By Alan Wiederhold
HT Athletic Communications
NORTHPORT, Ala. – The wait is finally over and a new era is here, and ahead of schedule.
Midway through a tumultuous 2020s decade, Huston-Tillotson University's softball team is playing postseason games for the first time in four years. The Rams finished in third place in the final regular season standings in their first year as a member institution of the NAIA's HBCU Athletic Conference.
First-year head coach Tim Scherwin leads the Rams into the HBCU Athletic Conference Tournament this Saturday, April 25, when they face Rust College (Miss.) in the opening round. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Field 8 of River Run Park in Northport, Ala.
A trip to the postseason is a much-deserved extra chapter in the careers of HT's three seniors, Denae Hernandez, Aliyah Resendiz, and Madison Stimpson. Resendiz and Stimpson were part of the rebuild that began in 2024 of a program in need of repair in the aftermath of the CoVID-19 pandemic and the controversial exits of players and coaches in the seasons that followed.
As a junior college transfer, Hernandez' collegiate career was also on hold following an injury that forced her to miss the entire 2025 season, her first at HT.
When the unforgettable HT Ewes take the field Saturday, they will play their first postseason game since the 2022 season, when they qualified for the Red River Athletic Conference tournament. The 2022 season would be the only full season HT softball team would complete in the decade until 2025; HT opted out of all athletic seasons during the 2020-21 academic year when college sports resumed in the spring.
The Rams played only 12 games in 2023 due in part to a team culture that ultimately led to player and coaching departures that left Scherwin's predecessor Kacey Hvitved with a roster of 10 players when she was hired in the Spring 2024 semester. Injuries then forced the cancellation of the 2024 season after only four games, all RRAC losses on a road trip to Xavier (La.) and Louisiana Christian.
Scherwin completed the rebuild this season after Hvitved stepped away from the program following a 7-27 season in 2025. His unsinkable HT Ewes played what he described as one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the region, as HT lost all 16 games against formidable NAIA and NCAA divisions I and III competition.
However, the hard lessons paid off for the Rams, who went 12-9 in HBCU Athletic Conference play en route to their third-place finish. HT's softball team finished with a winning conference record for the first time since 2018, and only the fourth time in the team's history that began with the inaugural season in 2010.
Scherwin's lineup includes five .300 hitters, including Stimpson (.314), and team-leader Alayali Alaniz, a sophomore who hit .398 this season with four homeruns. A sophomore, Alaniz hit .523 in conference play, and her eight career homeruns is only one shy of the program record; she was twice named the conference's Player of the Week this season.
The Rams took a total of 10 weekly awards during the 12 weeks of the regular season. Junior college transfer Alexis Tamez was named the Pitcher of the Week twice and also took home three Newcomer of the Week awards. HT's leading pitcher, Tamez compiled sub-6.00 ERAs in conference play and for the overall season; she also batted .283 for the season.
Kieana Cruz and Alexis Gaona were each honored as Freshmen of the Week at different points during the season, while Hernandez was named the Player of the Week during the week of Feb. 23 through March 1, when the Rams took home all four awards.
The Rams opened conference play with nine wins in their first 10 games and were 10-2 after the first four weeks of HBCUAC play. That start was the best start to conference play in HT's softball history.
Games at the HBCU Athletic Conference Tournament will be streamed on the Urban Edge Network.
– HT –
