PCA gets an area title and Goodson gets a haircut to celebrate
St. James catcher Cole Anderson applies a tag to Tyler Bullard as he slides into home in Friday’s game between the Trojans and PCA. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Tommy Goodson didn’t really need a haircut, but he was anxious to get one.
The Prattville Christian baseball coach had promised his players they could shave his head if the Panthers won the 3A Area 6 title. After losing to St. James on Wednesday, the championship would be decided in the first game of a Friday doubleheader at St. James and the Panthers responded with a 9-2 win.
“I promised them if you when the region, you get to shave my head,” Goodson said. “I’ve had it done so many times at Prattville and Jeff Davis. They’re all fired up about it. It’ll grow back. If it doesn’t, I’ll wear a hat the rest of my life.”
Goodson predicted the ceremony would take place Monday in the school gym, but the players didn’t want to wait that long.
“It should take place tonight,” senior outfielder Patrick Litz said. “We’re ready to get it done.”
For the Panthers (20-5), the road to an area championship was a long one. Although they had won area titles in 2013 and 2018, Goodson inherited a team decimated by graduation in 2019. The first step achieved was a playoff berth in 2022. A 4-0 start to area play was dealt a setback in Wednesday’s loss to St. James, creating a winner-take-all scenario on Friday.
“We’ve had a rough week, practice wise,” Goodson said. “As coaches, we talked about how we didn’t know if the kids wanted it as much as we wanted it, if the kids wanted it as much as their parents wanted it. We played a good game on Wednesday but just gave it away with four unearned runs to start the game.
“This is the first step. We’ve talked about it all week, the last three weeks since we started area play. We didn’t get the job done on Wednesday, but there was still this opportunity today. Now, it’s over with, we’ve won the area and get to host for the first time ever. The next step is defending the home field and playing good baseball.”
Prattville Christian (20-5) will play host to New Brockton in the first round of the 3A state playoffs next Friday. St. James (15-11) will travel to Opp for a first-round doubleheader on Friday.
“They outpitched us today, no doubt about it,” St. James coach Keith Lucky said. “They outpitched us and outhit us. They played well today, where we played well over there (on Wednesday) at their place. But we all start even in the playoffs, no matter where we’re going.”
In a season where quality pitching has often been difficult to find, PCA starter Bryce Masters and reliever Parker Blake held the Trojans to three hits and a pair of fifth-inning runs. Masters struck out four and walked two, while Blake retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings.
A trio of pitchers for St. James, meanwhile, allowed 10 hits, hit four batters and struggled as its defense committed three errors, allowing four unearned runs.
“We were fortunate enough to come out on the good end of the walks and the hit batters,” Goodson said. “In the past, we’ve been on the wrong end of that. Bryce Masters threw a good game. He got us through five innings. We were fortunate to get a lot of runs and put the ball in play. It took the pressure off us.”
The Panthers won the game in the third inning as three singles and three hit batters, two with the bases loaded, allowed PCA to take a 3-0 lead. In the seventh, a pair of Trojan errors allowed the Panthers to put the game out of reach with four more runs.
“It feels great,” Litz said. “It took a while to get here, but all the work we put in is finally paying off.
“Wednesday we wanted it but sometimes things don’t work out. We came in with a lot of energy, said we were going to play every inning, no plays off. We just came out ready to play.”
The Panthers will be making their sixth trip to the state playoffs since joining the Alabama High School Athletic Association in 2013, but will be seeking a first-round win for the first time since 2018.
“They have endured a lot, to be around me for four years and not winning the way I want to win,” Goodson said. “They had to take the pressure of me getting on them and staying on them and not being happy with just mediocre baseball.”