FCA ALEX WILCOX TOURNEY: 15 teams set to compete in fourth-annual event

Orange Beach HS was the winner of last year’s Alex Wilcox tourney. There are 15 team vying for this year’s title. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

Fifteen teams make up the field for the fourth FCA Alex Wilcox Memorial Softball Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Lagoon Park Softball Complex.

The tournament is now in its sixth year after its initial run in 2019 but the second tournament was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and the third edition was rained out.

The tournament was created in 2019 to honor the life of Alex Wilcox, who led Brantley High to three consecutive softball state championships at Lagoon Park, the last two after she was diagnosed in 2016 with ovarian cancer. She was signed by Mississippi State coach Vann Steudeman and played sparingly as a freshman in 2018 while undergoing chemotherapy treatments. She passed away in June, 2018.

Brantley has participated in the tournament each year and will open play on Friday against Trinity.

The tournament field has changed since the original 32-team lineup in 2019. COVID travel restrictions limited the field to 19 teams in 2021, with 21 teams in 2022 and 20 in 2023. The tournament has featured a different champion each year, with G.W. Long winning in 2019, Austin winning in 2022 and Orange Beach in 2023.

Teams will be divided into five three-team pools for this year’s tournament. Round-robin play on Friday will determine the seeding for the bracket on Saturday.

The teams will take a break at 5 p.m. to enjoy dinner and a Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ presentation by Sarah Roberts, chaplain for the University of Oklahoma softball team.

Round-robin play will resume on Saturday at 9 a.m. before bracket play starts at 10:30 a.m. The finals are set for 6:30 p.m.

FOURTH FCA ALEX WILCOX MEMORIAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

Lagoon Park Softball Complex

FRIDAY

Catholic vs. Luverne, 2 p.m.

Valley vs. Opp, 2 p.m.

Benjamin Russell vs. Brookwood, 2 p.m.

Mary Montgomery vs. Spanish Fort, 2 p.m.

Brantley vs. Trinity, 2 p.m.

Luverne vs. Andalusia, 3:30 p.m.

Opp vs. St. Paul’s Episcopal, 3:30 p.m.

Brookwood vs. Daphne, 3:30 p.m.

Spanish Fort vs. Pike Road, 3:30 p.m.

Beauregard vs. Brantley, 3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

Andalusia vs. Catholic, 9 a.m.

St. Paul’s Episcopal vs. Valley, 9 a.m.

Daphne vs. Benjamin Russell, 9 a.m.

Mary Montgomery vs. Pike Road, 9 a.m.

Trinity vs. Beauregard, 9 a.m.

First-round bracket play, 10:30 a.m.

Second-round bracket play, 12:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals, 2:30 p.m.

Semifinals, 4:30 p.m.

Championship, 6:30 p.m.