PREP UPDATE: St. James softball wins 3A Area 6 tourney; Brew Tech, Pike Road take titles
St. James pitcher Emily Needham was solid in her shut out win over ACA, clinching the area tournament title on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE/COMBINED REPORTS
A day after staging a 1-0 thriller, St. James and Alabama Christian were back at it again.
This time, there was a little more on the line as the two programs battled for the 3A Area 6 Tournament championship at St. James.
Heading into the fifth inning, a first-inning RBI double by St. James’ Ava Stanford that scored Sydney Johnston proved to be the only run of the game and the two teams looked like they were headed for another classic finish.
But a couple of timely hits by the Trojans, a surrender by the Eagles and another three runs helped the Trojans to a 7-0 victory and the area tournament title for the second consecutive season.
“I was without one of my top offensive players, my third baseman (Tat Shuford, out with an injury), so we had to fill that void,” St. James coach Mark Hall said, “but I thought we were way more focused and knew that we needed to start a little quicker. And even though we didn’t score early, I could tell that we were more focused and intuned to the game. Finally, we broke through. And I told them, if we can ever get ahead, when you’ve got ‘00’ (pitcher Emily Needham) out there and you can get a couple of runs ahead, it usually bodes well for us.”
Needham and Alabama Christian’s Izzy Warrick reprised their Monday afternoon pitching duel with another standout performance on Tuesday, but the three runs by the Trojans in the fifth inning ended the day in the circle for Warrick as ACA coach Meagan Whisenant elected to pull her star with the outcome already decided.
That’s because Needham was just as effective, if not more so, in Tuesday’s outing, allowing just a fourth-inning single to Warrick, a fifth-inning single to Maddie Traywick and an infield single to Annabelle Pugh in the seventh.
St. James picked up three runs in the fifth, the third run coming on an Emily Darby RBI double, then tacked on three more in the sixth off of reliever Maddie Owens.
ACA has scored just two runs in four meetings with the Trojans this season, including a pair of shutouts in the area tournament, but Whisenant was confident in her team’s offense heading into the postseason.
“You see the name on the jersey and it’s the way in which we react,” Whisenant said. “When we see new teams, we react completely different. We’re on it because there’s no expectation. We still struggle with self confidence so when we see teams that we had repetitively lost to in the past, they just struggle to overcome that. As soon as we take the name off the jersey, we’re as good as gold.”
Both teams qualified to play in the Central Regionals next Wednesday at Lagoon Park, with St. James (33-2) facing Indian Springs and ACA (12-18) playing Childersburg. ACA accomplished the goal of reaching the postseason in every year the Eagles have fielded a fast pitch program by beating Trinity earlier in the day.
“It was hard to feed into emotions for that game because that was just a stepping stone for the next game (against St. James),” Whisenant noted. “That’s 29 consecutive trips to the regionals, whether it was as the first-place team (in the area) or second place. The point is, we got the ticket punched to get there.”
Trinity (11-11), meanwhile, ended its season in the area tournament.
“It was just a season of battling through adversity, with our pitcher getting hurt, our backup pitcher getting hurt, our leading hitter getting hurt, our catcher getting hurt, so what you see today is something that’s pieced together,” Trinity coach Stan Milton said. “They all still play and they all want to be there and fight for their team but they’re not 100 percent. We’ve still got a lot more to go to be able to compete with these teams.”
Brewbaker Tech won the Class 5A Area 5 tourney on Tuesday, finishing unbeaten. (Contributed)
Brew Tech wins 5A Area 4 Tourney
HOLTVILLE -- Brew Tech swept through the 5A Area 4 Tournament unbeaten, defeating Holtville, 3-2, on Tuesday to capture the 5A Area 4 Tournament championship on Tuesday.
The Lady Rams won the pitcher’s duel thanks to a sacrifice fly from sophomore Jaila Griffin in the bottom of the sixth.
Brew Tech scored a pair of runs in the first inning with the help of a single by freshman Kaymarria Bandy and an error on the Bulldogs’ infield. Freshman Heleyna Pennic and sophomore Kyra Wallace also picked up a hit in the contest.
In the circle, Kyra Wallace handled business going all seven innings, allowing only two runs, one earned.
Both teams advance to play in the South Regionals at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex with an opening round game on Tuesday at 10:45 a.m. Brew Tech will face Elberta, while Holtville will play Gulf Shores.
For the tournament, Taliah July went 3 for 9 with a double and a home run, three runs scored, two RBIs, four walks and a pair of stolen bases. Kyra Wallace: went 5 for 9 with a triple, a run scored and a pair of walks and Kaymarria Bandy went 4 for 10 with a double and three RBIs. In the circle, Wallace pitched 14 innings, allowing 10 Hits and three runs (two earned), while walking three and striking out nine.
Brew Tech 12, Holtville 6
HOLTVILLE -- The Rams defeated Holtville 12-6 on Monday evening to advance to the finals of the 5A Area 4 Tournament.
Brew Tech will face the winner of the elimination round game between Charles Henderson and Holtville to decide the area tournament on Tuesday.
