AHSAA STATE SOFTBALL: ACA eliminates LAMP; Brantley takes 1A title

By TIM GAYLE

OXFORD -- Alabama Christian recovered from an opening-round loss in the 4A state softball tournament with wins over Haleyville and LAMP, bouncing their area rivals from the tournament and guaranteeing the Eagles of at least a fourth-place finish for the seventh time in the last nine years.

ACA (27-20) will face Etowah on Thursday at 9 a.m., with the winner advancing to play North Jackson at 10:45. The winner of the second game will play Rogers for the 4A state title at 1:30 p.m.

Every year since 2013, the Eagles have finished at least fourth in the tournament except for 2016 when they failed to reach the 5A state tournament and in 2020 when coronavirus canceled the tournament. In 2019, ACA fought through the loser’s bracket to defeat Rogers 10-0 and 8-7 to win the 4A state championship.

In the tournament opener, ACA managed just two hits as sophomore Sydney Simpson put on a dominating performance in a 3-0 win with 14 strikeouts. 

Simpson struck out the side in the second, third and fifth innings, with the Eagles’ only real threat coming in the sixth. Skylar Crews and Lawson Borland drew leadoff walks and Haley Ingram singled to load the bases and bring the game-winning run to the plate, but Simpson struck out Izzy Warrick and Katie Chappell and got Rose Costanza to pop up to second to end the game. 

Ingram, who drew two walks in addition to her single, walked in the first inning but was thrown out trying to steal second. Chappell followed with a single, but was thrown out trying to steal second as well.

Etowah picked up two runs in the fourth on Kacie Byrd’s inside-the-park home run that also scored Laura Wood. Anna Jones added an RBI single in the sixth. 

ACA bounced back with a 17-7 win over Haleyville. LAMP, meanwhile, opened the tournament with a 4-0 win over Cleburne County, but lost 7-0 to Rogers before earning a rematch with area rival ACA.

The game, as expected, featured a pitching dual but it was Warrick, not Costanza, who matched LAMP ace Caitlin Russell pitch for pitch in the elimination game. 

Russell went the distance, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while walking one and striking out four. Warrick came on in relief of Costanza and pitched the final six innings, allowing five hits, no earned runs, with two walks and a strikeout.

It was LAMP who threatened first as Joanna Joiner led off with a single and Gracey Norris drew a walk, forcing ACA coach Chris Goodman to swap Costanza with Warrick at shortstop. Haidyn Foley and Chandler Gaskin followed with grounders back to the circle and Warrick threw to Crews at third base to force out Joiner and Norris. Chandler Ming then singled and Foley scored following an error at third for a 1-0 lead.

ACA earned its win with the bottom of the lineup as KG Taylor led off the fifth with a single, went to second on a groundout and scored on Haley Oswald’s single to tie the game. In the sixth, Warrick singled, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on a Costanza single for a 2-1 lead.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the seventh as Ming reached on an error, Arin Sturdivant hit into a fielder’s choice and Peyton Cely singled, bringing the dangerous Russell to the plate. Russell grounded back to Warrick in the circle for the second out, but Haley Herron drew a walk to load the bases. Joiner followed with a flyout to Ingram in center field to end the game. 

Brantley wins 1A title

Brantley High School defeated Skyline, 11-3, in Wednesday’s Class 1A state tourney finals to claim the softball state title at Choccolocco Park’s softball stadium.
The championship game was highlighted by Sheonte Barginere, Kayden Dunn and Ainsley Watts hitting back-to-back-to-back solo homers in the fifth inning.
Brantley played for the 1A title for the seventh straight time and captured its fifth championship since 2014. The Bulldogs (32-12), coached by Cindy Hawthorne, steamrolled through the state tourney with four straight wins and put on a hitting clinic in the final.
Dunn hit two homers and finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored, while Ainsley Watts was 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBIs and two runs scored. Starting pitcher and tournament MVP Kaylee Navarre added two hits and an RBI, while also earning the win by allowing six hits and striking out seven for the complete-game win.
Brantley scored four in the first, three in the fifth and four more in the sixth.