PREP ROUNDUP: Macon East softball routs Northside; St. James tops ACA
COMBINED REPORTS
SOFTBALL
Macon East Academy 11, Northside Methodist 1
DOTHAN – Caroline Capps and Taylor McKinney combined to shut down Northside Methodist as the Knights remained unbeaten in Class AAA Region 1 Area 2 play with an 11-1 win on Tuesday.
Capps picked up the win, allowing just two hits and no runs over three innings while striking out six and walking none. McKinney pitched the final three innings to close out the win.
Alyssa Clark singled in a run in the first before the Knights added three more in the second. Breann Morrison singled in a run and McKinney tripled in two more for a 4-0 lead before Macon East broke open the game with a five-run fourth inning aided by walks and a hit batter.
Kylee Smith walked to force in a run before Devyn Debardelaben doubled in two more runs. Clark drove in one on a sacrifice fly and Capps followed with an RBI single for a 9-0 lead.
McKinney went 2 for 3 with a run scored and three RBIs, Smith went 2 for 3 with three runs scored and an RBI, Debardelaben went 2 for 4 with a run scored and two RBIs and Morrison went 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Capps, meanwhile, was dominant. She allowed a single to Abbey Knight to lead off the bottom of the first, then struck out the next five batters. Knight went 2 for 2 to account for half of Northside’s total.
Macon East returns home to face Hooper in the opening round of the Macon East Tournament on Thursday at 4 p.m. The winner will play Crenshaw Christian on Thursday at 6 p.m.
St. James 3, Alabama Christian 1
Cam Greene held the Eagles in check by allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out five in a complete-game performance as the Trojans defeated ACA on Tuesday at Denise Ainsworth Field.
Hannah Grace Griggs had three hits and Bellah Bright had two to lead the Trojans.
Rose Costanza took the loss for the Eagles in a complete-game performance, allowing six hits while striking out six.
Haley Pittman, Monica Willingham and Haley Cassidy all had two hits for ACA.
The two teams play again on Thursday at St. James at 4 p.m.
Catholic 17, Park Crossing 0
Alanna Aiken improved to 4-0 and combined with seventh grader Jennifer Looney to pitch a no-hitter in a 17-0 win over Park Crossing on Tuesday at Lagoon Park Softball Complex.
At the plate, Chloe Walden had two hits, drove in a pair of runs and had a stolen base, Nikki Walker hit an inside-the-park home run – her fourth homer of the season – and drove in a pair of runs, Katherine O’Conner scored three runs and drove in two more, McKenzie Norton scored a pair of runs and stole a base and Looney drove in two runs for the Knights.
Catholic (14-1) travels to Trinity on Thursday for a 4A Area 4 contest at 4 p.m.
Brew Tech 10, Trinity 8
Trinity dropped an offensive battle to Brewbaker Tech 10-8 in a junior varsity contest on Tuesday. Linda Hill, Charlee Cone and Henlee Gunter each tripled for the Wildcats. Hill went 2 for 2 with an RBI and scored two runs, Cone went 2 for 2 with two RBIs and scored twice and both Lilly Yancey and Gunter drove in two runs each.
The Wildcats (2-5) will open area play on Thursday at home against Catholic at 4 p.m.
BASEBALL
Northside Methodist 3, Macon East Academy 2
DOTHAN – Macon East dropped a Class AAA Region 1 Area 2 heartbreaker to Northside Methodist as NMA scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the win.
The two teams battled evenly throughout the game as both pitchers went the distance. Northside’s Landon Johnson picked up the win, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out seven. Clay Slagle took the loss, allowing four hits and three runs while striking out five.
Nick Marshall homered to left field for the Knights’ first home run of the season to give Macon East a 1-0 lead in the fourth and put down a sacrifice bunt in the sixth to drive in Parker Whittle for a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Johnson drew a leadoff walk and one out later Cole Dykes reached base on an error. After a groundout advanced the runners, a balk forced in a run before Carson Dykes was hit by a pitch. Tyler Granthem then doubled to center field to score the tying and winning runs.
Macon East (6-6) returns home to face Abbeville Christian in the opening round of the Macon East Tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Lowndes-Crenshaw game on Friday at noon.
Andalusia 7, Trinity 5
Andalusia defeated the Wildcats 7-5 on Tuesday despite three hits from William Roberson and Parker Hughes.
Ben Easterling (1-1) took the loss for the Wildcats. At the plate, Roberson went 3 for 3, Hughes went 3 for 4 with an RBI and Walton Cherry went 2 for 4.
Trinity (10-2) now takes a week off before returning to action on Monday in the Gulf Coast Classic against Spanish Fort at 5 p.m.
Prattville Christian 8, Verbena 3
VERBENA – Reese Starnes went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs as the Panthers scored five runs in the first four innings to dispose of the Red Devils 8-3 on Tuesday.
Starnes drove in Tanner Byrd with a single in the first for a 1-0 lead, singled to drive in Jackson Reed in the third inning for a 4-2 lead and drove in Reed again in a three-run sixth that gave PCA an 8-3 lead.
Reed went 2 for 3, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs in the sixth with a triple. Byrd went 3 for 5, scored twice and drove in a run and Jack Ryan Fulford went 2 for 3 and scored twice.
Patrick Litz picked up the win with three innings of four-hit ball, while Sam Duffield contributed three innings of one-hit relief.
Verbena had taken a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first when Ethan Dobson singled and later scored on a passed ball and Johnathan Marino singled and later scored on a fielder’s choice. Marino went 2 for 3 to lead the Red Devils.
GIRLS SOCCER
Montgomery Academy 0, Enterprise 0
Goalkeeper Millie Stevenson preserved the shutout as the Eagles battled 7A powerhouse Enterprise to an even draw on Tuesday night. Standout performers on the night were Bae Corley, Leighton Robertson and Brooke Horne.
“We probably put on our best full game performance of the season today,” MA coach Joe White said. “The girls were fantastic from start to finish and we were unlucky not to have won comfortably. I am incredibly happy with the performance and we fully deserved to win.”
Prattville Christian 3, Stanhope Elmore 0
MILLBROOK -- Avery Rogers, Emily Branch, and Riley Johnson each scored a goal to lead the Lady Panthers to a 3-0 win over Stanhope Elmore on Tuesday.
Kathleen Cary added an assist and CoCo Thomas had five saves as she recorded another shutout in goal with help from a great defensive game by the back four -- Jenna Stilling, Brooke Callicott, Elle Tice and Peyton Cobb.
PCA remains undefeated with a record of 5-0.
BOYS SOCCER
Trinity 7, BTW Magnet 3
Luke Adams scored four goals to lead Trinity to a 7-3 win over BTW Magnet on Tuesday night.
James Davis added a pair of goals and Jackson Champion scored the other goal for the Wildcats. Trinity scorers had assists from Hayden Hilliard, Davis and Jon Portis.
BOYS TENNIS
St. James 8, Prattville 1
PRATTVILLE – The Trojans swept doubles play and won five of the six singles matches with the Class 7A Lions at Newton Park on Monday.
Players recording victories for St. James were Toba Rios, Andrew Sadie, Will Gulsby, Josh Harvey and Danny Trock. St. James (2-2) faced Charles Henderson in Troy on Tuesday and will play Catholic on Wednesday at O'Connor Tennis Center.