Alexandria rediscovers its mojo, wins three games on Championship Friday to capture fourth straight county softball crown
CALHOUN COUNTY SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Friday’s games
At Jacksonville State
Alexandria 1, White Plains 0
Alexandria 14, Piedmont 4
Alexandria 12, Piedmont 2
By Al Muskewitz
JACKSONVILLE – The Alexandria softball team found its focus when it needed it most.
After playing with limited focus in their first three games of the tournament – really, since they returned from their spring break beach trip – the top-seeded Lady Cubs won three solid games Friday night to claim their fourth straight Calhoun County Softball Tournament championship and 11th overall.
They beat third-seeded Piedmont twice in the championship round at Jacksonville State, 14-4 and 12-2. They reached the finals by beating White Plains 1-0 with a run in the bottom of the seventh.
On their current run, the Lady Cubs won it in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. There was no tournament in 2020 due to COVID.
Pitcher Rylee Gattis was named MVP for the second year in a row. She pitched all three games in the championship round and admitted she was tired.
“It’s been a rough week,” Alexandria coach Brian Hess said. “Last night was a heart-to-heart. We had a heart-to-heart today before we came over here. We had a long talk just about heart, dedication and, honestly, I talked to them about legacy – what kind of legacy do they want to leave here – and they came out here today focused.”
Not even a chilly, windy night or a brief delay when the lights went out before the start of the third inning of the winner-take-all “if” game could keep the Lady Cubs (32-7) from their appointed rounds.
They scored 26 runs in the final two games after scoring only eight with several base-running blunders in the four games before that. They pounded 24 hits, nine for extra bases, including three home runs.
Ashley Phillips went 4-for-6 with six RBIs in the championship doubleheader. Chloe Gattis, the tournament’s top offensive player, went 4-for-8 with five RBIs. Pressley Slaton went 3-for-7 and Brenlee Sparks went 3-for-6. Jill Cockrell went 3-for-3 in the clinching game.
“After that first game being a marathon like it was, back and forth, it reminded me a lot of last year’s championship game,” Hess said. “It was almost like the burden was off then, they were just ready to go play. They were a lot better these last two games, the championship. I’m just extremely proud of the way they come back today. It’s just been a roller-coaster week.”
“We knew we weren’t us ever since we came back from the beach, so we knew we had to find that,” Rylee Gattis said. “We knew we had to finish this. We just had our heads on like, hey, this is what we’re doing today and we’re getting it done. We weren’t the team we’ve been the past couple weeks, but today I think we definitely proved we’re back to ourselves.”
Gattis did her part in the circle. She pitched 19 innings, giving up 13 hits, four earned runs and striking out 30. She threw 321 pitches in the three games.
The Lady Cubs struck first in the title game, scoring two runs on RBI singles by Phillips and Addie Jennings, but Piedmont answered with a pair in the bottom of the inning on Savannah Smith’s squeeze and Emily Farmer’s sacrifice fly to deep left field.
They broke it open with six runs in the second. Sparks snapped the 2-2 tie when she dropped an RBI single into short left field and Phillips crushed a two-run opposite-field triple. Phillips scored on a wild pitch and two more scored on a dropped fly ball to right.
In the first game of the championship round, the Lady Cubs deferred their home-team status as top seed, batted first and came out swinging. Phillips and Christian Hess hit two-run homers into and over the left field porch in the first to give the Lady Cubs control and they stayed there.
Rylee Gattis went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Chloe Gattis went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Hess drove in three runs. Armoni Perry hit a two-run homer for Piedmont in the second inning to make it 4-2, but that’s as close as it got.
“The biggest thing, honestly,” Hess said. “Every time we go to a tournament, whether we win the toss or not, we always choose to be visitors and we’ve been home (as top seed) all week. They were like, ‘Coach, we want to be visitors.’ I think they just like that mindset they want to hit first. They don’t want to play defense first.”
The Lady Cubs reached the championship round by beating White Plains 1-0 in the losers bracket finals when pinch-runner Ava Johnson scored from third on a throw-through in the bottom of the seventh.
For six innings, Rylee Gattis and Leighton Arnold were throwing zeroes. The Lady Cubs ran themselves out of a run in the third inning and threatened in the fourth, but the game remained scoreless into the seventh.
Slaton started the winning rally with a leadoff walk. She was replaced on the bases by Johnson, who was promptly sacrificed to second. Cockrell followed with a bouncer to second that wasn’t fielded cleanly putting runners at the corner.
White Plains coach Rachel Ford brought all nine Lady Wildcats into the circle to explain the situation, reminding them the runner on first was of no consequence. Once play resumed, Cockrell took off for second and catcher Callie Richardson threw through, her throw going wide left and long.Johnson raced home on the release to score the winning run.
“The county means something to our kids; it’s special,” Hess said. “It’s something to build on toward the end of the season.”
White Plains 000 000 0 – 0 2 3
Alexandria 000 000 1 – 1 4 0
WP: Rylee Gattis. LP: Leighton Arnold. 2B: Christian Hess 2 (A).
Alexandria 403 25 – 14 12 3
Piedmont 020 20 – 4 6 3
WP: Rylee Gattis. LP: Savannah Smith. 2B: Rylee Gattis 2 (A), Chloe Gattis (A), Cayla Brothers (P), Armoni Perry (P). HR: Ashley Phillips (A), Christian Hess (A), Armoni Perry (P).
Alexandria 260 030 1 – 12 12 1
Piedmont 200 000 0 – 2 5 9
WP: Rylee Gattis. LP. Emma Todd. 2B: Pressley Slaton (A), Chloe Gattis (A). 3B: Ashley Phillips (A), Brenlee Sparks (A).
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Rylee Gattis, Alexandria
Offensive MVP: Chloe Gattis, Alexandria
Defensive MVP: Emily Farmer, Piedmont
All-Tournament
Alexandria: Jill Cockrell, Ashley Phillips, Christian Hess, Rylee Gattis, Chloe Gattis.
Piedmont: Savannah Smith, Jenna Calvert, Cacey Brothers, Emily Farmer.
White Plains: Leighton Arnold, Callyn Martin.
Pleasant Valley: Lily Henry, Macey Roper.
Oxford: Berkley Mooney, Ashlyn Burns.
Ohatchee: Kylee Barnes, Alanah Fitch.
Jacksonville: Kaitlyn Hamm.
Weaver: Taylor Lawrence. [*** read more]
