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Helena High School faculty and staff celebrate with the trophy after defeating the Pelham faculty 12-4 in the third annual faculty softball game at Pelham High School on Monday, May 1. (Reporter Photo/Keith McCoy)

By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

PELHAM–It was a perfect day for softball at Pelham High School on Monday, May 1, but the Pelham High School softball team wouldn’t be taking the field on this day.

Instead, roles were reversed, as coaches and faculty members from both Pelham and Helena high schools took the field for the third annual Pelham vs. Helena Faculty Softball Game sponsored by Helena Beef ‘O’ Brady’s.

The game, which began in 2015 not long after Pelham and Helena split and became two separate schools, is meant to be a light-hearted event and a chance for faculty members to reunite and have fun on the softball field.

Pelham High School faculty members and staff won the first two games in the series in 2015 and 2016 and Helena was eager to breakthrough and take the trophy in 2017.

Helena would do just that, as they came away with a decisive 12-4 win on Pelham’s home field to claim the trophy for the first time in the three year history of the event.

Helena would never trail in the game as they led 1-0 going to the top of the third inning.

The third inning is when Helena broke the game open after back-to-back RBI singles, an RBI double and a three-run home run made the score 7-0 in favor of the Huskies faculty and staff.

Helena would add four more runs in the fourth inning to take an 11-0 lead that became too much of a hole for Pelham to climb out of.

Despite being down big, Pelham faculty and staff never gave up and pushed across four runs in the game.

At the end of the day, no matter who won or lost, the game was all about having fun, reuniting and sharing laughs.

“We decided to do the game after the schools split and the faculty members were still close,” Pelham head softball coach Sabrina Tutchtone said after the game. “We wanted everyone to get together and have fun and it’s all about hospitality too. It’s competitive but it’s also just a fun event.”

After the game, the Helena faculty members celebrated with the trophy and both teams gathered for dinner and refreshments. Members from both teams socialized and took the time to catch up or talk about the game.

Pelham leads the all-time series 2-1 in the faculty softball rivalry game.

To view more photos from the game, visit Shelbycountyphotos.com.

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