Alexandria wins baseball area with doubleheader sweep of St. Clair County; Oxford, Piedmont also get sweeps; Alexandria, Piedmont, White Plains get softball wins
ODENVILLE – The Alexandria baseball team knew it was in the Class 5A playoffs when it went to St. Clair County Thursday, it was just a question where it would finish.
If the Valley Cubs wanted to be the No. 1 and play at home in the first round, they had to have short memories and sweep the day.
Mission accomplished.
The Valley Cubs locked up the No. 1 seed from their area with a 5-4, 13-0 sweep.
“It was like a playoff atmosphere and our kids really responded well after playing pretty poorly Tuesday night,” Alexandria coach Andy Shaw said. “We didn’t do well in any aspect of that game and the kids threw it away and played well today.”
In the opener, Sam Wade went 3-for-3, Austin Jeffers had two hits and Samuel Henegar hit a two-run double in the sixth to give the Cubs (19-13) a cushion they needed to get through a rough patch in the seventh.
Tripp Patterson pitched into the seventh inning before reaching his pitch limit. The Saints drew to within 5-4 against the bullpen and had the bases loaded with two outs before Austin West came on for the final out and save on a five-pitch strikeout.
The nightcap was all Alexandria. The Cubs jumped out front 3-0 after two innings, then broke it open with five in the fifth highlighted by West’s two-run double. West went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and in six innings on the mound gave up three singles and struck out eight. Seth Johnson went 3-for-4.
Oxford 12-12, Southside 1-0: Carter Johnson and R.J. Brooks homered in the opener, Dalton Fink drove in five runs in the nightcap and Oxford’s pitching staff gave up one run and seven hits in the doubleheader.
Johnson and Tide Gann both were 3-for-3 in the opener, while Sam Robertson and Hayes Harrison both had two hits and a pair of RBIs. Johnson was the starting pitcher and gave up one hit over the first three innings.
In the nightcap, Fink drove in five runs with a double and triple. Sam Robertson and Drew McCormick each drove in two runs. Three pitchers combined on the shutout.
Piedmont 15-10, Glencoe 6-7: The Bulldogs (26-4) hit four homers in the opener and won the nightcap with three runs in the sixth to extend their winning streak to 20 straight.
Jack Hayes hit two homers, giving him eight for the season, and Jack Tolbert and Ridge Fagan each hit their first in the opener. Hayes drove in five runs. Tolbert and Sloan Smith each had three hits.
The Bulldogs were tied 7-7 going into the sixth of the nightcap. They scored the go-ahead run on an error, then added insurance runs on an RBI double by Hayes and RBI single by Noah Reedy. Coleman Wilson pitched four innings of two-hit relief to get the win.
McClane Mohon hit safely in each game extending his hitting streak to 25 games. The AHSAA list starts at 31 games.
Munford 9, Donoho 6: Connor Morgan and Graham Callahan both went 3-for-3 and Morgan and Corbin Callahan each drove in three runs as the Lions snapped Donoho’s nine-game winning streak.
The Falcons got within 7-6 in the top of the sixth, but Munford gained some breathing room with two in the bottom of the inning. Marcus Lawler went 3-for-4 for Donoho.
Weaver 8, Jacksonville Christian 4: Devin Anderson went 2-for-2 with a homer and triple. Christian Marturello went 3-for-4, while Elijah Smith and Anthony Usry had two hits apiece.
SOFTBALL
Alexandria 13, St. Clair County 0: Ashley Phillips homered and drove in five runs, Christian Hess homered and Rylee Gattis pitched a five-inning shutout. The Lady Cubs will go for the top seed in their area tournament against Moody next week.
Piedmont 6, Pleasant Valley 3: Z’Hayla Walker homered, Savannah Smith and Cacey Brothers both had two hits and two RBIs, and Emily Farmer gave up one earned run over seven innings. Jenna Calvert also had two hits for Piedmont. Lily Henry went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Macey Roper had three hits for PV.
Pell City 15, Oxford 0: Katlyan Dulaney and Leah Swafford both homered in a six-run first inning and the Lady Panthers were off and running. Dulaney no-hit the Lady Jackets and faced only one batter over the minimum in the five-inning game.
White Plains 4, Etowah 0: Leighton Arnold had an RBI single in a two-run first inning and made it stand by spinning a five-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts. Callie Richardson had two hits for the Lady Wildcats. [*** read more]
