AISA A FINALS: Lowndes Academy wins twice to earn back-to-back titles
Lowndes Academy celebrates the Class A championship after a doubleheader sweep against South Choctaw Academy at Lagoon Park on Saturday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Lowndes Academy coach Matt Marshall wasn’t pleased with the way his players were performing in Saturday morning’s game with South Choctaw Academy.
In order for the Rebels to win their seventh state championship in fast pitch softball, they would have to beat South Choctaw twice at Lagoon Park Softball Complex.
His team completed the mission, winning the first game 3-2 and the second one 10-8 to post back-to-back titles.
“I wasn’t real happy with the way we played that one,” Marshall said after the second game, “but we did what it took. I tell them all the time I don’t care if we get hits, it’s your approach, have a good at-bat, pitch selection. We pride ourselves in being pretty doggone good hitters and we go up there and give them strikes by swinging at pitches out of the zone. That kind of takes the bat out of our hands. A lot of lazy fly balls today, but they found a way.”
The Lowndes roster includes just one senior, two juniors, a sophomore, 10 freshmen and a seventh grader, so while many of the players returned from last year’s championship team, it’s still a relatively inexperienced squad.
“I’m proud of this team,” said Marshall, who starts five freshmen and seventh grader Kinzee Kreder. “To be this young and to be able to accomplish this? This is great for them.”
One of those freshmen, pitcher Izzy Sullins, pitched the first game and started the second one, but immediately gave up two runs on four hits as South Choctaw jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
“At the start of the second game, when they went up 2-0, we were like, ‘Uh oh, they’re still fighting,’” senior Haley Briggs said. “We thought we were going to get it easily, but it’s not easy. They were fighting and we had to fight back.”
Sullins was pulled, but Marshall knew he might need her later.
“When I took her out, I told her to get in the shade and sit, you’re probably not done today,” Marshall said. “I had one more move -- my third baseman pitches too, but she was playing such great third base, I was scared to take her off of it -- and I told (Sullins) keep staying hydrated because you’re probably going to have to go out there and finish this thing.”
Briggs, who had a crucial two-run double in the first game to put her team up 2-0, capped a seven-run rally in the sixth with a two-run single that, along with a two-run single two batters earlier by Catie Wallace Self, put Lowndes back on top, 9-6.
“Usually, when one person hits and gets on, we’re rolling,” Briggs said. “When we went into that inning, (Marshall) was like, ‘All right guys, it’s on y’all, it’s our game,’ and we knew we wanted to fight back and win this game.”
But in order to win, the Rebels would have to count on Sullins, the third of three Lowndes pitchers sent out to the circle in the fifth inning. The freshman, pulled after the first inning because she was exhausted, gave up RBI singles to Mizze Jenkins and Dixie Perry in the fifth as the Rebels fell behind 6-3. But after Lowndes scored seven runs in the sixth, Sullins found enough to strike out three batters in the sixth as South Choctaw pulled within 10-8, then retire three of the four batters she faced in the seventh to secure the win.
“She’s a young one, but she’s going to be a heck of a ballplayer,” Briggs said. “We depend on her and she knows it. And when she starts struggling, if she comes out and we put her back in, we know she’s a go-to pitcher. She’s awesome. She’s going to be really big for this team.”
And Briggs, just as she did three months ago on the basketball court, led the charge to the center of the field to collect the state championship trophy.
“It feels great,” she said. “Especially being the only senior, it’s awesome. Winning it last year, coming back, we were young and we knew we had to fight back. But fighting with this team is awesome. It feels great.”
Lowndes (26-14) continued its trend of winning titles in bunches, winning three straight in 2006-08, back to back in 2013 and 2014 and back to back again in 2023 and 2024. South Choctaw joins Pickens as the two AISA squads with the most appearances (17) without a championship. Saturday’s appearance was the fourth runner-up trophy for South Choctaw.
Making the all-tournament team were Reagan Phillips, Jenkins and Marlee Williams of South Choctaw and Sullins, Self, Briggs and Emma Phillips of Lowndes.
AISA SOFTBALL STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS
CLASS A
Game 1 -- Snook Christian 9, North River Christian 0
Game 2 -- South Choctaw Academy 12, Coosa Valley Academy 2
Game 3 -- Lowndes Academy 11, Heritage Christian 0
Game 4 -- Crenshaw Christian 10, Cornerstone Christian 1
Game 5 -- North River Christian 14, Coosa Valley Academy 2
Game 6 -- Cornerstone Christian 14, Heritage Christian 4
Game 7 -- South Choctaw Academy 3, Snook Christian 2
Game 8 -- Crenshaw Christian 3, Lowndes Academy 2
Game 9 -- Lowndes Academy 10, North River Christian 1
Game 10 -- Snook Christian 5, Cornerstone Christian 4
Game 11 -- South Choctaw Academy 6, Crenshaw Christian 5
Game 12 -- Lowndes Academy 8, Snook Christian 2
Game 13 -- Lowndes Academy 11, Crenshaw Christian 3
Game 14 -- Championship: Lowndes Academy 3-10, South Choctaw Academy 2-8