PREP ROUNDUP: MA tops St. James in soccer; Tallassee gets area win in softball

Montgomery Academy’s Bae Corley deflects a shot on goal in the Eagles’ win over St. James. (Eddie Olszewski)

Compiled by TIM GAYLE

A blustery afternoon with below-average temperatures and high winds kept the scoring at a minimum as Montgomery Academy pulled out a 2-1 Area 4 victory over St. James on Thursday afternoon at Carlisle Field.

Virginia Meacham’s free kick from 30 yards out broke a scoreless tie with 20 minutes left to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

With five minutes to go, MA scored a second goal with a first-time volley by Kerstin Daniel after a great flick on by Katherine Sinco. 

St. James avoided the shutout with approximately 15 seconds remaining on a free kick by Katie Brightwell, who scored her 28th goal of the season.

“Incredibly tough conditions made the game a little chaotic,” MA coach Joe White said. “St. James is a very good team and I’m looking forward to another battle with them in two weeks time. I’m happy we came out with the win to cap off a tough week. Our two goals tonight were as good as they come.”

The two teams meet again on April 13 at Montgomery Academy and quite possibly again in the quarterfinals of the 4A-5A state playoffs at the end of this month.

“I thought both teams really competed well tonight in a game that was very enjoyable to watch,” said St. James coach Charlie Brightwell, who praised the performance of center backs Hope and Hannah McCain in turning back numerous MA attacks. “Both teams presented difficult moments for each team as it was truly back and forth throughout the match. We are looking forward to watching these teams compete again in a couple weeks.”

Both teams continue area play next week, with St. James facing BTW Magnet on Monday at the Emory Folmar Soccer Complex at 5:30 p.m., while Montgomery Academy returns home to play Alabama Christian on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL

Tallassee 12, Pike Road 1

PIKE ROAD -- Playing at home is supposed to be an advantage.

It didn’t appear to bring out the best for the Pike Road Patriots, who played Tallassee to the wire at Southside Middle School earlier this season but continued a drought at home as the Tigers jumped on the Patriots for a 12-1 win on Thursday at the Pike Road softball complex.

Pike Road (4-12) dropped to 1-3 in 5A Area 5 play, while Tallassee remains unbeaten.

“We don’t play well at home,” Pike Road coach Patricia Ball said. “We’re too distracted. Until this year, we had never played a home game. We’re just learning. I feel like we have a lot of tools, we just need to put them all together.”

Chloe Davidson pitched a three-hitter for the Tigers, allowing singles by Kirsten Stroud and Beth Stengell in the third before pitching out of a jam and a double to Stroud in the fifth.

The Patriots scored their only run in the first inning when Kayla Bester drew a leadoff walk, continued to third on an error following a Stroud groundout and scored on Jaliyah Brown’s sacrifice fly.

Tallassee, meanwhile, got two runs in the first, another in the second and three in each of the next three innings to end the game on the mercy rule. Bell Haynes went 3 for 4 and reached base a fourth time on an error, Abbie Davis went 3 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs and Lexi Love went 2 for 4 with a home run and a double, driving in three runs. 

The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Haynes singled in Chloe Baynes and scored on Avery Lumpkin’s double, made it 3-1 in the second when Ella Thrash singled in Davis and added three more runs in the third on an RBI single by Davis and bases-loaded walks to Brooke Royster and Thrash.

Love had a two-run home run in the fourth off reliever Presley Wood and Davis added another RBI single for a 9-1 lead. The Tigers added three more runs in the fifth after a pair of Pike Road errors, part of a five-error day for the Patriots.

St. James 1, LAMP 0

Emily Needham got the only run she would need in the first inning and won her pitching duel with Caitlin Russell as the Trojans edged the Golden Tigers 1-0 at the St. James softball complex on Thursday.

Needham struck out eight and the seventh grader surrendered only two hits, one by Russell in the fourth inning. Russell, meanwhile, surrendered just three hits -- two to KK Hall -- while striking out seven in six innings of work. 

The game’s only run crossed the plate in the first inning on Cam Greene’s sacrifice fly.

The two teams meet again on Tuesday at Lagoon Park Softball Complex at 4 p.m.

Trinity 17, Greenville 2

Linda Hill went 4 for 4, scoring four runs and driving in two more as Trinity defeated Greenville 17-2 in a game shortened to four innings by the mercy rule. 

Emma Rose Meldrum, Mary Kathryn Adcock and Lily Windham added three hits each and combined to score eight of the Wildcats’ 17 runs. 

Hill and Lilly Yancey combined to throw a two hitter, striking out one batter each. 

BASEBALL

Trinity 2, Montgomery Academy 1

Ben Easterling and Britton Kohn waged a pitching dual for seven innings and while Kohn might have won the statistical battle, Easterling’s team won the game, defeating the Eagles 2-1 in the 3A Area 6 opener for both teams on Thursday at Jason Armstrong Field.

Easterling struck out 12 and surrendered just five hits, holding the Eagles to a run. Kohn only allowed two hits, one by William Roberson and one by Mac McClinton, but surrendered two runs.

Trinity (8-7) improved to 1-0 in area play and travels to MA for a doubleheader on Friday at Bowen Field.

Alabama Christian 13, LAMP 7

Isaac Warrick went 2 for 4 with three RBIs at the plate and pitched five innings of four-hit ball while striking out eight and surrendering just one earned run as the Eagles won the first of a three-game area series with the Golden Tigers at the AUM Dixie Majors complex on Thursday. 

JT Moorer pitched the final two innings for ACA, striking out two and surrendering just one hit. Trey Schlemmer went 3 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs for ACA, while Preston Hicks went 2 for 4 and drove in a run. 

ACA improved to 2-1 in area play but owns the tiebreaker over area leader St. James (5-1), while LAMP dropped to 0-3 in the four-team area. The two teams resume the series on Friday with a doubleheader at Paterson Field beginning at 4 p.m. 

Macon East Academy 15, Hooper Academy 1

CECIL -- Colcy Cox pitched a one-hitter in a game shortened to three innings by the mercy rule, striking out seven while walking two.

Offensively, Cox, Matthew Kitchens, Tanner Moore and Stone Yarnell all had two hits each, while Moore drove in five runs. 

Macon East (18-6) plays host to Lowndes Academy on Monday.

Pike Road 4, Beauregard 0

PIKE ROAD -- Lucas Baggett threw a complete-game shutout, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning to help the Patriots win their area opener at home on Thursday.

Baggett struck out four and walked only one in the win. The Patriots broke open the game with a three-run third highlighted by Drew Britton’s sacrifice fly and Clay Slagle’s RBI single.

The Hornets loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning but a spectacular diving grab by center fielder Logan Shores preserved the shutout.

“That was a huge play, given the situation,” Pike Road coach Allen Ponder said. “That was the game changer right there.”

Pike Road (14-7) travels to Beauregard for a doubleheader on Friday.

BOYS TENNIS

Montgomery Academy 9, Opelika 0

OPELIKA -- The Eagles swept singles and doubles competition to beat the Bulldogs 9-0 in a Class 6A Section 2 match played in Opelika on Thursday. 

Singles winner for MA were Hamilton Chapman, Whit Davis, Guy Hughes, John Alford, Jackson Brown and Gaines Freeman. 

Doubles Winners for MA were Chapman-Davis, Hughes-Freeman and Alford-Brown. 

Also winning exhibition matches for the Eagles were Easton Strickler, Coleman McIntyre and Picasso Avezzano. 

MA play host to LAMP on Monday.