AISA A TITLE: Lowndes Academy back to top of the mountain with softball championship

Lowndes Academy celebrates the final out to win the Class A state championship over Crenshaw Christian Saturday at Lagoon Park. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE
The Lowndes Academy softball team has become a fixture in the Alabama Independent School Association state softball tournament, making an appearance every year since the format changed to a fast pitch tournament in 1999.

The Rebels made eight trips to the finals over an 11-year period that included a runner-up finish in 2015, then went through a stretch that included a pair of two-and-out appearances in 2018 and 2019 and a pair of fifth-place finishes in the eight-team tournament in 2017 and 2022.

They climbed back to the top of the mountain on Saturday, overcoming a loss to area rival Crenshaw Christian on Friday by beating the Cougars twice the following day to claim the Class A state championship at Lagoon Park Softball Complex.

“It feels good to get back here, I’m not going to lie,” Lowndes Academy coach Matt Marshall said. “This group of seniors, I only have four but they’ve worked really hard. They’re great kids, great in school, they have great character. For them to experience this -- because I’ve experienced it before -- is awesome.”

Ava Casey, Molly Powell, Harley Hooper and Alizae Gonzalez set the tone for the Rebels this season, a team that had struggled in the tournament the past five years as an AA team but returned to championship form this season after dropping to Class A.

“We’ve gone through a drought for a couple of years now, but I’m so glad we built up a team through these years,” Casey said. “We do have a lot of young people on our team but we’ve built them up as well.”

Lowndes (30-12) drew a bye in the opening round, then defeated South Choctaw Academy 11-1 to reach the finals of the winner’s bracket against area rival Crenshaw, which was 0-4 against the Rebels this season before winning 3-0 on Friday.

The Rebels used another run-rule victory against South Choctaw to earn a rematch with Crenshaw -- and Coastal Carolina signee Abby Henderson -- on Saturday morning.

“Abby Henderson is probably one of the best pitchers in the entire association,” Marshall said. “We know that, going in. She pitched really well (on Friday). It’s not as much what we did as what she did. Not taking anything away from her, we were 4-0 against her and knew we could beat her. We just had to get back to this game.”

So when the Rebels earned the rematch, they came in with a different approach, scoring three runs in the first inning on the way to a 6-2 victory to force a second game, won by Lowndes 4-0.

“We changed our approach,” Marshall said. “Go after her early. Don’t let her get ahead. If she gets two strikes on you, you’re kind of at her mercy. When she’s in the zone, you’ve got to go after it.”

The first game was still in doubt until Alice Murchison’s two-out, two-run single in the fifth, followed by a three-base error on a pickoff play that allowed Murchison to score for a 6-1 lead.

In the second game, the Rebels scored a pair of first-inning runs on wild pitches, then put the game away in the fifth with three consecutive singles by Casey, Catie Self and Haley Briggs that led to two more runs.

Casey, meanwhile, was masterful in the circle in both games, but nearly unhittable in the second game. The senior allowed just four hits and erased a fourth-inning threat on a grounder back to the mound that started an inning-ending double play. She finished the game by striking out five of the final six batters she faced to give the Rebels their sixth softball title and help four Lowndes seniors back to the mountaintop of AISA softball.  

“We’ve grown up all together throughout our lives, these four seniors,” Casey said. “We’ve been playing ball together since the fourth grade.”

Joining Casey on the all-tournament team were Briggs, Murchison and Presely Hamilton, the Crenshaw trio of Henderson, Mattie Claire Register and Tanna Singleton, Lawsyn Rogers and Mary Clara Floyd of South Choctaw and Kendal Rhodes of North River Christian.

AISA 2023 STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT RESULTS

CLASS A

North River Christian 4, Snook Christian 1

Crenshaw Christian 13, Coosa Valley 1

South Choctaw 18, Heritage Christian 0

Snook Christian 14, Coosa Valley 8

Crenshaw Christian 14, North River Christian 1

Lowndes Academy 11, South Choctaw 1

South Choctaw 14, Snook Christian 2

North River Christian 11, Heritage Christian 3

Crenshaw Christian 3, Lowndes Academy 0

South Choctaw 10, North River Christian 0

Lowndes Academy 12, South Choctaw 4

FINALS: Lowndes Academy 6, Crenshaw Christian 2; Lowndes Academy 4, Crenshaw Christian 0 (Lowndes wins A championship)

CLASS AA

Hooper Academy 8, Pickens Academy 0

Edgewood Academy 10, Patrician Academy 5

Chambers Academy 4, Southern Academy 2

Abbeville Christian 10, Jackson Academy 2

Patrician Academy 5, Pickens Academy 1

Southern Academy 5, Jackson Academy 3

Hooper Academy 4, Edgewood Academy 3

Abbeville Christian 11, Chambers Academy 1

Patrician Academy 11, Chambers Academy 10

Southern Academy 6, Edgewood Academy 5

Hooper Academy 9, Abbeville Christian 4

Patrician Academy 7, Southern Academy 5

Abbeville Christian 7, Patrician Academy 2

Finals: Hooper Academy 4, Abbeville Christian 2 (Hooper wins AA championship)

CLASS AAA

Glenwood School 14, Fort Dale Academy 2

Macon East Academy 17, Bessemer Academy 8

Springwood School 3, Clarke Prep School 1

Lee-Scott Academy 11, Monroe Academy 8

Fort Dale Academy 4, Bessemer Academy 1

Clarke Prep School 7, Monroe Academy 2

Macon East Academy 13, Glenwood School 8

Lee-Scott Academy 10, Springwood School 1

Springwood School 13, Fort Dale Academy 5

Clarke Prep School 8, Glenwood School 7

Macon East Academy 8, Lee-Scott Academy 6

Clarke Prep School 7, Springwood School 6

Lee-Scott Academy 5, Clarke Prep School 0

Finals: Macon East Academy 8, Lee-Scott Academy 7 (Macon East wins AAA championship)