PREP RECAP: Macon East cruises past Southern Academy to advance; PCA softball wins
Deonte Powell was part of a pitching combination that threw a no hitter in the second game of Macon East's sweep of Southern Academy on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
CECIL -- In the first game of the Class AA quarterfinal, Macon East Academy senior Luke Noffsinger drew a walk and later scored on a wild pitch, bunted and reached base on an error, was hit by a pitch and finally had the walk-off single to end the game with Southern Academy on the mercy rule.
For Noffsinger, it was just another typical game as the Knights’ leadoff hitter.
“You’ve got to get that leadoff guy on,” Noffsinger said. “There is some stat where if you get the leadoff guy on, it increases your odds of scoring by a huge percentage. It’s good to go out there and set the tone.”
In the second game, just as he did in the first game, Noffsinger was hit by a pitch and eventually scored. It was the 13th time this season he has been hit by a pitch.
“Coach always preaches it’s a team sport,” Noffsinger said. “Moving out of the way of a pitch? I mean, that’s a free bag. I think we all take that selfless mindset into it. If we get hit by a pitch and get on base, I have full confidence that whoever is hitting behind me will be able to move me around, if not knock me in. That’s how you generate runs. You need base runners.”
The Knights (31-4) had plenty of them on Thursday, defeating Southern 13-1 in four innings and 10-0 in six innings to sweep the best-of-three series and advance to the semifinals next Wednesday at home against Wilcox Academy, which swept Edgewood on Thursday.
“I’m glad of the mindset that we had and the intensity we had throughout both our games tonight,” Noffsinger said. “It was a chance for us to not just come out here and run-rule this team (as expected) but to seize the opportunity to get better throughout this game. We haven’t done anything. We’re not going to dogpile because we made the semifinals.”
Noffsinger, one of two seniors in the starting lineup, is the leader on a talented team who splits time at catcher but primarily plays in the outfield for the Knights.
“He’s been the leader on my team since Day One,” Macon East Academy coach Bob Pickett said. “He’s a 4.0 student, he’s up for the Jimmy Hitchcock Award, he plays the drums at Vaughn Forest Church. He’s the type of kid you want your kid to grow up like.”
He reached base six of his nine plate appearances on Thursday, scoring four times, while Matthew Kitchens went 3 for 5, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs, Dalton Nickles went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, Hunter Timmerman went 3 for 6 with two RBIs, Gunner Justice went 3 for 5 with an RBI and Deonte Powell went 3 for 3, scored three times and drove in a pair of runs.
Powell is the “weakest” of the starters in on-base percentage at .419 and all the sophomore did was reach base in all seven plate appearances on Thursday, resulting in six runs scored.
Powell also combined with Camden Bell on a no-hitter in the second game as Powell struck out 11 of the 13 batters he faced in the first four innings and Bell struck out four of the six batters he faced. Only four batters made contact with the ball and only one reached base as Nik Evans led off the bottom of the fourth by reaching base on an error before Powell struck out the next three to end the inning.
The Knights went without Kitchens, the ace, in Thursday’s doubleheader, using Bryant Rascoll in the opener. The senior gave up a run in the first on Wesley Hall’s RBI double, but retired the final 10 batters in order as Hall walked in the fourth but the runner was erased when Colston Fultz hit into a double play.
Noffsinger opened the 2021 season with six consecutive strikeouts but only has six this entire season after moving into the leadoff role for the Knights.
“He was not going to slump because I’ve never, ever seen him negative,” Pickett said. “He has the best positive personality. You can win with a Luke Noffsinger because it’s just hard for your team to get down. It’s his team. They listen to him. He leads the prayer every day.”
Noffsinger is batting .382 and entered the game with a .558 on-base percentage.
“This year, I’m a lot more confident in my bat and moved up to the leadoff spot,” he said. “I don’t want to say it’s a pride thing, but it’s a confidence thing that I can go out here and get it done and if I can get on base, the guys behind me can generate some momentum.”
It’s worked well enough to get the Knights to the AA semifinals, which is where their season came to a halt last year after a stunning series loss to Autauga.
“It was definitely disappointing,” Noffsinger said. “It was kind of a thing where we put in so much work and it was like we celebrated too early with it. That was something that we took into this year -- keep competing, going out and doing our thing, and keep the energy up but don’t celebrate too early. Keep your head in the game and finish what we started.”
GIRLS SOCCER
St. James 7, Carroll 1
OZARK -- Katie Brightwell scored six goals and Haley Vance added another as the Trojans rolled to a first-round win over Carroll in the 4A-5A state playoffs on Friday.
St. James (12-3-1) will play the winner of Friday night’s game between Faith Academy and UMS-Wright in the second round of the state playoffs next week at Carlisle Field.
Haley Brightwell assisted on three goals in the win, with Mary Grace Hixon adding two assists and Vance adding another assist.
SOFTBALL
Prattville Christian 15, Stanhope Elmore 4
MILLBROOK -- Chloe Hollon had a pair of home runs, a double and a single, along with five RBIs, as part of an 18-hit attack as the Panthers rallied past the 6A Mustangs 15-4 on Thursday.
Alivia Messick came on in relief and picked up the win for PCA.
Katie Johnson went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Jersee Carter went 3 for 4 with one RBI, Sarah Williams was 3 for 5 with an RBI and Saniyah Weaver was 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Panthers.
PCA (27-9) will host Prattville, GW Long and Brantley on Saturday in a round robin tournament at home starting at 9 a.m.