SATURDAY PREPS: MA soccer tops Fort Payne; PCA softball splits two
COMBINED REPORTS
BOYS SOCCER
Montgomery Academy 5, Fort Payne 1
FORT PAYNE -- In a rematch of last year’s 6A state championship match, Montgomery Academy got a pair of goals from Brewer Welch to beat defending state champion Fort Payne in the Fort Payne Invitational on Saturday morning.
The two teams fought through a scoreless first half before Welch got the Montgomery Academy offense going with the first of five goals by the Eagles.
John Allen Lachney scored the Eagles’ second goal with an assist from Brody Watrous before Welch scored his 24th goal of the season with a header off an assist by Ethan Yi.
Watrous scored with an assist by Jacob Stubblefield and Yi scored with an assist by Drew Phenix to round out the scoring for the Eagles.
Montgomery Academy will travel to Auburn High on Tuesday.
Wetumpka 6, Catholic 1
The Knights struggled to find the net against a good defensive effort by 6A Wetumpka, managing just a goal by Chris Salmeron in a 6-1 loss to the Indians on Saturday morning at Catholic.
Salmeron was assisted by Tymari Isner on the Knights’ lone goal.
Catholic will travel to Trinity for a huge area game on Tuesday, then travel to Dale County to close out area play on Thursday.
Montgomery Academy 3, Guntersville 1
FORT PAYNE -- Montgomery Academy defeated Guntersville 3-1 in the Fort Payne Invitational on Friday.
Scoring goals for the Eagles were Brewer Welch, Jacob Stubblefield and Tanner Bartigas.
Montgomery Academy will face Fort Payne on Saturday morning.
GIRLS SOCCER
Catholic 1, Wetumpka 0
Carsyn Hawkins used an assist from Ava Crimi to score the game’s only goal and lift the Knights to a 1-0 win over 6A Wetumpka at Catholic on Saturday morning.
Goalkeeper Heather Walski had two saves and picked up her 14th shutout of the season. Eighth grader Abby Talbot also had two saves and kept the clean sheet.
Catholic (14-2-1) will put its 8-0 area record on the line Tuesday against Trinity on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Catholic won the first meeting 2-0 so Trinity will need to win by more than two goals to win the area championship.
BASEBALL
Prattville Christian 2-11, St. James 5-8
PRATTVILLE -- After battling back from an area loss on Friday, the Trojans won the first game of a Saturday doubleheader at Prattville Christian to tie for the Area 6 championship, then lost the second game to finish as the area runner up.
Prattville Christian and St. James both finished at 4-2 in the area standings, but the Panthers’ 10-8 win in the second game served as the tiebreaker to determine the area champion. PCA (19-9) will remain home on Friday and play host to Cottage Hill (8-16) in the first round of the 3A playoffs with a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m., while St. James (17-10) will travel to Flomaton (15-11) for a first-round doubleheader on Friday starting at 5 p.m.
In the first game, Tabor Offord pitched a complete game, striking out 10 and surrendering just two hits while also going 4 for 4 at the plate in a 5-2 victory. Dawson Knowles, Braylen Corley and Wils Johnson all had RBIs for the Trojans.
In the second game, the Trojan scored six runs in the top of the sixth to take a three-run lead, only to surrender six runs in the bottom half of the inning in an 11-8 defeat.
Offord and Cole Anderson each had two hits and an RBI while Charlie Cutler added 3 RBIs for the Trojans in the loss.
SOFTBALL
Springville 2, Prattville Christian 0
ALBERTVILLE -- Alivia Messick allowed six hits and one earned run as the top-ranked team in 5A avenged a Friday loss to the Panthers in a 2-0 rematch on Saturday in the Sardis Tournament.
Georgia Chancellor picked up the win, allowing just one hit while striking out 12.
PCA (16-4) returns home to play host to Tallassee on Monday at 5 p.m.
Prattville Christian 7, Boaz 2
ALBERTVILLE -- Laura Beth NeSmith scattered five hits and struck out four in 6.1 innings of work to defeat Boaz in the Panthers’ third game in the Sardis Tournament on Saturday morning.
Chloe Hollon had three hits, including a solo home run, Peyton Thrash had three hits, including an inside-the-park home run and three RBIs and Erin Williams had a pair of hits to lead the PCA offense.
TRACK AND FIELD
Montgomery Academy stars shine at Mountain Brook
MOUNTAIN BROOK -- Montgomery Academy prepared for the upcoming sectionals by participating in a two-day meet at Mountain Brook against larger schools on Friday and Saturday.
Skyler Stovall won the high jump, clearing six feet, four inches to highlight the Eagles’ participation. Isabella Johnson placed second in the shot put and third in the discus, while Sarah Elizabeth Casey was fifth in the high jump.