By Michael Butler

Tallassee head softball coach Pat Love has a seasoned squad as he enters his ninth season at the helm. Still, overall, it is a young group. There are no seniors.

Tallassee went 18-18 last year falling in the Central Regional to Handley 4-3 to end the season. Love is optimistic on getting back to the playoffs and contending for the state tournament.

“We’re a very experienced team when you go off of who are starters are going to be,” Love said. “If you look at our ages, they’re actually still pretty young. We’re going to be pretty good. I expect this team to be at state.”

One key will be pitching.

“Marlee Osborne did the bulk of our pitching last year. We’ve got Kam Tate. Olivia Hammonds has been working hard. She’s going to pitch some innings. They’re all juniors.”

The trio logged all the varsity innings last season. Osborne threw 108 2/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA. In addition, all three pitchers batted over .300 on a squad that hit .344 collectively.

Junior Cheyann Easterling led the team in batting average hitting .532. She had 59 hits, scored 56 runs and was 42 of 42 on stolen base attempts.

“She puts it in play and she’s fast. She bats leadoff and sets the table. We’re expecting big things out of her this year. She’s committed to Northwest Florida State.”

Love’s daughter Lexi, a former Tallassee Tiger and AUM softball alum, is chipping in.

“She started working at the elementary school. She’s helping when she can.”

The varsity Tigers open the season at Sylacauga on Feb. 26. The home opener will be against Dadeville on March 3.

2026 Schedule