TROJAN INVITATIONAL: St. James wins tourney title

Ava Standford slides into second base during St. James’ win over Chilton County in the Trojan Invitational tournament at Lagoon Park on Saturday. (Tim Gayle)

COMBINED REPORTS

St. James made it to the championship game of the Trojan Invitational at Lagoon Park, where ace pitcher Emily Needham cooled off the hot bats of the Chilton County Tigers in a 6-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Needham pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only a triple to Kaylee Dunn in the fourth inning and an infield single to Makenzie Harrison in the fifth.

“Chilton County, their whole lineup are hitters, but one through five or six are really scary,” St. James coach Mark Hall said. “Emily’s just a very good pitcher. So she can neutralize some of that. But that team is well coached and those hitters at the top of their lineup are really, really good.”

Chilton County (6-3-1) came into the contest averaging 10.6 runs per game, defeating Pike Road 9-2 and Opelika 16-0 on Friday, then blasting Trinity 12-1 in the semifinals and Pike Road 11-1 in the semifinals to reach the championship game.

But Needham was up to the challenge, striking out 13 Tigers and walking none while allowing just five batters to make contact with the ball.

“Emily gets a lot of credit, and she should, but I don’t want it to overshadow how good our team is, all the way through the lineup,” Hall said. “This is probably the most versatile and the best offensive team I’ve had, too. 

The Trojans jumped out front quickly as Arden Green reached on an error, Tat Shuford followed with a double, Emily Darby had a two-run single to left and scored on an error for a 3-0 lead.

In the second inning, Vara York tripled when the right fielder fell down trying to catch the ball and scored on a Green single. The Trojans added two more runs in the fourth when Shuford doubled in Ava Stanford and scored on a Darby double.

The Trojams played the tournament without starters Sydney Johnston, Lily Stanford, Kaitlyn Hudson and Kaitlin Mitchell, who are all participating with the basketball team in the state tournament. Left fielder Mary Olive Maddox played second base in Johnston’s place, while center fielder Ava Stanford took her sister Lily’s place at shortstop.

Hudson and Mitchell were replaced in the outfield by York, an eighth grader, and seventh grader Kayla Blackwell, while freshman Mia Zukowski filled in for Stanford in center field.

“You’ve got everybody playing different spots,” Hall said, “and I told them you may have to play those positiions at some time during the season so this is valuable experience. We showed up in this last game. I thought we had our best offensive game against a quality team. Let me brag on these players that played the middle infield that don’t normally play the middle infield. Then I have to give a lot of credit and I’m very proud of my young players who have stepped up against high quality softball. Without them stepping up and doing that, we’re not sitting at 6-0.”

In the semifinal game, the Trojans had a rematch with Maplesville, defeating the Red Devils 11-1 with five runs in the second and four more in the fifth. Tat Shuford went 2-for-3, scored twice and drove in a run with a pair of doubles, Emily Darby went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, Mia Zukowski went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBIs and Kayla Blackwell went 2-or-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Needham pitched the first three innings, striking out eight and allowing only a pair of hits, both to Maplesville pitcher Mollie Kayte Smith, including a home run in the second inning.

The tournament was the first at Lagoon Park Softball Complex since a $2.4 million upgrade following the 2024 season. The five fields have larger dugouts, new fencing and net backstops, along with a pavilion and an indoor hitting facility. All five fields are redesigned for fast pitch softball and feature permanent outfield fencing that is 200 feet on the corners and 220 in center field.

TROJAN INVITATIONAL

Lagoon Park Softball Complex

Friday’s results

St. James 2, Opelika 0

Chilton County 9, Pike Road 2

Autauga Academy 8, Trinity 3

St. James 6, Maplesville 2

Chilton County 16, Opelika 0

Pike Road 10, Autauga Academy 1

Maplesville 12, Trinity 6

Saturday’s results

Quarterfinals

Maplesville 12, Autauga Academy 4

Chilton County 12, Trinity 1

Pike Road 6, Opelika 2

Semifinals

St. James 11, Maplesville 1

Chilton County 11, Pike Road 1

Championship, St. James 6, Chilton County 0