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.

SEE ALSO: Alabama Sports Writers Association Honors

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.

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