In Monday’s game, Holtville took a 4-1 lead in the third but the Rams answered with an 11-run outburst in the fifth and sixth innings for the win.
Junior Taliah July went 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and a home run while also walking once, while junior JaQuayla Jarrett went 1 for 4 with a double and four RBIs.
Sophomore Kyra Wallace went 2 for 3 with a walk. Freshman Kaymarria Bandy, eight grader Reese Woody and sophomore Jaila Griffin also picked up a hit, with Woody and Griffin both driving in two runs each. Seventh grader Kelsey Williams and sophomore Bailey Pope split time in the circle, picking up the win.
Brew Tech 3, Charles Henderson 1
HOLTVILLE -- Kyra Wallace pitched a complete game, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out eight to lead the Rams to a 3-1 win over the Trojans in the opening round of the 5A Area 4 Tournament on Monday.
At the plate, Wallace helped her cause by going 2 for 4 with a triple.
Freshman Kaymarria Bandy broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the first inning. The Lady Rams would score two more runs in the bottom of the second thanks to a double from sophomore Jaila Griffin and a single from Taliah July.
Pike Road captures 6A Area 3 title
PIKE ROAD -- Haley Melton pitched her third consecutive shutout, allowing just two hits while striking out two to help the Patriots capture the 6A Area 3 tournament championship on Tuesday.
Pike Road (26-18) will face Baldwin County in the opening round of the South Regional at Gulf Shores Sportsplex on Monday at 10:45 a.m.
Earlier in the day, Park Crossing defeated Russell County 17-3 in six innings to advance to the tournament finals and secure the second regional bid. The Thunderbirds will face Spanish Fort in the South Regional on Monday in Gulf Shores at 10:45 a.m.
The win was especially sweet for Pike Road coach Patricia Ball, who picked up her 900th coaching victory along with the championship plaque.
At the plate, Ameria Anderson was 2 for 2 with a home run, Mary Hayden Hargrove and Haley Melton had two hits each, Ava Milton tripled, Addison Belyeu had a three-run homer, Anna Williams and Lily Kate Vinson each doubled and Lily Kate had a RBI. Kasyn Wilson added a single.
St. James Jackson Williams battles PCA’s Wade Mora for the ball in the Trojans’ win in the 1A-3A soccer playoffs on Tuesday. (Contributed)
BOYS SOCCER
St. James 2, Prattville Christian 0
The Trojans scored a pair of second-half goals to pull out a 2-0 win over the Panthers in the first round of the 1A-3A state soccer playoffs at Carlisle Field on Tuesday night.
After a scoreless first half, Faris Albalushi put the Trojans on the board with an assist from freshman Payton Jones with 38:24 remaining. A little more than 20 minutes later, Atticus Clements added an insurance goal to put St. James on top 2-0.
Goalkeeper Jake Poling preserved the shutout in goal.
St. James (14-4-2) remains home in the second round of the 1A-3A playoffs and will host Tuscaloosa Academy, a first-round winner over Alabama Christian, at Carlisle Field on Friday at 7 p.m.
Prattville Christian ends the season at 8-11-1.
GIRLS SOCCER
St. James 4, Prattville Christian 0
Mary Grace Hixon, Katie Brightwell, Natalie Barton and Hope McCain each scored a goal to lead the Trojans to a 4-0 win over the Panthers in the first round of the 1A-3A state soccer playoffs at Carlisle Field on Tuesday afternoon.
Hixon also contributed a pair of assists, along with one each from Molly Phillips and Sana Shuford. St. James (14-1-1) remains at home in the second round of the playoffs and will play host to Tuscaloosa Academy, a winner over Alabama Christian on Monday, at Carlisle Field on Friday at 5 p.m.
Prattville Christian ends the season at 8-11.
Montgomery Academy 2, Pike Road 0
Montgomery Academy’s Sophia Cho and Kerstin Daniels each scored a second-half goal in a defensive battle with area rival Pike Road to beat the Patriots 2-0 in the second round of the Class 6A state soccer playoffs at McLemore Field on Tuesday.
Montgomery Academy (12-3-1) will be on the road for the remainder of the state playoffs, traveling to Spanish Fort (14-7-1) for the 6A quarterfinals on Friday at 5 p.m. The winner will advance to the 6A state tournament the following week in Huntsville.
Tuesday’s matchup was a very slow game throughout the first half as Pike Road did a great job shutting down the Eagles’ strong areas, forcing some halftime adjustments. In the second half MA took some time to get going, but with 15 minutes left Cho took a shot on the edge of the box that went to the bottom left corner for a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, off a quick throw-in, Daniels took on her defender and shot 20 yards out that went over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Orange Beach 2, Catholic 1
Orange Beach scored a goal in the second overtime period to hand the Knights a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat in the first round of the 4A state soccer playoffs at Catholic on Monday night.
Eryn Owens scored Catholic’s goal with an assist from Carsyn Hawkins.
Goalkeeping was busy for Heather Walski as Orange Beach took a total of 30 shots with 18 of those shots being on goal, Walski had 16 saves with two goals against.
Orange Beach (15-2-1) will return home and play area rival St. Michael (17-2) on Friday. Catholic ends the season at 16-4-1.