AL.com’s Ben Thomas Wins ASWA Top Writing Award; BamaCentral Lands Nine Honors

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — AL.com reporter and columnist Ben Thomas won the Herby Kirby Award at the Alabama Sports Writers Association Convention awards banquet on Sunday night at Jacksonville State University.

Thomas won the Herby Kirby Award for his emotional column remembering the short life of Baby Maxi. He also won second place in the “Best Sports Story, Writing on a Deadline, Prep or Other Amateur Event” category.

The award was named in memory of Kirby, the longtime Birmingham Post-Herald sports writer who died in the press box after covering Notre Dame's 24-23 national football championship win over Alabama in the 1973 Sugar Bowl. Winning the Herby Kirby Award is one of the highest accolades an
Alabama sports reporter can achieve.

It's the first time that Thomas has won the Herby Kirby Award and the third straight year an AL.com writer has won the award, following Michael Casagrande in 2023 and Creg Stephenson in 2022.

The ASWA also announced winners of the Mr. Baseball and Miss Softball at Sunday’s awards banquet. Curry senior and Alabama signee Ambrey Taylor was named Miss Softball, and Hewitt-Trussville’s Steele Hall, a Tennessee signee, won Mr. Baseball.

Alabama Crimson Tide on SI/BamaCentral took home the most honors from the annual awards banquet, nine.

David Glovach, a sports writer from the TimesDaily in Florence, won the Bill Shelton Award, which honors someone who contributes to the local community and excels as a sports writer.

Glovach won two other individual awards — first place in the Best Basketball Story Without a Deadline category and second place in the Best Golf Story Without a Deadline.

2025 ASWA Writing Contest Winners

Best Enterprise or Explanatory Story
First place: Creg Stephenson, AL.com
Second place: Andrew Simonson, The Shelby County Reporter

Best Breaking News story
First place: Tony Tsoukalas, Tide Illustrated
Second place: Katie Windham, BamaCentral

Best Project
First place: Tommy Hicks., Lagniappe
Second place: Christopher Walsh, BamaCentral

Best Sports Story, Writing on a deadline for professional or college
event.
First place: Cody Goodwin, 247 sports
Second place: Katie Windham, BamaCentral

Best Sports Story, Writing on a Deadline, Prep or Other Amateur
Event
First place: Andrew Simonson, Shelby County Reporter
Second place: Ben Thomas, AL.com

Best Column
First place: Ben Thomas, AL.com
Second place (tie): Christopher Walsh, BamaCentral; and Andrew
Simonson, Shelby County Reporter

Best football story, Power 5 or NFL
First place: Cody Goodwin, 247 Sports
Second place: Blake Byler, Bama Central

Best football story, non-Power 5, Preps or other
First place: Tommy Hicks, Lagniappe
Second place: Stacy Long, TimesDaily

Best basketball story, without a deadline
First place: David Glovach, TimesDaily
Second place: Blake Byler, Bama Central

Best Baseball Story, without a deadline
First place: Creg Stephenson, AL.com
Second place: Solomon Crenshaw Jr.. Birmingham Watch

Best Softball Story, without a deadline
First place: Katie Windham, BamaCentral
Second place: Bob Labbe, The Madison Record

Best Golf Story, without a deadline
First place: Tommy Hicks, Lagniappe
Second place: David Glovach, TimesDaily

Best Boxing and/or Wrestling Story, without a deadline
First place: Thomas Ashworth, AL.com
Second place: Bob Labbe, The Madison Record

Best Outdoors Story, without a deadline
First place: Alan Clemons, Shallow Water Angler magazine
Second place: Andrew Simonson, Shelby County Reporter

Best General Sports Story, without a deadline
First place: Solomon Crenshaw Jr., of the Hoover Sun
Second place: Cody Goodwin, 247 sports; and Thomas Ashworth, AL.com

Best Story or series by a student
First place: Mathey Gibson, BamaCentral
Second place: Will Miller, BamaCentral

Herby Kirby Award (Story of the Year): Ben Thomas, AL.com

Story by Josh Bean, special to the Alabama Sports Writers Association

Christopher Walsh also recently placed sixth in the projects category of the national Associated Press Sports Sports Editors contest, Division B — one tier below media outlets like the New York Times, The Washington Post and ESPN, while up against the likes of Indianapolis Star, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, San Antonio Express-News, Kansas City Star and the Orlando Sentinel.