PREP UPDATE: Lowndes baseball advances to Class A semis; Catholic softball wins area tourney
COMBINED REPORTS
BASEBALL
Lowndes Academy 11-15, North River 0-3
LOWNDESBORO - The Rebels advanced to the AISA Class A semifinals with a sweep of North River on Thursday.
Ashton Yelder pitched a shut out in the opener and drove in four runs with a double and a triple.
Yelder allowed just one hit, striking out five.
In Game 2, the Rebels used an eight-run fourth to pull away for the win. Home runs by Clayton Hussey and Cooper Dansby highlighted the inning. Hussey finished with three hits in the game.
Lowndes Academy will play again Wednesday in the Class A semifinals in a home series against Coosa Valley. The best-of-3 series will feature a doubleheader on Wednesday followed by the “if’ game on Thursday. The winner advances to the Class A championship series beginning May 9 at Paterson Field.
SOFTBALL
Catholic 11, LAMP 1
Jennifer Looney pitched a three-hitter, striking out nine, in an 11-1 win over the Golden Tigers in the championship game of the 4A Area 4 tournament at Catholic on Friday.
LAMP had reached the championship game by defeating Booker T. Washington 28-7 in the elimination round finals.
Kamryn Iverson went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Hayden Fitts went 1 for 2 with a pair of RBIs and Kayleigh Everage went 1 for 2 with an RBI in the win.
Both teams advanced to the regional tournament at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex. Catholic will face the Area 2 runner-up on May 11 at 10:45 a.m.
Catholic 17, LAMP 3
Jennifer Looney pitched a three-hitter in the circle and drove in three runs at the plate to lead the Knights to a 17-3 win over the Golden Tigers in the winner’s bracket finals on Friday in the 4A Area 4 tournament at Catholic.
LAMP won an opening-round game over Booker T. Washington, 30-10, to reach the winner’s bracket finals against Catholic.
Looney held the Golden Tigers to three hits while striking out three in the circle and went 2 for 3 with three RBIs at the plate. Andy Aiken went 3 for 3 with two RBIs, Rylee Wilcoxson went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and Kayleigh Everage and Hannah Smith both went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
Brewbaker Tech 11, Smiths Station 1
Gabbie York slammed two home runs and Kaymarria Bandy had five RBIs as the Rams closed out the regular season with an 11-1 win over Smiths Station on Friday in a game limited to five innings by the mercy rule.
Brew Tech (35-8) returns to action on Monday at home in the 5A Area 4 tournament. Brew Tech will face Greenville in the tournament’s first game at 11 a.m., followed by Charles Henderson and Holtville at 1 p.m.
BOYS TENNIS
Montgomery Academy finishes fifth in eight-team field
MOBILE -- In what was easily the toughest finish for a Montgomery Academy team in the boys’ state tennis tournament, the Eagles finished in a tie for fifth place with just 12 points.
Vestavia Hills ran away with the 7A championship with 51 points, followed by Bob Jones with 26 and Auburn with 18. Florence was fourth with 15 points, followed by Hoover and Montgomery Academy in a tie for fifth place and Fairhope in seventh place with 11 points.
Montgomery Academy was competing in 7A for the first time in the school’s history because of Competitive Balance Factor and will remain in 7A when the new classification comes out in 2024.
Vestavia Hills won five of the six singles matches and one doubles match to easily win the title. Montgomery Academy’s misfortune was being paired with the Rebels in three of the six singles matches.
No. 1 Whit Davis lost in the first round to Vestavia Hills’ Jake Anthony 6-3, 6-4; No. 4 Jackson Brown lost in the first round to Vestavia Hills’ Kade Nelson 6-1, 6-0; and No. 5 Ford Morano lost to Vestavia Hills’ Brayden Helms 6-2, 6-4.
The Rebels also ended championship dreams for two other MA players, with No. 3 John Alford losing in the finals to John Michael Yanosky 6-2, 6-4, and No. 6 losing in the semifinals to Andrew Pipkin 6-0, 6-1.
No. 2 Charlie Hill lost in the first round to Hoover’s Gavin Patton 6-3, 6-3.
In doubles, all three Montgomery Academy teams lost to Vestavia Hills: at No. 1, Alford-Brown lost in the semifinals to Nelson-Yanosky, at No. 2, Hill and Ron Sharma lost in the semifinals to Anthony and Luke Bedwell and at No. 3, Carlyle Chandler and Morano lost in the first round to Pipkin and Ben Cusmariu.
