Pelham Shuts Out Hewitt-Trussville For 6A Crown;
Hartselle Rallies Late To Win Class 5A State Championship
The Pelham Panthers shut down Hewitt-Trussville to take the Class 6A title and Hartselle staged an exciting comeback in the final two innings to overcome Spanish Fort and win in Class 5A as the AHSAA State Baseball Championships concluded Saturday at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium.
Class 6A Championship Series
Game 2: Pelham 1, Hewitt-Trussville 0
Pelham junior left-hander Jack Pierce fired a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Hewitt-Trussville for the series sweep.
The Panthers (28-13) claimed the school’s first state baseball title since 2004. Head Coach Sean Anderson, in his first year at the helm, spent 18 years as an assistant coach at Pelham. He served the last six as an assistant to Jeff Mauldin, now the head coach at Hewitt-Trussville.
Pierce (8-2) struggled early with pitch location but settled down quickly. He didn’t allow a hit until Cyle Moore singled with one out in the third inning. Moore, who got both Hewitt hits, also singled to lead off the sixth inning. Pierce finished with eight strikeouts and just three walks.
Pelham got its only run off Huskies pitcher Alec Talley (9-4) in the top of the fourth when Chase Brashier doubled to center field and scored on Aaron Anderson’s double up the middle. Talley allowed just six hits, walked one and struck out three.
No player got two hits off Talley. Fletcher Johnson, Sam Finnerty and Thomas Lowery all collected singles and Urban a double. Lowery, who pitched a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts in Friday night’s 3-2 win, was named the 6A series MVP.
Hewitt-Trussville (34-11) set a school record for season wins in Mauldin’s first year. Now 428-126 in his prep coaching career, he led Clay-Chalkville to the state championship in 2003 and to runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2006.
Game 1: Pelham 3, Hewitt-Trussville 2
Pelham posted a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 win over Hewitt-Trussville to take a 1-0 advantage into Saturday’s game two of the 6A series, which moves to Riverwalk Stadium Saturday with a 4 p.m. start for game two. The third game, if needed, will be at approximately 7 p.m.
Hewitt-Trussville (34-12) scored two runs in the second inning – the first on a solo home run by Connor Cox and the second thanks to two Pelham errors allowing Carter Phariss to score.
Pelham (27-13) got a run back in the third when Fletcher Johnson doubled and scored on Hunter Stovall’s single.
Coach Sean Anderson’s Panthers tied the game off Hewitt starter Grayson Jones in the sixth when Stovall walked, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Pelham senior pitcher Thomas Lowery and scored on a single by Jackson Pruitt.
Lowery (9-1), a left-hander who kept Pelham close with his masterful control, allowed only three hits, walked none and struck out 10. His final strikeout in the top of the seventh ended the inning and left the would-be go-ahead run stranded at third for Coach Jeff Mauldin’s Huskies.
Johnson’s one-out single to left started the final rally for Pelham in the bottom of the inning. He then stole second and scored when Alex Urban singled up the middle off reliever Michael Busby (3-1) to drive Johnson home.
Johnson finished with three hits and two runs scored, and Sam Finnerty had two hits for the Panthers. Cox had two hits for Hewitt.
Jones allowed six hits and struck out seven for the Huskies in 5 2/3 innings. Busby yielded two hits and also struck out one the rest of the way to take the loss.
Class 5A Championship Series
Game 2: Hartselle 3, Spanish Fort 2
Hartselle rallied for three runs in the last two innings to beat three-time defending champion Spanish Fort.
The championship was the eighth baseball title in Hartselle school history and marked the 907th win in veteran Coach William Booth’s career – all at Hartselle.
Spanish Fort pitcher Jesse McCord (9-2) held the Tigers (44-15) at bay for five innings as the Toros (38-9) built a 2-0 lead. Coach Brent Boyd’s team got both runs in the bottom of the second off Tigers starter Tillman Landers (9-1). Will Luft singled, Reagan Eubanks walked and both came around to score. Matt Hall’s sacrifice fly plated Luft and McCord’s single drove in Eubanks.
Left-hander Brady Wallace relieved Landers to start the third and pitched four shutout innings through the sixth, yielding two hits and striking out three.
Hartselle tied the game in the top of the sixth when shortstop Brett Blackwood drew a walk to start the rally and advanced to third on catcher Chris Brown's single. Blackwood, the series MVP, then scored on a wild pitch and pinch runner Tanner Oakes scored on Blake Slayton’s single.
Blackwood delivered again in the seventh. Deacon Aldridge reached first on an error, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Blackwood’s single, his 103rd of the season which set a new AHSAA state record.
Colton Ord then pitched the bottom of the seventh to notch his first save of the season.
Brown had three of Hartselle’s six hits. Easton Chenault, Blackwood and Slayton had the other three.
Rob Perteet had two hits and McCord a single and an RBI for Spanish Fort.
The 44 wins marked the fifth time Hartselle has eclipsed the 40-win mark in a season. Booth, now 907-345, is the winningest coach in AHSAA state history and the eight baseball championships also rank first among Class 5A schools.
Game 1: Hartselle 8, Spanish Fort 2
Shortstop Brett Blackwood slammed a two-run homer in the first inning and third baseman Tyler Phillips added a solo blast in the fifth as Hartselle beat Spanish Fort 8-2 to take game one.
In between the homers, the Tigers (43-15) posted five runs in the third inning and the defending state champion Toros (38-8) never recovered.
Coach William Booth’s Tigers managed just six hits but took advantage of five walks and three Spanish Fort errors to give their coach his 906th career win. Winning pitcher Jackson Smith (9-1) hurled a complete game, allowing just six hits and striking out two. Starter Ethan Walker (6-3) got the loss for Spanish Fort.
Phillips, batting ninth in the order, had two hits and three RBIs for Hartselle. Catcher Chris Brown also had an RBI double to highlight the third-inning rally.
Tyler Trammell had two hits and Will Luft an RBI to pace Coach Brett Boyd’s Toros.
Game two of the 5A Series is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Riverwalk Stadium. Game three, if needed, will follow at approximately 1 p.m.
The games are being streamed live via the AHSAA TV Network by digital partner PlayOn! Sports.