SPRING PREPS: St. James softball splits games in Gulf Shores

COMBINED REPORTS

SOFTBALL

St. James  7, Geneseo (Ill.) 6

GULF SHORES -- St. James rallied from a 4-0 deficit with two runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to grab a 7-6 win over Geneseo (Ill.) High in the Gulf Coast Classic at Gulf Shores Sportsplex on Monday afternoon.

Emily Darby went 3 for 3 and drove in the run for the Trojans, while Arden Green had a double and drove in two runs. Kaitlyn Hudson, Tat Shuford and Mary Olive Maddox each had a hit and scored a run for St. James.

Avery Kennedy went 4 for 4 with a pair of doubles and drove in a pair of runs for Geneseo. Kendyl Wassenhove was tagged with the loss, allowing seven hits and seven runs, four earned, in five innings while walking two and striking out two.

Peyton Middleton picked up the win for the Trojans, giving up 10 hits and six runs in six innings, striking out five and walking none.

St. James (19-3) will return to action in the tournament on Tuesday at 10 a.m., playing Giles County (Tenn.), then facing Silverdale Baptist Academy at 2 p.m.

Alexandria 3, St. James 2

GULF SHORES -- Alexandria scored three runs in the first inning and held on for a 3-2 win over the Trojans in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Classic at Gulf Shores Sportsplex on Monday.

Allyssa Hunt drove in a pair of runs with a double and Cali Hess drove in another for a quick 3-0 lead off of Trojan ace Emily Needham. Needham would hold the Valley Cubs to just two hits the remainder of the game but the St. James offense scored just a run in the first and another in the third off of Alexandria ace Pressley Slaton.

Kaitlyn Hudson, Ava Stanford and Lily Stanford all had singles off of Slaton. Slaton allowed just three hits and two runs, one earned, in five innings while walking four and striking out nine.

Needham allowed five hits and three runs in five innings, walking two and striking out nine.

St. James (18-3) returned to action in the tournament later on Monday against Geneseo (Ill.).

BASEBALL

Wetumpka 8, St. James 2

A second inning grand slam by Logan Fawcett proved to be more than enough runs as Wetumpka got revenge for an early season loss to the Trojans by defeating them 8-2 on Monday at St. James.

Wetumpka scored five runs in the top of the second inning. Tyler Johnson was hit by a pitch, advanced on a groundout and moved to third on an infield error.  Asher Nobles hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Johnson and after two walks loaded the bases, Fawcett unloaded on a pitch over the right field wall for a 5-0 lead. 

Saint James scored its two runs in the bottom of the third inning. After an out, Luke Catchings was hit by a pitch and stole second. He advanced to third on a walk by Tabor Offord and scored on a balk.  Offord would later score on a fielder’s choice by Jimmy Dickens.

Wetumpka pulled away by scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings on a balk, a Peyton Dickey RBI single, and a Mason Fuller RBI single, respectively.  Saint James had multiple runners in the final two innings, including bases loaded with no outs in the sixth, but could not close the gap.

Wetumpka pitcher Dylan Jordan pitched five innings of two-hit ball, allowing two earned runs while striking out seven. Sam Sharp relieved, and despite allowing all the late base runners, did not give up any runs.

Saint James starter Conner Johnston, who pitched 2.1 innings, was saddled with the loss.

The Trojans (10-4) travel to Auburn to play Lee-Scott Academy on Tuesday before taking off the rest of the week for spring break.