LAMP takes lead into second day of 4A-5A tournament
MOBILE – LAMP took a seven-point lead into the final day of the 4A-5A state tennis tournament, with first and second place to be decided in four singles matches between the Golden Tigers and Houston Academy.
In the No. 1 doubles match, concluded on Friday, LAMP’s Edward Lee and Ian Shinn beat Houston Academy’s Mitchell Piedra and Brody Williams, 7-5, 7-5 to claim the state doubles title. At No. 3, LAMP’s Sun Ho Kim and Wonjun Lee defeated Houston Academy’s Thomas Buntin and Landon King 6-3, 6-0.
Inclement weather delayed the end of the 4A-5A state tennis tournament until Saturday when LAMP will compete in five of the six singles finals. LAMP has 60 points, followed by Houston Academy with 53 and Jasper with 40.
In singles competition to be completed on Saturday. LAMP’s Edward Lee will face Houston Academy’s Mitchell Piedra at No. 1; LAMP’s Ian Shin will play Houston Academy’s Brody Williams at No. 2; LAMP’s Ian Kim will play Houston Academy’s Jason Mun at No. 3; LAMP’s Sun Ho Kim will face Jasper’s Wilkes Hill at No. 4; Deshler’s Oliver Thompson will play Houston Academy’s Thomas Buntin at No. 5; and LAMP’s Wooseong Lee will face Houston Academy’s Landon King at No. 6.
Mountain Brook doubles team tops Trinity duo
The Class 6A boys’ state tennis tourney concluded on Friday at Lagoon Park Tennis Center as a doubles match and singles match left unplayed on Tuesday concluded.
In doubles, Mountain Brook’s Luke Schwefler and Max Gayden defeated Trinity’s James and Samuel Treadwell in a very tough match 6-4, 4-6, 10-5. Schwefler then met Spanish Fort’s Goodwin Holley in the No. 1 singles championship match 45 minutes later with the Toros’ netter winning the title 6-1, 6-1.
GIRLS TENNIS
MA’s Gabby Barrera, Mae Mae Voltz win singles titles
MOBILE -- Montgomery Academy’s Gabby Barrera won the No. 1 singles title, beating defending state champion Claire Bosman of Auburn High 6-3, 6-0, while her teammate, Mae Mae Voltz, won the state championship at No. 3 singles, defeating Auburn’s Hanbi Youn 6-2, 6-1.
Those marked the only wins by the Eagles and the only losses by the Tigers as Auburn ran away with the 7A state championship with 59 points. Vestavia Hills was second with 31 points and Montgomery Academy, competing for the first time as a 7A school under Competitive Balance Factor, finished in third place with 26 points.
Montgomery Academy’s third-place finish ensures the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams will remain in Class 7A as part of the Competitive Balance Factor rules when the new classification is applied in 2024.
In 7A, players compete in the quarterfinals and only need two victories to reach the finals. Montgomery Academy players losing in the quarterfinals included Jenna Chandler at No. 2 singles, Lola Campbell at No. 5 and Marianna Lassner at No. 6. At No. 4, Kareena Singh reached the semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Victoria Choo of Auburn.
In doubles, the No. 1 team of Barrera and Chandler reached the finals before losing to Claire and Camilla Bosman 6-3, 6-3. Voltz-Lassner lost in the semifinals to Choo and Kathryn Kirkland and the No. 3 team of Singh-Campbell lost in the quarterfinals to Vestavia Hills’ Caroline Helms and Wynn Strubel.
LAMP currently in tie for third
MOBILE -- UMS-Wright ran away with the 4A-5A title with 76 points despite several matches being carried over to Saturday because of inclement weather that delayed the completion of the 4A-5A state tennis tournament.
The Bulldogs were awarded the state championship trophy on Friday after amassing 76 points and Donoho received the runner-up trophy after compiling 43 points. LAMP and Russellville are currently tied for third with four singles matches and one doubles match left to be played on Saturday.
While four of the matches involve players from UMS-Wright, only two have any effect on the standing of the top four teams.
At No. 5 singles, UMS-Wright’s Rhea Mostellar will face LAMP’s Grace Lin and at No. 3 doubles, UMS-Wright’s Emmy Eckert and Ann Dyas Thompson will play LAMP’s Dabeen Choi and Hannah Baik. A Golden Tiger victory in either match will boost LAMP into third place alone.