SPRING PREPS: Brew Tech spoils ACA Alumni Day; Trinity baseball wins twice in tourney
ACA’s Izzy Warrick takes second as Brew Tech shortstop Grace Hunter bobbles a throw in Thursday’s action. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
Alabama Christian Academy held its Alumni Appreciation Day at Denise Ainsworth Field, but even the appearance of former coaches Chris Goodman and Ainsworth, along with several former players from past state championship teams, had any effect on Brewbaker Tech.
The Rams (16-0) continued their remarkable season as Taniyah Brown threw her fourth no-hitter of the season in turning back the Eagles 10-0 in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule on Thursday.
“The big thing is we’ve only played two games in two weeks so we’re trying to get our momentum back,” Brew Tech coach Chris Steiner said. “That’s a lot of time off and a lot of down time and it’s hard to get into a rhythm and hard to keep that fire and that energy when you’re only playing one game a week.”
The Rams pounded out 12 hits, scoring four runs in the first inning and six more in the third while Brown limited the Eagles to a pair of base runners and kept any contact from leaving the infield.
First-year ACA coach Lauren Veach tried to put a positive spin on a team that dropped to 0-3 at home this season and failed to score a run for the fourth consecutive game in losing to a pair of 7A teams, a 6A team and on Thursday to a 5A team.
“For a team with no upperclassmen on the field and only two sophomores, we’re getting better every game,” Veach said.
Meanwhile, the Eagles just continue to get younger as former junior varsity player Samantha Burgess made her first varsity start of the season in right field and seventh grader Anna Williams took the circle to lead off against the Rams.
It was a mismatch from the beginning. Brew Tech returns much of its 2021 team intact, sporting a roster that could include a half-dozen college signees by the end of the year. ACA, meanwhile, returns just two starters from last year’s team and the majority of its roster weren’t varsity players a year ago.
That made its easier for Brown, who struck out six of the first 10 batters she faced, retiring the other three on groundouts and a line drive and surrendering only a walk to Annabelle Pugh in the first inning and to Izzy Warrick in the fourth.
“She’s a very good pitcher,” Veach said. “But we watched too many go by and swung at too many bad pitches.”
Gabby York went 3 for 4 and scored twice to set the tone as the Rams’ leadoff hitter. Taniyah Brown went 3 for 3 and Khamiyah Brown went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs.
“She gives us a chance every time she takes the mound,” Steiner said of Taniyah Brown. “To me, she hasn’t had her best stuff the last two games, yet she has two no hitters. She’s battling and she’s fighting and the kids are playing behind her. It helps when your offense is ‘on’ and doing their job and getting runs early in the game so that can carry the momentum and give the pitcher some room to relax.”
After Williams allowed four runs in the first, Veach sent Warrick to the circle for the remainder of the game. The freshman pitched three scoreless innings, but also allowed six runs in the third inning.
“I knew that we would see a good pitcher in Izzy that would mix the zones for us,” Steiner said. “We want to face that good pitcher so we can be prepared for the better pitching we’ll see in our conference. We’re adjusting well to changeups right now -- we’re getting a heavy dose of them -- and I’m really proud of the way the girls are adjusting to that pitch.”
Both teams will compete in the 2nd annual FCA Alex Wilcox Memorial Softball Tournament at Lagoon Park on Friday and Saturday, with Brew Tech facing Brantley on Friday at 2 p.m. and ACA (6-13) playing Central-Phenix City on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
“We’re glad we got to play today,” Steiner said. “We haven’t gotten to play in over a week, so getting to play before we go into the tournament was good.”
BASEBALL
Catholic 14, G.W. Carver 4 (6)
Catholic scored four runs in the first inning and added three more in the second to make quick work of the Wolverines on Tuesday in a game halted by the 10-run mercy rule in the sixth inning.
Alex Wieser went 2 for 2, scored three times and drove in three runs to lead the Knights to the win. Hudson Parrish went 1 for 2, drew three walks, scored three times and drove in a run for Catholic. Pat Ryan and Caleb McCreary both went 2 for 4 and drove in two runs.
Alex Fleet picked up the win, allowing six hits and four runs, one earned, in five innings. He walked two and struck out five.
Jayden Phifer pitched the sixth inning, walking two and allowing one hit while striking out one.
Catholic returns to action on Friday with a home game against Brew Tech before traveling to LAMP on Saturday afternoon.
Alabama Christian Academy 5-15, Brew Tech 0-3
The Eagles got a good pitching performance by JT Moorer in the opening game and the bats came alive in the nightcap as Alabama Christian Academy swept a doubleheader from Brew Tech at the AUM Baseball Complex on Tuesday, beating the Rams 5-0 and 15-3.
Moorer allowed just two hits and struck out eight in a complete-game performance in the opener. Hayes Hunt went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, Hunter Barfoot went 1 for 3 with an RBI and Preston Hicks went 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
In the second game, Hunt gave up seven hits but stayed out of trouble, allowing just three runs, two earned, while striking out five in five innings of work.
Moorer went 3 for 3 and drove in four runs, while Trey Schlemmer went 3 for 3 as well. Carson Horn went 2 for 2 and drove in a run, Barfoot went 1 for 3 and drove in a pair of runs and Isaac Warrick went 1 for 3, including a three-run home run. Hunt helped his cause, going 1 for 3 and driving in a run.
ACA opens 4A Area 3 play on Friday at home with a doubleheader against Bullock County beginning at 5 p.m.
Trinity wins twice in Gulf Shores
Trinity won two more games in the 2022 Gulf Coast Classic, defeating Guntersville on Wednesday morning and Greenfield (Tenn.) High on Thursday.
In Thursday’s 12-0 win over Greenfield at Orange Beach, Grayson Ashe pitched a no hitter while striking out seven to lead the Wildcats in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.
Ashe pitched to one batter over the minimum, hitting a batter while needing just 60 pitches to retire the Tennessee visitors.
Ashe went 2 for 2, the only Wildcat with multiple hits. Wesley Stallings and David Michael Lieux each drove in a pair of runs.
In Wednesday’s 10-3 win over Guntersville at Robertsdale High, Lieux went 4 for 4, scored twice and drove in four runs to lead the Wildcats to their second win in the tournament.
Christopher Bryan went 2 for 3, scoring twice and driving in a run, while Ashe also went 2 for 3 with a triple and Brady Rascoll went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Stallings went 1 for 4 with a pair of RBIs.
Freshman Flemming Hall scattered five hits and a pair of runs over five innings, while striking out eight and walking two in picking up the win. Stallings pitched the final two innings, allowing one run on a pair of hits while striking out two.
Trinity (12-3) will travel to Gordo for a doubleheader on Saturday.