AHSAA SOFTBALL: St. James back in regionals winner's bracket; ACA stays alive
Peyton Middleton and St. James open play today in the Central Regional at Lagoon Park. (File Photo)
By TiM GAYLE
Four years ago, the St. James softball team found themselves in the same place, getting ready to play a regional game to qualify for the Alabama High School Athletic Association state tournament.
The Trojans had beaten Hale County and faced Prattville Christian in the winner’s bracket finals, but lost to the Panthers, then lost to Hale County and missed out.
“I think this year our team is a little better throughout the lineup,” said St. James senior KK Hall, an eighth grade starter on that 2019 team. “Many teams have breaks in the lineup. I don’t feel like we have a single break in the lineup, which helps a lot.”
The Trojans won their first two games in the Central Regional on Tuesday, advancing to the same spot in the bracket as the 2019 team -- needing a win over Beulah this morning to qualify for the state tournament or, should they lose, a win later in the afternoon.
“They’re very similar,” St. James coach Mark Hall said, comparing the 2019 Trojans and this year’s team. “The difference is, we’ve got a girl throwing over 60 miles per hour that can neutralize teams. Back in 2019, I had a really good pitcher in Savannah Christian -- she was a bulldog, now -- but you can either throw 62 miles per hour or you can’t.”
The pitcher, freshman Emily Needham, gives the Trojans a luxury they haven’t had since 2019. After the COVID year of 2020, the Trojans lost in the area tournament with Needham, then a seventh grader.
“She was just a seventh grader and I’m putting her in a position to go beat several (tough) teams,” Hall said. “She’s grown up a lot since then.”
Last year, a hip injury caused Needham to favor her opposite leg, causing a stress injury that sidelined her late in the season as the Trojans lost in the area tournament again.
“It was very frustrating,” KK Hall said. “The past two years, we’ve had a good team from the top of the lineup to the bottom. It’s just we never finished games. I think a lot of it (this year) is our younger girls. They have no fear. They go full out.”
A healthy Needham, still trying to get back to the form she enjoyed prior to hip surgery, gives the Trojans a strong ace in the circle when facing quality opponents.
“Before surgery, I was consistently 62, 63 (miles per hour),” she said. “Now, I lost a little bit, I’m still working on it, but I’m probably 60, 61.
“But I feel like our team is better this year because we have a lot of athletic girls. We can be more confident because we know we have girls that are capable at every position and that confidence is helping us win this year compared to last year.”
It’s also a much deeper St. James roster, the deepest in at least a decade, allowing Hall to put together a tougher schedule with more options at every position.
“Here’s a luxury I have,” Mark Hall said. “I have five pitchers on my varsity roster and four catchers. In 2019, I had two pitchers and one catcher. Morgan Parrish caught every single game that year unless we played somebody where we could get away with (a substitute). Now, I have four catchers and they’re all good.”
For the first time since 2019, the Trojans are back in the regionals. On Wednesday morning, they’ll find themselves fighting for their first state tournament berth since 2009.
“It was really new to me,” KK Hall said of the 2019 experience. “It was a joy to go up there with that team. Ever since then, that was my goal, to make it back (to regionals) and we finally did this year.”
“She’s been trying to get back,” said her father. “When you have a child that you’re coaching, the pressure goes way up because you want to get her there.”
And here they are, back in the same spot as the 2019 team, but on a mission to complete the goal the 2019 team couldn’t, relying on their veteran shortstop and their freshman pitcher to complete the mission.
“I think because we have a lot of athletic girls and everybody can play a position, since we have that confidence and the structure to our team, we have a better shot, for sure,” Needham said.
KK Hall said the message to the team will be a simple one on Wednesday morning.
“Just go out there and play like we play every game,” she said. “We’re going to have errors, we’re going to make mistakes, but we just have to get over that and keep fighting.”
St. James 20, Southside-Selma 0 (3)
St. James built a 10-0 lead in the bottom of the first before making the first out and scored eight runs in the second inning to end the game on the 15-run rule after three innings.
St. James will play Beulah on Wednesday morning in the double-elimination Central Regional at Lagoon Park, with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
The Trojans got singles from Ava Stanford, Sydney Johnston, Tat Shuford, Emily Darby and Lily Stanford and a pair of singles from Emerson Hagen but the bulk of their runs came from Southside pitchers that issued 10 walks and hit six batters.
