MONDAY PREPS: PCA scores late to beat St. James; Trinity rallies past MA

Catcher Sarah Williams tags out Peyton Dees in PCA’s win over St. James Monday. (Tim Gayle)

PRATTVILLE -- It had a postseason feel to it, at least in the early stages. 

Prattville Christian and St. James both pitched their aces in Monday night’s showdown despite upcoming mid-week area games that, at least on paper, are more important. 

The two teams answered each challenge as if there was more than just bragging rights at stake, with PCA’s two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh providing a climatic 7-6 victory in a battle between two of central Alabama’s best softball teams.

“That’s a good ball team,” PCA coach Randy Stough said of his opponent. “To be honest, we haven’t been tested as much during the regular season since early in the year so this was a good game for us. They’re the kind of team you’re going to see down the road (in the postseason).”

PCA’s Alivia Messick struggled with her control, walking four batters in the first three innings, but picked up the win in the circle. St. James’ Emily Needham was nearly unhittable at times, striking out 11 but giving up four runs in the third that nearly finished off the Trojans.  

“When we come here, several times we’ve been one play from winning the game and it seems like we can’t get that one play that gets us a win here,” St. James coach Mark Hall said. “They’re a well-coached team. You just can’t make many mistakes and we made several early in the game that gave up several runs.

“But I liked the way our team fought. We had some good at-bats where we squared a lot of balls up. At the end of the day, I’m proud of our team.”

Jersee Carter was the difference early and again late, reaching base and scoring a run in the first inning to tie the game at 1-1, drawing a walk and scoring in the third to tie the game at 2-2 and beating out a chopper with one out in the seventh and stealing second and third before scoring to tie the game at 6-6.

“Her speed makes a difference and when she gets on base, she makes things happen,” Stough said. “If she gets thrown out (in the seventh inning), that’s on me but I’m going to take that risk. But Sarah Williams got the thing going early in the game with her hit that knocked in two runs that put us ahead, then got the key hit to tie it up. Most occasions, that’s who I want up at the plate to handle that kind of situation and she came through.”

Williams, who went 2 for 4, singled in Carter and Payson Hanson in the third inning to put PCA up 3-2 before Chloe Hollon followed with a two-run blast over the right center field fence for a 5-2 lead. 

“She missed a spot on the home run,” Hall said. “Just one bad pitch. But look, Emily did a great job. She put us in a position to win the game.”

Stough replaced Messick with LB Nesmith in the fifth and Cam Greene blasted a one-out pitch over the left field fence, Tat Shuford was hit by a pitch and Peyton Dees singled to center, causing Stough to put Messick back in the game. Shuford scored on Needham’s double and Dees scored on a groundout and suddenly the game was tied again at 5-5. 

“We just thought we needed a change of pace,” Stough said. “Usually, (Nesmith) is hitting her spots well and moving it and spinning it well, but she just didn’t have it. So we went back to Alivia and Alivia hasn’t pitched in nine days so she had to pitch through some rust. She struggled and most of their runs came after walks where we put them on base. We were not as sharp pitching tonight.”

Needham, on the other hand, was at the top of her game, going 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a pair of RBIs at the plate, then holding the Panthers to three hits entering the bottom of the seventh.

“She did a fantastic job,” Stough said. “She made it difficult for us. She pitched real well.”

At that point, Stough called his team together in a huddle for a brief pep talk.

“It’s like I told them, good teams do whatever it takes to find a way to win and I consider us a good team, so let’s do what we’ve got to do to make it happen,” he said. “It wasn’t the prettiest of ways, but we found a way to do it.”

Needham struck out two of the first three batters she faced, but Carter beat out a grounder, stole second and third and tied the game when Williams singled up the middle. A walk to Hollon sent courtesy runner Jenna McClendon to second and McClendon beat the throw home on a spinning popup to the left side of the infield in front of shortstop KK Hall. 

Hall finally retrieved the ball as the backspin caused it to roll away from Trojan defenders, but her throw home was too late to get McClendon.

PCA (15-6) returns to 3A Area 6 action with a game at Catholic on Tuesday and a home game with Montgomery Academy on Thursday before playing four games in a tournament at Spanish Fort this weekend. St. James (15-7) play Bullock County in a 4A Area 3 doubleheader on Wednesday.

SOFTBALL

Trinity 9, Montgomery Academy 7

Trinity scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally past Montgomery Academy and earn their first area win of the season on Monday.

Marley Sharpless and Ava Milton led the Wildcats at the plate with two hits each. Sharpless had a double and a triple and drove in three runs. Milton had a double and scored three runs. 

On the mound, Madi Milton earned the win in relief of Sharpless, the starter. Milton pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six hits and a run while striking out seven and allowing no walks. 

The Lady Wildcats (11-10 overall, 1-3 in 3A Area 6 play) have another home area game on Wednesday against Catholic at 3 p.m.

Prattville 3, Chilton County 2 (11)

PRATTVILLE -- Sarah Grace Jones singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Lions a 3-2 win over Chilton County on Monday. 

Jessica Cord went the distance, going 11 innings and giving up just five hits and two runs, one earned, while striking out 13. 

Jones went 2 for 4 with a double and a pair of RBIs, Pyper Castro went 2 for 5 with a double and Jayden Kendrick had an RBI.

“This was a big-time win for our team,” Prattville coach Brian Pittman said. “Our girls competed and battled ‘till the end. This was two good teams making plays on both sides of the field. Hats off to Chilton County and their team on a great game.”

Prattville (15-12) remains at home to play Jeff Davis in an area game on Thursday.

BASEBALL 

Trinity 4, St. James 3

Grayson Ashe picked up the win on the mound and Mac McClinton drove in a pair of runs as the Wildcats celebrated Senior Day with a win over the Trojans at Whittle-Armstrong Field on Monday.

Ashe pitched 2.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while walking three and striking out two. Coleman Stanley earned the save, pitching two-thirds of an inning of no-hit ball.

Simmons Byrd went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and a stolen base to lead the Trinity offense at the plate, while McClinton went 1 for 1, drew a walk, was hit by a pitcher and drove in a pair of runs.

St. James (19-7) returns home to play host to Andalusia on Tuesday while Trinity will play host to Prattville Christian in an area game on Thursday at 4 p.m.