PREP RECAPS: Catholic baseball eases past ACA; Macon East softball drops Autauga
COMBINED REPORTS
BASEBALL
Catholic 13, Alabama Christian 12
Hudson Parrish went 3 for 3, including a two-run double in the sixth inning to break a 9-9 tie and lift the Knights to a 13-12 win over Alabama Christian at the AUM Dixie Majors Field on Tuesday.
Parrish’s hit triggered a four-run inning for the Knights, which was answered in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run rally by the Eagles that fell just short.
ACA took the lead in the second inning on a three-run home run by Preston Hicks.
Catholic fought back, eventually tying the game at 9-9 in the fifth inning on a two-run single by Kam Miller.
Alex Fleet started for Catholic, allowing eight runs on nine hits over three innings while striking out five and walking one. Andrew Noell picked up the win in relief, allowing two runs on two hits in three innings, striking out one and walking two. Parrish earned the save with a scoreless seventh.
Hayes Hunt started for the Eagles, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out five in four innings. Nelson took the loss in relief, while Hicks closed out the game with two-thirds of an inning in the seventh.
Hunt led the 11-hit attack, going 3 for 4 for the Eagles. Parrish, Parks Hickman and Brody Hudson all managed multiple hits as part of a 10-hit attack for the Knights.
St. James 15, Trinity 5
Cooper Wright, Wils Johnson and Tabor Offord each had three RBIs and Caden Anderson added 2 RBIs for the Trojans in a 15-5 win over the Wildcats at Armstong-Whittle Field on Tuesday.
Clint Shores got the win for the Trojans.
Brady Rascoll had two RBIs to lead Trinity.
St. James (4-0) travels to Clanton to play Chilton County on Saturday.
Prattville 6, Davidson 0
SPANISH FORT -- Zack Ervie pitched five shutout innings to help the Lions kick off the season with a 6-0 win over Davidson in the Hank Aaron Classic at Spanish Fort on Friday.
Ervie allowed five hits and a walk while striking out nine in his 2023 debut. Nate Lunsford came on in relief with a scoreless sixth inning, allowing a pair of hits while sriking out two. Grant Williams pitched a perfect seventh to close out the win.
Tanner Vance started the scoring in the top of the first with a leadoff single before eventually scoring on an error. Andrew Hicks scored in the second after reaching on an error, advancing on a single by Jack Studdard, a sacrifice bunt by Vance and RBI groundout by Drew Jolley.
In the top of the seventh, the Lions broke open the game after back-to-back, two-out singles by Jolley and Mason Piper. After Landon Sumrall walked, Clayton Smith singled both runner in. Williams followed with a pinch-hit, two-RBI single to end the scoring. Jolley, Piper and Studdard each recorded two hits to lead the Lions (1-0).
Spanish Fort 15, Prattville 5
SPANISH FORT -- The Lions closed the gap to 7-5 before the Toros erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to hand Prattville its first loss of the season in a run-rule defeat in the Hank Aaron Classic at Spanish Fort on Friday.
Drew Jolly took the loss, allowing seven runs, two earned, on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts in four innings of work in the Lions’ second game of the season.
The Lions (1-1) started slow but came to life in the top of the third on a two-run home run by Tanner Vance to cut the deficit to 5-2. After the Toros added a run in the bottom half of the inning, Grant Williams drove in Clayton Smith on a fielder’s choice and Ashton Cannon scored on a wild pitch to cut the gap to 6-4 in the fourth. The Toros scored one more in the fourth before Jolley walked and scored on an error to make it 7-5 in the fifth.
Prattville 10, St. Michael’s 0
MOBILE -- The Lions kicked off Saturday play in the Hank Aaron Classic with a strong pitching performance against St. Michael’s in a game played at Baker High School.
Senior Grant Williams threw 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing six hits along with four strikeouts and a walk. Junior Cade Floyd earned the save with 1.2 innings of relief, getting a fly out to right fielder Jack Studdard to leave runners stranded at first and second to end the top of the fifth and followed with a scoreless sixth, surrendering one hit.