Hagen struck out the side in the first inning, Peyton Middleton retired the Panthers in the second and Aleigha Davis finished off Southside in the third.
Alabama Christian 15, Greensboro 0 (3)
Izzy Warrick went 2 for 2 with a double and Anna Gleason went 2 for 3 to lead the Eagles past Greensboro 15-0 in an elimination-round game in the Central Regional as ACA scored eight runs in the first and seventh more in the second to end the game on the 15-run rule after three innings.
Sam Burgess, AG Blackburn and Emmah Clement also had singles, with the remaining runs coming on 10 walks issued by Greensboro pitchers, along with five hit batters.
ACA returns to play in the tournament on Wednesday.
St. James 11, Randolph County 6
KK Hall went 3 for 5, scored a run and drove in three more as the Trojans opened play in the Central Regional with an 11-6 win over Randolph County on Tuesday at Lagoon Park Softball Complex.
Peyton Dees went 1 for 2 with a double and two RBIs, Ava Stanford went 1 for 5 with a double, scored twice and drove in a run and Sydney Johnston went 1 for 4, drove in a run and scored twice to help the Trojans rally from a 5-4 deficit with four runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
Emily Needham went the distance to pick up the win for the Trojans, allowing six runs on 10 hits while walking nine and striking out eight.
Macie Smith went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs to lead Randolph County, while Gracie Moran went 3 for 4 and scored twice and Lexie Key went 2 for 5.
Key took the loss in the circle, allowing 11 runs on nine hits while walking five and striking out six.
Beulah 10, Alabama Christian 5
Beulah scored four runs in the first inning and two more in the third for a 6-0 lead before pitching out of a jam in the seventh to beat the Eagles 10-5 in the Central Regional opener for both teams on Tuesday at Lagoon Park Softball Complex.
Abrianna Green went 3 for 4, including a two-run single in the first, Elizabeth Hancock added a two-run double in the third and Madyson Snediger had a two-run single in the sixth to hold off the Eagles.
Campbell Hammett went 2 for 4 and scored twice for the Eagles. ACA scored three runs in the seventh as AG Blackburn singled and scored and Sam Burgess singled and scored but the rally came up short.
Central Regional at Lagoon Park
Tuesday results
CLASS 1A
Winner’s bracket
Keith 13, Berry 9
Maplesville 16, Loachapoka 0
Verbena 11, Wadley 0
South Lamar 16, A.L. Johnson 1
Second round
Maplesville def. Keith, no score available
South Lamar 3, Verbena 2
Winner’s bracket finals
Maplesville vs. South Lamar, Wed., 1:45 p.m.
Consolation bracket
Berry 22, Loachapoka 3
Wadley 23, A.L. Johnson 1
Verbena vs. Berry, Wed., 10:45 a.m.
Keith vs. Wadley, Wed., 10:45 a.m.
CLASS 2A
Winner’s bracket
Horseshoe Bend 10, Vincent 4
Thorsby 9, Sulligent 0
Lamar Co. def. Isabella, no score available
Southeastern 9, Reeltown 0
Second round
Thorsby 7, Horseshoe Bend 0
Lamar County 9, Southeastern 0
Winner’s bracket finals
Thorsby vs. Lamar County, Wed., 1:45 p.m.
Consolation bracket
Vincent 13, Sulligent 7
Isabella 10, Reeltown 9
Southeastern vs. Vincent, Wed., 9 a.m.
Horseshoe Bend vs. Isabella, Wed., 9 a.m.
CLASS 3A
Winner’s bracket
Southside-Selma 26, Indian Springs 12
St. James 11, Randolph County 6
Beulah 10, Alabama Christian 5
Childersburg 16, Greensboro 0
Second round
St. James 20, Southside-Selma 0
Beulah def. Childersburg, no score available
Winner’s bracket finals
St. James vs. Beulah, Wed., 10:45 a.m.
Consolation bracket
Randolph Co. def. Indian Springs, no score available
Alabama Christian 15, Greensboro 0 (3 inn.)
Childersburg vs. Randolph Co., Wed., 10:45 a.m.
Southside-Selma vs. Alabama Christian, Wed., 10:45 a.m.