Center fielder Jamie Gregg honored alongside former, future teammates

Jamie Gregg didn’t expect to be there, but she deserved to be. Her talent speaks for itself.

One of the top center fielders in the metro area, Gregg — a Hoover High School senior — participated in the North-South All-Star Game on July 18, playing with approximately 40 of the top softball players in her class throughout the state.

“I didn’t think I would get to go, but it was just so exciting,” said Gregg, who had a pair of hits over the two games that evening. “It’s just a big honor to be there with the best.”

Making the recognition even more special, Gregg was one of two players from the over the mountain area to be selected to the all-star game, which was played as part of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s weeklong conference, where coaches and administrators from across the state descend on Montgomery and all-star games in every state-sanctioned sport are conducted.

Merritt Cahoon of Vestavia Hills joined Gregg in Montgomery on the North team. The two have played travel ball together for much of their softball careers and enjoyed donning the same uniform once again.

“We work hard,” Gregg said. “We hit together all the time. We practice together and play together, and to get to go together, it was just all worth it.”

Also on the North team was Kaylee Chapman from Springville, another player that Gregg and Cahoon have played with for several years. There was also a surprise on the team for Gregg, a Mississippi State commit. Joining her on the North team was East Lawrence’s Anna Kate Segars, a future Bulldog herself.

“It was special to have played with them for so long and to get honored in one place,” Gregg said of playing on the team with Cahoon and Chapman. 

The all-star teams arrived in Montgomery the day prior to the game and went through a practice before enjoying dinner and a movie together.

“Being with the best, it was just so intense,” Gregg said.

For her final season before heading to Starkville to play for Vann Stuedeman and the Bulldogs, Gregg wants to leave her mark at Hoover.

“Obviously, I want to win a lot of ball games,” she said. “I hope I can be the leader that I need to be for this team. I just always want to remember to have fun. You can get caught up in it, but really it’s just about having fun.”

She also has one chance left to make an impact on the volleyball court, since her future lies on the softball diamond. She led Hoover to the Class 7A semifinals as a sophomore setter, and hopes to do so again this fall.

“I have three months left of volleyball,” she said. “I love the game of volleyball. It’s just competitive and I love to compete.”

But her senior year has arrived, as evidenced by her face being plastered on the door of the high school gym in larger-than-life form, where all the volleyball seniors are recognized for their final campaign.

“I can’t believe it’s here. Seeing my picture in the door — I mean, I saw the seniors there when I was a freshman, and I just didn’t realize how fast it would get here.”