3A AREA 6 TOURNEY: St. James advances; Trinity, ACA to decide final regional berth
Sydney Johnson throws to second ahead of runner Bentley Lamberth in St. James’ win over ACA in the Class 3A, Area 6 tourney on Monday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
St. James missed out on the postseason the last two years, suffering heartbreaking season-ending defeats in the area tournament in 2021 and 2022.
That wouldn’t be the case in 2023 as the Trojans rolled past Montgomery Academy 21-0 and Alabama Christian Academy 10-0 on Monday to lock up a berth in the 3A Area 6 tournament finals and a trip to the regionals at Lagoon Park.
“Look, it’s a big relief,” St. James coach Mark Hall admitted. “We haven’t been to regionals since before COVID hit. Probably had the best team I’ve ever had, coming back, and COVID got us (with no postseason in 2020). We’ve been trying to get back ever since.
“We’ve been snakebit and played some really good teams along the way. No different today. I think we were at the top of our game and were fortunate on some balls hit. But we’re going to regionals now, the pressure’s off, and we can just go play (on Tuesday).”
St. James (23-12) will await the winner of Tuesday’s ACA-Trinity game in the tournament finals at 5 p.m. with a chance for the program’s first area tournament title since 2010. Since then, the Trojans have made four trips to the regionals (2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019), going two and out three times and reaching the finals of the elimination round of the bracket in 2019 before losing to Hale County.
The Trojans loaded the bases in the first inning, picking up a run on a slow roller down the first-base line by pitcher Emily Needham that plated a run, then getting three more unearned runs when a popup was dropped.
Armed with a 4-0 lead, the Trojans scored at least a run in four of the remaining five innings, which was more than enough for Needham, who allowed just six base runners -- two on walks, two on errors and two on singles by Campbell Hammett in the third inning and Anna Gleason in the fourth.
Sydney Johnston went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, KK Hall went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored, Tat Shuford went 2 for 3 with a double and a triple, scoring three runs, Emerson Hagen went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Emily Darby went 2 for 3 and scored a run as the Trojan offense took advantage of an ACA team that had just battled for seven innings in a 4-3 win over Trinity.
“ACA’s a good team, (Izzy) Warrick’s a great pitcher,” Hall said. “She just got through pitching a complete game the game before. We knew that and knew we just had to come out with a lot of energy.”
The Eagles took a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning of their first tournament game against Trinity before holding on and escaping with a one-run win, something that obviously had an effect on the Eagles before their second tournament game against the Trojans.
“Trinity was really well prepared for us,” ACA coach Lauren Veech said. “It’s always hard to play back to back, especially with one pitcher.”
In the Trojans’ first game, a three-inning rout of Montgomery Academy, Johnston went 2 for 2 with a triple and two RBIs, Hall went 3 for 3 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs, Peyton Dees went 1 for 3 with a pair of runs scored and a pair of RBIs, Mary Olive Maddox went 2 for 2 with two RBIs and Darby went 2 for 2 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs.
Emerson Hagen pitched two innings, giving up singles to Frances Fitzpatrick and Rehmat Sidhu. Ava Stanford pitched the third inning, striking out two of the three batters she faced.
On Tuesday, ACA will face the same scenario again, battling a Trinity team trying to earn a postseason bid, with the winner facing a well-rested St. James team in the finals.
It’s the same thing we’ve been saying,” Veech said. “Our defense just has to be cleaner. There’s no use harping on it. They’re mature enough to know exactly what we have to do to win.”
Trinity, ACA face elimination in key tourney game on Tuesday
Trinity pushed Alabama Christian to the brink of an upset, then battled back through the elimination round of the bracket with a five-inning defeat of Montgomery Academy on Monday to set up a rematch with ACA in the 3A Area 6 tournament.
Trinity (12-14) will face the Eagles on Tuesday at 3 p.m., with the winner advancing to the tournament finals and earning a berth in the upcoming regionals at Lagoon Park.
A win would represent Trinity’s first trip to the postseason since earning a berth in the South Central regionals at Troy in 2014.
In Trinity’s first tournament game, the Wildcats trailed 4-0 before scoring three runs in the seventh inning and falling just short in a 4-3 loss to ACA.
In the second game, Trinity scored three quick runs in the first, then finally found another gear with five runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth for a 12-1 win over Montgomery Academy.
“I thought we struggled through a lull a little after getting a few runs in the first,” Trinity coach Stan Milton said. “(ACA pitcher) Izzy (Warrick) is a good pitcher and she has some good stuff, but I think we’ve seen her enough that our girls are starting to figure it out and we’re getting better at-bats every time we see her. I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to come out and go attack at the plate and be ready to play another game.”
The Wildcats took a 3-0 lead over Montgomery Academy with the help of a wild pitch, an error and aggressive base running following a popup that allowed Emma Rose Meldrum to score from third.
In the fourth, the Eagles picked up two quick outs but an error kept the inning alive and Ava Milton was intentionally walked to load the bases. Meldrum then drove a single to left field that was misplayed, allowing all four base runners to score for an 8-0 lead.
The Eagles picked up their only run in the bottom half of the inning when EK Casey and Anne Frances Little hit back-to-back singles, putting Casey in position to score on a groundout by Maddie Nolf.
The Wildcats responded with four more runs, including RBI doubles by Kate Knight and Meldrum.
“We’re playing better,” Montgomery Academy interim coach Wendell Barr said. “Our strategy usually worked, we just didn’t execute it. The first inning, we gave them five outs and that’s been the story of the whole season. A lot of it is just inexperience. We started three people that have never played softball before, not even Dixie Softball.”
Milton went 2 for 2, scored three times and was intentionally walked twice, Kate Knight went 3 for 4 with an RBI and scored twice, Meldrum went 3 for 4, scored twice and had two RBIs, Evie Knight went 2 for 4 with an RBI and scored twice and Lilly Yancey went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
In the circle, Marley Sharpless gave up one run on four hits while striking out three batters. She was effective in the first game as well, allowing just four hits over six innings against ACA.
Kate Knight was 2 for 4 with a run scored and two RBIs against the Eagles, while Meldrum was 2 for 3. Evie Knight and Emory Harris also added a hit apiece.