THURSDAY PREPS: Catholic baseball earns first-round split; PCA softball eases past Tallassee

STAFF REPORT

BASEBALL

Catholic 1-12, American Christian 2-2

TUSCALOOSA -- Catholic shook off a disappointing loss in the opener with six runs in the third inning to rout American Christian 12-2 and salvage a doubleheader split in the best-of-three 4A playoff series at American Christian on Thursday.

Catholic (21-11) and American Christian (19-15) will play the third and deciding game in the series on Friday at 4 p.m. The winner will face the winner of the T.R. Miller-West Blocton series next week in the second round.

Jayden Phifer, Josh Palmer and Hudson Parrish all had RBIs in the third inning with Parrish hitting a home run. The Catholic catcher went 2 for 4 at the plate to lead the Knights.

Palmer was the winning pitcher, allowing just three hits over six innings while striking out six.

In the first game, Carson Sute’s sacrifice fly broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh to give the Patriots a 2-1 victory.

The loss overshadowed a stellar pitching performance by Alex Fleet, who allowed just three hits and two runs over 6.2 innings.

The Patriots had rallied to tie the game on an RBI single by Eric Hines in the third inning. Hines went 2 for 3 at the plate, the only player on either team with more than one hit.

Coltyn Mitchell picked up the win for ACA, allowing only a pair of hits -- one to Parrish, one to Fleet -- over the seven innings.

SOFTBALL

Prattville Christian 9, Tallassee 7

PRATTVILLE -- Payson Hanson and Sarah Williams both went 2 for 4 and both drove in a pair of runs as the Panthers defeated the Tigers 9-7 at PCA on Thursday.

Saniyah Weaver was also 2 for 4 for PCA, while Peyton Thrash was 2 for 2.

Alivia Messick picked up the win in the circle, striking out six in 5.1 innings of work.

PCA (21-10) will face Smiths Station on Saturday morning at PCA.

Vestavia Hills 6, Prattville 5

VESTAVIA HILLS -- Kaylee Robles went 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI, but the Lions surrendered the lead late in a 6-5 loss to the Rebels on Thursday.

Kylie Jarman was the tough luck losing pitcher, going six innings and giving up seven hits while striking out eight.

In addition to Robles, Sarah Grace Jones went 1 for 3 with a pair of RBIs, Zarria Bozeman went 1 for 2 with a double, Kennedy Crum went 1 for 3 and Taylor Smith went 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI to lead the Prattville offense.

Prattville (18-18) will return to action on Friday afternoon in a tournament hosted by Stanhope Elmore.

BOYS SOCCER

Trinity 6, St. James 1

Jackson Champion scored three goals and assisted on two others to lead the Wildcats to a 6-1 win over St. James on Thursday night.

Kip Brown, Bo Stewart and Grayden Flowers each chipped in one goal, with Will Owen assisting on two goals and Brown and Lawson Roth adding one assist.

Goalkeeper Carter Younger had seven saves in goal.

Trinity (18-6-1) will host the first round of the 4A state playoffs on May 2 at Ragsdale-Boykin Field.

Catholic 6, Andalusia 0

The Knights blanked Andalusia on Thursday at Catholic to close out 4A Area 2 play with a 10-2 record.

Catholic outscored its area opponents 68-6 this season with nine shutouts.

Gabe Russo scored three goals in Thursday’s game, with Will Belsterling, Joey Rodriguez and Stott Blancas each adding a goal. Garrett Sanford, Cannon Bach, Russo, Belsterling, Joe Reeves and Henry Skala assisted on goals.

Catholic (13-5) will travel to Prattville Christian on Monday before returning home to host Pike Road on Tuesday for Senior Night and the end of the regular season.

GIRLS SOCCER

St. James 6, Trinity 4

St. James won a physical battle against the Wildcats, rallying on three occasions to finally subdue the Wildcats 6-4 on Thursday night.

Addison Barber opened the scoring for St. James on a nice assist from Mary Grace Hixon, who had three assists on the evening. Katie Brightwell then found the net five times to pull away from Trinity, with Haley Vance and KK Corley each recording an assist in the game.

St. James travels to Daphne on Tuesday to play Bayside Academy at 4 p.m.