SPRING UPDATE: Autaugaville falters in 1A semis; St. James baseball tops MA
COMBINED REPORTS
BIRMINGHAM – Autaugaville and Covenant Christian were tied 28-28 at halftime but the Eagles built a 14-point lead by the end of third quarter on the way to a 73-62 victory over the defending Class 1A champion in the Class 1A boys’ state semifinals on Monday at Legacy Arena.
“We played great in the third quarter,” Covenant coach Bret Waldrep said.
Autaugaville held an eight-point lead with just under seven minutes left in the first half but was outscored 15-7 over the last six minutes of the half.
The shooting woes continued in the second half. Jermaine Sanders hit a 3-pointer in the first few seconds of the third period but that would give the Eagles their last lead of the day.
“They came out and hit a couple shots on us and it was hard to come back,” Autaugaville coach Darren Golson said. “I knew they could shoot. They didn't shoot very well at first, but they came out and started hitting shots and it’s hard to come back from that.”
Reed Trapp led Covenant with 29 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Haston Alexander added 18 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. Zeek Griffin had 11 points and seven assists.
Jaden Nixon led Autaugaville (27-3) with 25 points. Ladarrien Golson added 13 points, and Antonio Hardy added 12. Covenant rebounded Autaugaville 39-21.
Autaugaville hit 11 3-pointers to account for more than half of the Eagles’ points but made just 3-of-7 free throws. Nixon had four treys and Golson had three.
The loss ended the Eagles’ 21-game winning streak while Covenant (28-6) advanced to the 1A title game to face Decatur Heritage, a 42-38 winner over Brantley in the first semifinal game.
Brantley falls in semis
The Bulldogs dropped a 42-38 decision to Decatur Heritage in the first game of the Class 1A boys’ state semifinals on Monday.
The teams were tied, 21-21, at halftime. Decatur Heritage clung to a 34-31 lead through three quarters but Brantley was unable to take advantage of poor shooting by the Eagles, who made just one field goal in the fourth quarter. They were able to hit 8-of-11 free throws and turned up defensive pressure against Brantley.
Brayden Kyle and Hayden Page scored nine points apiece to lead Decatur Heritage. Kyle also had 15 rebounds.
Brantley (24-7) got 10 points from Morel Edwards and Kedrick Brown. Brown also had 13 rebounds.
Mars Hill Bible eliminates Highland Home
Hugh Hargett sank a 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining and followed with two free throws with nine seconds left to seal the win as the Mars Hill (15-15) earned a trip to the boys’ Class 2A finals with a 64-62 win over Highland Home on Monday.
The Panthers will play in the state finals for the first time since 2001. The Flying Squadron was making it first-ever appearance in the state finals.
Keldric Faulk gave the Squadron a three-point lead with 59 seconds left but Hargett answered the 3-pointer to tie the game and set up the final free throws.
Faulk finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds. His brother, Jakaleb Faulk, added 16 points. Hargett finished with 23 points to lead all scorers.
BASEBALL
St. James 9, Montgomery Academy 1
St. James built an early 5-0 lead and cruised to a methodical 9-1 victory over the Eagles on Monday to extend its home winning streak to 25 games over parts of four seasons.
Starting Trojan pitcher Carter Carroll struck out eight in the first two innings, extremely rare, and a total of 10 in his five innings pitched for the win. The Eagles loaded the bases in the first inning by reaching on a strikeout throwing error and a pair of hits, but Carroll struck out the final two to preserve the zero.
St. James scored its first run in the bottom of the first inning. After two outs, Clint Shores lined a double down the left field line and scored on a long double by Michael Winn.
The Trojans plated four in the second off Eagles starter Thomas Woodward. Ariel July singled and was sacrificed to second. Cole Anderson walked, and July scored after two wild pitches. Shaun Bridges then walked and Anderson was driven in by a Foster Rasmussen single. A Shores double knocked in Bridges and Rasmussen would score on a sacrifice fly.
Montgomery Academy scored their only run in the top of the fifth. Joseph Talley singled and stole second base. Woodward reached on an error advancing Talley to third and Tally would then score on a double play grounder.
The Trojans would add four runs in the sixth inning off reliever Judson Lindsey. Rasmussen singled and advanced to second on a fielding misplay. Shores reached first on an error and both advanced on a wild pitch. Rasmussen was tagged out later at third base during a rundown where he and Shores both occupied third. Michael Winn and Adam Garnett walked to load the bases, and Carter Carroll drove in pair of hits with a single through the drawn-in infield. After a strikeout, Jake Streeton would drive in the final two runs with a double of his own.
