Smartt Leads Charles Henderson To 4A Baseball Title;
St. Luke’s Episcopal Captures First State Championship In Class 1A
Charles Henderson and St. Luke’s Episcopal powered their way to state baseball titles Thursday, each sweeping their championship series in two games. Charles Henderson claimed its first title since 2004 and St. Luke’s got its first baseball title in school history at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium.
Class 4A Championship Series
Game 2: Charles Henderson 7, Brooks 2
Sophomore catcher Chase Smartt slugged a single, double and grand-slam home run to drive in six runs Thursday as Charles Henderson (40-3) beat Brooks 7-2 to clinch the Class 4A title.
Smartt, named the series MVP, plated two runs with his double to left field in the first inning, then followed with his bases-loaded homer some 380 feet over the left field wall. He drove in seven runs in the series.
Winning pitcher Tripp Blackmon (9-0), a senior, hurled a five-hitter for the win, striking out two. He also had two hits with a double and single. John Johnson added two hits for Coach Derek Irons’ Trojans.
Brooks (46-11), coached by Todd Nelms, got a strong pitching performance from junior Ryan Masonia (9-5), who overcame the six runs early and then held the Trojans to just one run the rest of the way. He gave up nine hits and struck out nine.
Catcher Austin Broadfoot had two hits and Devan Henson had a hit and an RBI to pace the Lions.
Game 1: Charles Henderson 7, Brooks 4
Leadoff hitter Hunter Baggett stole home to score Charles Henderson’s first run and finished with three runs scored and two stolen bases as the Trojans won game one of the Class 4A series.
The Lions (45-10) overcame the steal of home with two runs in the top of the second and one in the third to take a 3-1 lead but couldn’t overcome five errors in the field and the Trojans’ timely hitting.
Houston Mabray (11-1) turned in a bulldog performance on the mound for Charles Henderson, scattering nine hits and striking out four. Coach Derek Irons’ Trojans (39-3) scored three runs in the bottom of the third and three in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-3 lead and Mabray shut out the Lions over the last two innings.
Baggett finished with one hit and three runs scored while first baseman Joey Denison had three hits including two doubles and two RBIs. Catcher Chase Smartt added two hits and two RBIs.
Paden Smith (9-1) hurled all six innings for Coach Todd Nelms’ Lions. He gave up nine hits but just two earned runs and struck out four. Center fielder Drake Tucker had three hits and two RBIs and DH Skyler Beck collected two hits and drove in one run.
Class 1A Championship Series
Game 2: St. Luke’s Episcopal 7, Shoals Christian 2
St. Luke’s Episcopal pounded 11 hits in game two to beat three-time defending state champion Shoals Christian 7-2.
Coach Tim Becker’s Wildcats (32-8) closed out an amazing 10-game playoff winning streak with the victory. Leighton Lary (9-1) got the win going all seven innings. He scattered eight hits, walked one and struck out two.
Will Bishop (11-2), who closed his career with 20 playoff wins, took the loss yielding 11 hits and striking out two.
Class 1A Series MVP Justin Ware was 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI. He finished 5-for-7 in the series. First baseman Murphy Mostellar had a single and two RBIs. Becker’s son Dalton also had two hits, including a triple, and catcher Steven Mulhern had two hits and two RBIs.
Shoals Christian (27-15), coached by Jason Anderson, was led by Bishop, who had a triple, double and one hit-by-pitch. Josh Vardeman also had a single and an RBI while teammate Tanner Bozeman socked a double.
The state title was the second state championship for the school this week as the Wildcats also won the 1A-2A boys state golf title in Muscle Shoals Tuesday.
Game 1: St. Luke’s 6, Shoals Christian 0
St. Luke’s Episcopal junior left-hander Brandon Cook shut out defending state champion Shoals Christian as the Wildcats posted a 6-0 win to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Class 1A series.
Cook (8-3) scattered eight hits and walked one but didn’t record a strikeout. He kept the Flame hitters off stride and the St. Luke’s defense turned two double plays to help seal the victory.
Senior first baseman Murphy Mostellar was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to pace St. Luke’s (31-8) to its ninth playoff win a row. Coach Tim Becker’s Wildcats also got two hits each from center fielder Justin Ware and third baseman Danny Haskell.
Christian Shipe (7-5) allowed 10 hits but just two earned runs and took the loss. He struck out five and walked just one for the Flame (27-14). Shipe and shortstop Tanner Traglia had two hits each.