Monday roundup: Lady Falcons advance all 9 spots to second day of state tennis tournament, Pahman extends Faith baseball tradition and more
MONTGOMERY – The Donoho girls tennis team moved a step closer to winning the Class 1A-3A state title that eluded it last year with a big opening day of the state tournament Monday at Lagoon Park.
All nine spots in the Donoho lineup remain undefeated giving the Lady Falcons the team lead going into the final day.
The Lady Falcons advanced to the finals in all three doubles and the semifinals in all six singles. They have 32 points and lead Bayside Academy (29), Lauderdale County (16) and Mars Hill (16) in the standings.
“I feel really good about where we are now,” Donoho coach Kristie Alderman said. “We had some really tough matches today and our girls were very resilient and stayed focused on getting through one match at a time. That’s what you have to do to be successful here.”
Claire Hillman, Lily Grace Draper, Mary Marshall Perry, Harper Pumroy, Blair Kitchen and Anne Marie Harris all scored straight-set wins in singles. Pumroy took a 7-1 tiebreaker to win her second set and both Kitchen and Harris won without losing a game.
Perry and Pumroy delivered a big win in the No. 2 doubles semifinals. They beat Avery Vandermeeden and Annie Neill of Bayside Academy with a 10-6 super tiebreaker after dropping the second set 6-4.
“I really feel like the girls a laser-focused right now and that’s where they need to be,” Alderman said. “It was a long day with weather delays and uncertainties, but they stayed very focused all day long and they’ve been like that each match.”
The doubles finals get underway at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday with the singles rounds to follow.
AHSAA GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT
CLASS 1A-3A
Team points: Donoho 32, Bayside Academy 29, Lauderdale County 16, Mars Hill 16, Houston Academy 8, Whitesburg Christian 5, St. Bernard Prep 4, Westminster-Oak Mountain 2, Westbrook Christian 0.
DOUBLES
No. 1 Claire Hillman-Lily Grace Draper, Donoho def. Carryne Chancey-Karoline Merrell, Houston Academy, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
No. 2 Mary Marshall Perry-Harper Pumroy, Donoho def. Kenza Bilbeisi-Mary Parker Williams, Houston Academy, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2
No. 3 Blair Kitchen-Anne Marie Harris, Donoho def. Josephine Greer-Anya Dagum, Westbrook Christian, 6-0, 6-1
Semifinals
No. 1 Claire Hillman-Lily Grace Draper, Donoho def. Jilly Tanner-Molly Burchell, Lauderdale County, 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 Mary Marshall Perry-Harper Pumroy, Donoho vs. Avery Vandermeeden-Annie Neill, Bayside Academy, 6-3, 4-6, 10-6
No. 3 Blair Kitchen-Anne Marie Harris, Donoho def. Reagan Humble-Ava McGee, Mars Hill, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
Finals
No. 1 Claire Hillman-Lily Grace Draper, Donoho vs. Claire Prickett-O’Melia MacPherson, Bayside Academy
No. 2 Mary Marshall Perry-Harper Pumroy, Donoho vs. Liviah Lash-Lizzie Tanner, Lauderdale County
No. 3 Blair Kitchen-Anne Marie Harris, Donoho vs. Millison Mixon-Lillie McInnis, Bayside Academy
SINGLES
No. 1 Claire Hillman, Donoho def. Jilly Tanner, Lauderdale County, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Lily Grace Draper, Donoho dec. Liviah Lash, Lauderdale County, 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Mary Marshall Perry, Donoho def. Paige Davis, Lauderdale County, 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Harper Pumroy, Donoho def. Mary Parker Williams, Houston Academy, 6-1, 7-6 (7-1)
No. 5 Blair Kitchen, Donoho def. Reid Elam, Westbrook Christian, 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 Anne Marie Harris, Donoho def. Anya Dagum, Westbrook Christian, 6-0, 6-0
Semifinals
No. 1 Claire Hillman, Donoho vs. Claire Prickett, Bayside Academy
No. 2 Lily Grace Draper, Donoho vs. Lauren Roberson, Mars Hill
No. 3 Mary Marshall Perry, Donoho vs. Lillie McInnis, Bayside Academy
No. 4 Harper Pumroy, Donoho vs. Avery Vandermeeden, Bayside Academy
No. 5 Blair Kitchen, Donoho vs. Annie Neill, Bayside Academy
No. 6 Anna Marie Harris, Donoho vs. Samantha Howton, Mars Hill
Baseball
Faith Christian 10, Gaylesville 0: Colton Pahman continued a three-year tradition of a senior hitting a home run on Senior Night and got the final two outs of the game as the fourth Lions pitcher.
Pahman hit a leadoff homer in the fourth to give the Lions an 8-0 lead. He drove in the game’s first run with an RBI double in the first. He’s hit two homers this year – in his first home game of the season and his last.
“It was great to continue it on,” Pahman said of the senior tradition. “I didn’t realize that it was a thing, but now that I think about it, it’s pretty cool.
“The only things I wanted to do today was to hit a home run and to win. Both of those happened so tonight was very successful.”
His homer extended a senior Senior Night tradition started by Stone Huie and Chase Gibbons in 2020 before the COVID shutdown and continued last year by Andrew Folsom.
Alex Almanza hit a three-run homer in the third and had four RBIs in the game. Brady Whitworth went 4-for-4 and Kash Sharma went 3-for-3 with three RBIs.
Alexandria 14, Cherokee County 7: The Valley Cubs answered Cherokee County’s go-ahead rallies in each of the first two innings and continued to pour it on to hit the 20-win plateau by winning their Senior Night battle of playoff-bound teams.
The Cubs batted around in the first to score five and then matched the Warriors’ two in the second to regain the lead and keep it.
Austin Jeffers had a two-run single, Jake Upton a game-tying single and Tanner Bedford the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the first. Aiden Brunner had an RBI single and Canyon Mickler a bases-loaded walk in the second. Ty Brown hit a two-run double in the third.
The Cubs’ pitchers gave up only four hits and one run over the final five innings.
Saks 7, Jacksonville Christian 6: Rickey Garrett laced a two-run double to left with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to bring the playoff-bound Wildcats the victory.
The rally came after JCA took a 6-5 lead on Brodie Clay’s two-out three-run double off Garrett in the top of the seventh.
Softball
Fort Payne 5, Piedmont 3: The Lady Wildcats broke a 2-2 tie with three unearned runs in the top of the ninth. They took a 2-1 lead in the eighth, but Piedmont tied it in the bottom of the inning on Savannah Smith’s sacrifice fly.
Smith and A.J. Kramer staged an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. Smith gave up five hits, one earned run and struck out 10. Kramer gave up four hits and struck out 14.
