Speake, West Morgan, Mortimer Jordan Grab Titles
Ider, Alabama Christian, Sparkman Win Softball Crowns A Day Earlier
CLASS 1A STATE FINALS
Speake 6-1, South Lamar 1-0
Speake’s Lady Bobcats closed out the school’s final season by coming out of the loser’s bracket to win the Class 1A state championship. Facing elimination against undefeated South Lamar (33-9), the Bobcats (38-6) forced a final game with a 6-1 win.
This fall Speake High School is expected to be closed and merged with Lawrence County High Schooll.
In the final game, winning pitcher and 1A tourney MVP Kylie Black got the win with a seven-hit shutout. She struck out six.
Faith Holland singled to lead off the second inning and scored on an error for game’s only run. Cortney Jones, Bridget Fulks, Holland and Hannah Ledbetter each had one hit for the Lady Bobcats.
Karoline Holsonbeck had two hits to lead South Lamar. Losing pitcher Laken Hancock allowed only four hits and struck out five.
In the first game of the finals, Black tossed a one-hitter and struck out one. Fulks, Black and Bertha Piebe each had two hits for Speake. Holsonback had the only hit for South Lamar – a single in the second inning.
A highlight of the 1A tourney was Spring Garden pitcher Bree Blevins’ 21-strikeout performance in a seven-inning, 3-2 win over Lynn. She allowed just five hits and struck out four batters in the third inning.
Class 1A All-Tournament Team: Kylie Black, Speake (MVP); Bridget Fulks, Sarah Bolan, Cortney Jones, Speake; Karoline Holsonback, Courtney Hancock, Kallie Pollard, Samantha Trull, South Lamar; Erin Byrd, Megan Cook, Pleasant Home.
CLASS 2A STATE FINALS
Ider 3, Oakman 2
Winning pitcher and Class 2A state tourney MVP Hilary Phillips fired a 3-hitter in the finals and struck out nine. Ider (39-5) managed singles from four different players – Phillips, Megan Goins, Jessie McDaniel and Hayli Taylor. Jade Hawkins scored two runs.
Marcy Sartain had two hits for Oakman, including a solo home run to start the game in the top pf the first inning. Memory Williams had the other hit off Phillips.
Losing pitcher Hannah Pendley hurled a four-hitter and struck out one.
Class 2A All-Tournament Team: Hilary Phillips, Ider (MVP); Jade Hawkins, Megan Goins, Lynda Ring, Ider; Marcy Sartain, Hannah Pendley, Jessica Lolley, Haley Thompson, Oakman; Phoenix Young, Katie Wallace, Lexington.
CLASS 3A STATE FINALS
West Morgan 2, Straughn 0
West Morgan (42-11-3) rolled though the 3A tourney undefeated and unscored on as tourney MVP Lauren Seibert pitched all four shutouts.
She allowed five hits to Straughn (36-10) in the finals and struck out 14, including eight in a row at one stretch. Rachel Harbin had two hits for West Morgan and Jamie Rohr had a single and an RBI. Hannah Harris also had a double and scored a run and Katie Brazier had one hit.
For Straughn, losing pitcher Kaitlynn Wiggins pitched a five-hitter and struck out 11. Kayla Messer and Katy Messick each had two hits with Messer stroking a double in the third inning.
Class 3A All-Tournament Team: Lauren Seibert, West Morgan (MVP); Jamie Rohr, Whitlee Potter, Hayden Hamby, West Morgan; Stephanie Bracewell, Katy Messick, Kaitlynn Wiggins, Kayla Messer, Straughn; Emily Ivey, Kathryn Warren, Sumiton Christian.
CLASS 4A STATE FINALS
Alabama Christian 7, Corner 2
Alabama Christian (41-17) captured the state championship behind a strong pitching performance by senior Lauren Webster, who allowed seven hits and struck out 11.
Kelli Harris had a double and single for the Eagles while Rachel Eagerton had a triple, Amanda Seales and Emily Davis one hit each. Mara Harris also scored three runs, thanks to four walks.
Losing pitcher Kortney Sloan allowed five hits and struck out seven. Heather Anderson had two hits for Corner (41-11), including a solo home run in the fourth inning.
Class 4A All-Tournament Team: Lauren Webster, Alabama Christian (MVP); Mara Harris, Krisa Foye, Taylor Mills, Alabama Christian; Kortney Sloan, Jennifer Tolbert, Manda Slatton, Preslie Cruse, Corner; Kelsey Turner, Brittany Brown, Ardmore.
CLASS 5A STATE FINALS
Mortimer Jordan 11, Cullman 4
The winning Blue Devils (50-2) closed the season with a 43-game winning streak, a new state record. It took some defensive gems in the finals and timely hitting to put runner-up Cullman (33-16) away.
Left-fielder Hillary Hardiman robbed Bearcats slugger Abbie Knight of a three-run home run in the third inning when she reached over the fence to snag the long fly for the third out.
Lead-off hitter Haylie McCleney went 5-for-5 with three doubles and scored five runs while Alyssa Linn went 3-for-4 and Blair Johnson had two hits for Mortimer Jordan. The Blue Devils rapped out 13 hits. Tourney MVP Heather Parker, who slugged three homers in the tourney, also had a single. She finished the season with 16 homers.
Johnson, the winning pitcher, allowed five hits and struck out two.
Erin Lopez slugged a three-run homer in the fifth inning for Cullman. Jenny Haney also had two hits.
Class 5A All-Tournament Team: Heather Parker, Mortimer Jordan (MVP); Alyssa Linn, Morgan Estell, Haylie McCleney, Mortimer Jordan; Elizabeth Buchanan, Abbie Knight, T.J. Huddleston, Erin Lopez, Cullman; Caroline Clark, Katie Brown, Moody.
CLASS 6A STATE FINALS
Sparkman 3, Satsuma 0
It took top-ranked Sparkman an extra game, but the Senators came away with a 3-0 championship game win over Satsuma (55-8). Satsuma had come out of the losers’ bracket to force a final game by handing Sparkman its first tourney loss, 5-2.
Tourney MVP Abby Mackay hurled a five-hitter with four strikeouts for the Senators, who got the only run they needed in the first inning when Mallory McNeal scored on an error. Hayden Crawford led the Senators (53-9) by going 2-for-3 while Hannah Campbell was 2-for-3 for the Gators.
Class 6A All-Tournament Team: Abigail Mackay, Sparkman; Allison Sutherlin, Mallory McNeal, Kinsey Beck, Sparkman; Dorlicia Martin, Lannah Campbell, Hannah Campbell, Marissa Odom, Satsuma; Kate Benton, Mollie Hanson, Northview.