PREP PLAYOFFS: Pike Road punches ticket to 5A baseball finals; Elmore County, Tallassee earn state softball berths
Compiled by TIM GAYLE
MOBILE -- Pike Road took advantage of an error-filled second inning by St. Paul’s Episcopal to score six runs on the way to an 11-0 rout of the Saints in the third game of the 5A semifinal series on Thursday.
Pike Road (29-9) will face Russellville (40-7) in a best-of-three championship series beginning on Monday at Paterson Field at 4 p.m. The second game will be played on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Riverwalk Stadium. A third game, if necessary, will immediately follow.
In Thursday’s game, Chael Kerr went the distance in a game shortened to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule, benefitting from a St. Paul’s squad that withered under the offensive onslaught of the Patriots in the second inning.
Logan Shores singled to start the inning, went to second on a bunt and later scored on an error for the game’s first run. Iverson Hooks was hit by a pitch and Parker Ceman singled to advance Hooks to third. Hooks scored on an error by the catcher for a 2-0 lead.
TJ Hambrick and Drew Britton walked to load the bases before Lucas Bagget singled to left field to drive in a run. Clay Slagle followed with a sacrifice fly, Eli Clark singled in Britton and an error by the pitcher allowed Bagget to score for a 6-0 lead.
That was all Kerr would need, but the Patriots added five more runs in the top of the fifth.
Grady Warren singled to center field, Ceman singled and Hambrick drew a walk to load the bases. Britton followed with a two-run single to center field and Bagget walked before a passed ball allowed a pair of runs to score. Slagle then drove in Bagget with a single for an 11-0 lead.
Ceman had three of Pike Road’s 10 hits in the game.
SOFTBALL: Elmore County tops Brew Tech, joins Tallassee in State Tourney
TUSCALOOSA -- Brewbaker Tech was six outs away from advancing to the state tournament.
Two walk-off losses later, the Rams will be sitting at home next week.
Brew Tech carried a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but Tallassee rallied with a pair of runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh to pull off a stunning 5-4 victory in the state qualifier at Bowers Park on Thursday afternoon.
A few hours later, playing the regional’s final game in search of the second qualifying slot, Brew Tech watched as Elmore County scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to take a 6-5 victory over the Rams.
Tallassee will advance to the state tournament for the first time since fast pitch softball was introduced in 1995. Elmore County will be making its third trip after a deep run in the 2007 tournament and a pair of games in 2014.
Brew Tech’s Taniyah Brown had three hits and drove in a pair of runs against Tallassee, but took the loss after surrendering just four hits while striking out three.
Chloe Baynes’s two-out, two-run single to left earned the win for the Tigers, which reached the elimination round regional finals in 2019 before losing to Rehobeth.
In the second game, Brown once again suffered the loss in 2.2 innings of work, this time in relief of starter Romona Mcleod. Airele Anderson had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for Brew Tech. Tyra Johnson added a pair of hits.
Aubrey Allen picked up the win for the Panthers, striking out six in a complete-game performance. Ashlyn Pannell had a pair of hits for Elmore County, while Ebone Pierson drove in a pair of runs.