Carroll picked up the win and Adam Garnett pitched two innings of shutout ball including three strikeouts of his own for the save.
Luke Nelson went 3 for 4 to lead the Eagles, while Lindsey went 2 for 4. Woodward lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing six hits and five earned runs, but Beau Smith allowed four hits over 4.2 innings of relief while striking out six and walking one and Lindsey gave up four hits in one inning.
Montgomery Academy (1-1) returns to action on Wednesday in the 29th annual FCA Jason Armstrong Memorial Baseball Tournament against Elmore County at Riverwalk Stadium at 4 p.m. St. James (5-1) opens the first of four games in the Jason Armstrong Tournament with a game against Wilson on Thursday at Paterson Field at 6 p.m.
Alabama Christian 6, Reeltown 5
Preston Hicks went 2 for 4 with a double and a pair of RBIs, JT Moorer went 1 for 2 with a pair of walks and an RBI and Landon Nelson went 1 for 2 with a double and an RBI as the Eagles edged Reeltown 6-5 on Monday.
Hunter Barfoot picked up the win for ACA, allowing five hits and a run in five innings of work while striking out two.
SOFTBALL
Trinity 4, Greenville 2
Madi Milton threw a three hitter in a complete game performance to help the Wildcats win the 2022 home opener in a 4-2 victory over Greenville.
Milton walked four and struck out five in seven innings, getting some late help from her offense. Trinity finally picked up a run in the fourth inning when Mya Moskowitz doubled down the left field line and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice from Ava Milton.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Ava Milton and Marley Sharpless both doubled off the center field fence and Madi Milton and Emory Harris both followed with singles to score the remaining three runs of the afternoon.
The Lady Wildcats (3-3) return to action on Tuesday at home against Reeltown at 3:30 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Trinity 5, Alabama Christian 0
Jackson Champion and Josh Hixon each scored a pair of goals and Norris Pemberton added a goal and an assist as Trinity defeated Alabama Christian 5-0 on Monday.
Will Owen and Kip Brown also had assists for the Wildcats.
Catholic 3, Prattville Christian 1
PRATTVILLE -- Brady Roberson scored the Panthers’ lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Catholic on Monday at Prattville Christian.
Dawson Thweatt had seven saves in goal for PCA (1-1).
GIRLS SOCCER
Trinity 4, Smiths Station 1
Mary Alice Sasser and Ella Wiswall each had a goal and an assist to help the Wildcats defeat Smiths Station 4-1 on Monday night at Ragsdale-Boykin Field.
Katherine Warren and Hastings Avant added goals for Trinity (3-2-1), while Sarah Jessie Avant and Ella Hale had assists.
Catholic 10, Prattville Christian 0
PRATTVILLE -- Kendall Jordan had 12 saves in goal for PCA (1-1), which lost its first game of the season in a 10-0 loss to Catholic.
BOYS TENNIS
Montgomery Academy 9, Catholic 0
Montgomery Academy swept both the singles and doubles matches to shut out Catholic 9-0 at Montgomery Academy on Monday.
Singles winners for Montgomery Academy were Guy Hughes, John Alford, Charlie Hill, Jackson Brown, Gaines Freeman and Ron Sharma. The doubles team of Hughes-Hill, Alford-Brown and Freeman-Sharma swept their matches as well.
The Eagles (7-1) travel to Birmingham to play Altamont on Tuesday.
SATURDAY’s recap
BASEBALL
Trinity 11, Brewbaker Tech 0
Fleming Hall threw a no hitter, striking out 10 while walking just one in a near-perfect performance against the Rams on Saturday in an 11-0 win by the Wildcats which was limited to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
Grayson Ashe went 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles and walk while driving in three runs and David Michael Lieux went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI to lead Trinity’s offense. Simmons Byrd went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Christopher Bryan had three stolen bases.
St. James 4-1, Chilton County 2-0
St. James scored four unearned runs to defeat the Class 6A Tigers in the opener before Cooper Wright pitched a one-hitter in the second game to help the Trojans sweep Chilton County on Saturday afternoon.
