FCA SOFTBALL: Brantley back to honor tourney's namesake

Trinity Shortstop Emma Rose Meldrum is late with tag on Brantley’s Emma Crawley in Friday’s first-round action of the FCA Alex Wilcox Memorial Tourney at Lagoon Park.

By TIM GAYLE

It has little to do with wins and losses.

The fourth annual FCA Alex Wilcox Memorial Tournament kicked off Thursday at Lagoon Park Softball Complex and, as usual, Brantley was one of the participants.

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 with ovarian cancer. Wilcox, who dominated the 1A state tournament with her amazing ability and unselfish attitude, continued her career at Mississippi State while undergoing chemotherapy treatments before passing away in June, 2018.

Brantley coach Cindy Hawthorne has signed up for all six tournaments, with one canceled with the conclusion of the season two weeks earlier because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and one canceled the next year by inclement weather.

“Honestly, the softball is just the icing on the cake,” Hawthorne said. “This is about Alex and her legacy, the FCA and the (Friday night) rally. It’s all about giving God the glory. That’s what Alex did and this so happens to be in her name and she’s from Brantley. She’s one of ours.”

Brantley has never won the tournament, but that’s hardly a surprise given the 1A Bulldogs are, by far, the smallest team in the tournament. This year’s 15-team field includes seven of the state’s largest programs, so when the single-elimination bracket play starts on Saturday morning, the Bulldogs will not be one of the favorites.

“We feel like playing good competition, no matter where we’re at,” Hawthorne said. “We’ll go wherever to play good competition. We feel like if we just come out and compete, it’s going to make us better in 1A.”

Her players continue to prove her right, reaching the finals every year but once since 2014, not counting 2020, of course. Brantley reached the finals of the elimination round in 2022 before settling for third place, but has reached the championship game the other eight times, winning six titles.

Trinity, participating in its first Alex Wilcox Tournament, met Brantley in the opener and dueled evenly with the Bulldogs before falling 4-0 in the tournament opener on Friday.

Brantley ace A.P. Little pitched a three hitter and struck out 11 while supplying the offense with a two-run home run in the first inning and a two-run triple in the third for all four runs for the Bulldogs (11-5).

“We got a tough draw playing Brantley and Beauregard,” Trinity coach Stan Milton said, “but that’s why we’re playing in it. We want to play teams that are better than us and let’s see if we can work up to their level. I think with the lineup we have now, we’re better prepared to play in a tournament like this. Two years ago, we would have gotten run ruled in every game.”

Seventh grader Micaiah Shelton went 2 for 2 and Mya Moskowitz went 1 for 2 to account for all of the Wildcats’ offense. Madi Milton pitched the first three innings against the Bulldogs, while Marley Sharpless pitched the fourth.

Trinity (5-2) will resume play in the tournament against Beauregard on Saturday at 9 a.m. The 15 teams will then participate in single-elimination bracket play, with the top seed receiving a first-round bye.

Milton said participating in the tournament was an easy decision, despite the talent of teams such as Daphne, Spanish Fort and Opp.

“Obviously, the fact that it’s celebrating the life of Alex Wilcox,” Milton said. “Kayla Hale, our pitching coach, her mom passed away from ovarian cancer, so this is a really special tournament for her. Not only are we going to play good teams, we’re going to see good pitching and we’re going to have to get good at hitting good pitching before we play St. James and ACA and the teams in our area. There are a lot of reasons but those are probably the two biggest.”

FOURTH FCA ALEX WILCOX MEMORIAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

Lagoon Park Softball Complex

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

Catholic 8, Luverne 1

Opp 13, Valley 0

Benjamin Russell 1, Brookwood 0 (forfeit)

Mary Montgomery 5, Spanish Fort 0

Brantley 4, Trinity 0

Luverne 4, Andalusia 1

Opp 1, St. Paul’s Episcopal 0

Daphne 13, Benjamin Russell 0

Spanish Fort 8, Pike Road 5

Beauregard 6, Brantley 5

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

Andalusia vs. Catholic, 9 a.m.

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

Daphne vs. Brookwood, 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.