Williams got offensive support with a 4-0 lead after two innings as Drew Jolley reached on an error and Mason Piper singled, followed by an RBI ground out by Clayton Smith and RBI single by Landon Sumrall for a 2-0 lead in the first. An inning later, Charlie Dudley scored on a sacrifice fly before Piper singled in Ashton Cannon.
The Lions (2-1) added 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th as Jacob Hilyer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Smith scored on an error, Campbell Hallman scored on a wild pitch and Dudley singled in Hilyer and Jacob Heath. The game ended on the 10-run mercy rule as Hilyer scored on a Heath single and error.
Baker 7, Prattville 0
MOBILE -- The Lions dropped their final game of the Hank Aaron Classic despite a fine pitching performance from Andrew Hicks on Saturday at Baker High.
Hicks pitched five strong innings, trailing just 1-0 before leaving in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out. He was responsible for four runs, three earned, along with six strikeouts, a walk, three hits and three hit batters.
Nate Lunsford surrendered three runs, two earned, on three hits in relief.
The Lions (2-2) had four singles but could not produce any runs. Clayton Smith and Zack Ervie both singled in the top of the second, Mason Piper singled in the fourth and Grant Williams singled in the fifth.
For the tournament, senior Grant Williams was 1-0 after a shutout earlier in the day and went 2 for 5 with three RBIs at the plate. Junior Zack Ervie (1-0) pitched a shutout in the Lions’ season opener a day earlier and went 2 for 7 with a run and walk at the plate. Mason Piper led the Lions offensively, going 5 for 10 with four walks while scoring a run and driving in another.
SOFTBALL
Macon East Academy 11, Autauga Academy 5
CECIL -- Jamya Powell went 2 for 4, including a home run in the third inning, Kaiden Byrom went 3-for-4 and Miya Tatum added multiple hits as the Knights pounded the Generals 11-5 to remain unbeaten.
Byrom singled in a pair of runs in the first inning and Powell added to the score in the third as Macon East scored six runs over the first four innings to secure the victory.
Kylee Smith picked up the win in the circle, allowing two hits and three runs over five innings while striking out four. Tatum threw two innings of relief out of the bullpen.
Macon East Academy (6-0) will open play in a tournament at Edgewood on Thursday, facing Edgewood at noon and Lowndes at 3 p.m.
St. James 14, Jeff Davis 1 (6)
Arden Green, Tat Shuford and Mary Olive Maddox all collected two hits each while Emily Darby drove in three runs to lead the Trojans to a run-rule victory over Jeff Davis in the 2023 season opener on Tuesday.
The Trojans broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and nine in the sixth to take a 14-0 lead before the Volunteers scored a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Maddox drove in a pair of runs, while Green and Shuford both scored twice while driving in a run. Emily Needham pitched 4.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball to earn the win, striking out 11 while walking three. Emerson Hagen recorded the last five outs in relief, allowing a run on a hit while walking one and striking out three.
BOYS SOCCER
Montgomery Academy 4, Prattville 1
Lucas Rizzo scored three goals and Bobby Eskridge scored one to lead the Eagles to a 4-1 victory over Class 7A Prattville at Montgomery Academy on Tuesday.
Rizzo scored the Eagles’ first two goals, one with an assist from Brewer Welch, another with an assist from Braxton Welch. He scored Montgomery Academy’s final goal with an assist from Ethan Yi.
Montgomery Academy returns to action on Friday at Indian Springs in a rematch of last year’s 4A-5A semifinals. Both Montgomery Academy and Indian Springs, the defending 4A-5A state champion, were elevated to 6A under Competitive Balance Factor. Montgomery Academy is now in 6A Area 4, while Indian Springs is in 6A Area 8.
Catholic 1, Alabama Christian 0
Todd Bonnell scored the game’s only goal with an assist from Max Barranco as the Knights shut out Alabama Christian 1-0 on Tuesday evening.
Catholic travels to Wetumpka on Tuesday.