In the opening game, the Tigers scored a single run in the first inning as Sam Smith was hit by a pitch and later scored on a single by Aidan Bee. Starting Trojan pitcher Reed Mangum would hit two more batters to load the bases but a fly out prevented any more Tiger runs in the first inning.
St. James responded with a tying run in the bottom of the first as Emmett Rasmussen reached on an error and later scored on a single by Michael Winn.
After a 6 up and 6 down second inning, Mangum hit the leadoff batter in the top of the third and was replaced on the mound by Rasmussen who would pitch the final five innings for the eventual win.
The Trojans took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Adam Garnett reached on an error and advanced on a single by Carter Carroll. Both runners advanced on a throwing error. After a strike out, Caden Anderson knocked in Garnett with a single, and then Cole Anderson executed a perfect squeeze play as Carroll was two-thirds of the way down the baseline before a perfect bunt knocked in the Trojans’ third run of the game.
Each team added a run in the fifth inning. Smith walked and was knocked in by a double by Cannon Miller for Chilton County. The Trojans answered as Clint Shores reached on a single and would later score on an infield throwing error for the fourth unearned Trojan run of the game.
Rasmussen threw five complete innings, allowing only one run and three hits.
Rasmussen’s performance was overshadowed in the second game as Wright pitched a complete game and faced the mininum of 21 batters to complete the doubleheader sweep.
Wright gave up his only hit to Leighton Coppedge to lead off the sixth inning, but he was immediately erased on a double play. Wright struck out five and walked none.
Carter Carroll, who went 3 for 3 in the second game and had four hits on the day, knocked in Shores for both Trojan runs. After singling with one out in the fourth inning, Shores advanced to second on a hit batsman and to third on a passed ball before Carroll knocked him in. Shores led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on Carroll’s third hit of the game.
The doubleheader sweep gave St. James its 24th consecutive win at home, dating back almost exactly three calendar years to February. 2019.
LAMP 9, Reeltown 5
LAMP 5, Russell County 0
NOTASULGA -- Four pitchers combined to scatter just eight hits in a pair of victories for LAMP on Saturday as the Golden Tigers defeated Reeltown 9-5 and Russell County 5-0.
In the opener, senior Will Romanowski extended his streak of no-hit innings to eight with four innings of work to improve to 2-0 on the season. Romanowski worked around four walks and three hit batters in the outing, striking out four and allowing just one earned run.
Fellow senior Preston Stephens and junior Josh Donaldson closed the game with three innings of work, with Donaldson picking up his first save of the season.
Donaldson also led the team at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Romanowski, Stephens, junior Conor Williams and sophomore Andrew Lutz also drove in runs.
In the nightcap, Luke Littlejohn struck out six and walked just one over six scoreless innings in his first varsity start. The freshman surrendered just three hits to earn his first victory for the Tigers. Donaldson tossed a scoreless seventh inning to complete the sweep.
Seven different Tigers picked up hits in the win, with Stephens driving in a team-high two runs. Senior Junseo Park and Lutz also added RBIs.
SOFTBALL
Trinity splits games on Friday and Saturday in Greenville Tournament
GREENVILLE -- The Wildcats split Friday games in pool play in a softball tournament at Greenville High, defeating Red Level 12-9 before losing in the second game, 8-7, to W.S. Neal.
Mya Moskowitz and Ava Milton both hit home runs in Friday’s games and Lilly Yancey was the winning pitcher over Red Level.
On Saturday, the teams advanced to bracket play. The Wildcats defeated G.W. Carver 16-2, then were eliminated by Alabama Christian 7-5. Emma Rose Meldrum hit her first career home run in the first inning of the game with ACA, while Marley Sharpless picked up the win in the circle against Carver. The top Wildcat hitters from the weekend were Meldrum, who went 7 for 10 with four RBIs, three doubles and a home run; Moskowitz, who went 5 for 9 with three RBIs and a home run; Mary Katherine Adcock, who was 6 for 8 with six RBIs; Milton, who went 8 for 11 with five RBIs, a double and a home run; and Sharpless, who went 5 for 7 with five RBIs and a double.
St. James 11, Trinity 4
The Wildcats lost the season opener 11-4 at St. James on Thursday.
Mya Moskowitz led the Trinity offense, going 2 for 3 with a double off the fence.
Madi Milton pitched 4.2 innings in the circle, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out six Trojans.
Trinity (0-1) returns to action on Friday in a tournament at Greenville High.