the owners of a 20-3 record, the best mark the program has ever achieved.
The foundation has been a much improved bond throughout the team that has helped them push through grinding games and difficult off-field challenges that have been presented.
“Trust, just trusting your teammates,” DeWitt said on the key to the Lady Hawks’ success this year. “Last year we had trust, but this year it’s just so much more powerful and it’s so much more empowering.”
Cuevas said low scoring games that they found themselves on the wrong end of have turned their way in late innings thanks to the team-wide chemistry and trust the group began rebuilding last fall.
The environment has helped Cuevas post a .358 batting average with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 23 games heading into Monday.
DeWitt, who burst onto the scene as a strikeout-tossing machine in 2022, has seen her batting average climb from .276 to .453 with a team-high 34 hits.
It’s her arm that provides the biggest challenge for her opponents and Rankin believes she’s still not as good as she can be.
“What’s funny, is she’s still learning how to pitch,” Rankin said of the ace nearing 400 career strikeouts. “So that’s kind of crazy being how good she is. There’s still some things that she’s still learning how to do. I don’t think she’s truly tapped in to what she can be so that’s exciting. She’s doing an outstanding job for us. Even at the plate, she is doing great.”
DeWitt and Cuevas, along with other multi-talented athletes dotting the roster like Brooklyn Cuevas and Chaley Peterson, have Hancock deeper into the postseason than it’s ever been.
Hancock doesn’t plan on changing its focus anytime soon as it prepares to play for a spot in the South State title series.
“We have to keep working every day and put in every effort,” Cuevas said.
The Lady Hawks are set to face Brandon this weekend with the first game on Friday.
