SATURDAY PREPS: Orange Beach wins FCA Alex Wilcox Tourney; Trinity baseball tops Marbury
Justine Henderson comes home to her teammates after a 2-run homer in the Orange Beach win over Satsuma on Saturday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Orange Beach pounded out 14 hits and kept constant pressure on the Satsuma defense for a surprisingly easy 17-2 victory over the Gators in the championship game of the third FCA Alex Wilcox Memorial Softball Tournament at Lagoon Park Softball Complex on Saturday.
The Makos (22-5-1) took care of business with a five-run first inning, pounding the ball and scoring runs with aggressive base running while pitcher Kaitlynn Robertson kept the Gators off the scoreboard until their final at-bat in the fourth inning.
“We love this tournament,” Orange Beach coach Shane Alexander said. “Alex was special and to be here to represent her memory? This is the way she played.”
Orange Beach played in the Gulf Coast Classic II to open the week, then traveled 200 miles north to play in the Alex Wilcox Tournament, a grueling test Alexander put his team through before the Makos get some time off for spring break.
“It’s special (to win the tournament) because of the Alex Wilcox (tribute), but we’ve been going hard for the last two weeks, playing a lot of games,” Alexander said. “To mentally push through, that is what we wanted to see. Kaitlynn pitched every inning of the tournament because we had one pitcher banged up and another not here, so she went every inning of every game. She’s gritty.”
And Robertson got plenty of help early from her teammates. Daigle Wilson opened the game with a bunt single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single to left field by Laura Robbins for a quick 1-0 lead. After Ava Hodo drew a walk, Robertson advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt and Teagan Revette followed with a two-run single to center.
Justine Henderson then launched a two-run homer over the left field fence and the Makos were out to a quick and decisive 5-0 lead.
Eight of the nine batters had at least one hit as Wilson went 3 for 4 and scored three runs, Robbins went 3 for 4, scored three runs and drove in three more, Hodo went 1 for 1 along with three walks, Robertson went 2 for 3 and Henderson went 2 for 4 with a pair of runs scored and three RBIs.
Satsuma led off the bottom of the first with a double by Kaeden Enzor and the Gators loaded the bases in the second and third innings, but couldn’t push across a run until the fourth when Lorali Miller and Bralee Byrd led off with singles and eventually scored.
The top 12 teams in the tournament were placed in the gold bracket for simgle-elimination play on Saturday afternoon. Top-seeded Satsuma held off Auburn 2-1 in a quarterfinal game, then rallied for six runs in the fifth inning to beat Brantley 6-4 in the semifinals. Second-seeded Orange Beach beat Luverne 9-0 in the quarterfinals and Opp 5-1 to reach the finals. Opp, the seventh seed, had defeated Catholic 9-4 in the first round and third-seeded Prattville 4-3 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals to play Orange Beach.
Catholic and Prattville were the only two River Region teams in the tournament.
The remaining teams were placed in the Silver bracket and Mary Montgomery scored late to break a 5-5 tie, then held off Austin -- the defending tournament champion -- 7-6 in the finals to win the silver bracket. BASEBALL
Trinity 5, Marbury 2
D.M. Lieux had a pair of hits and an RBI and Ross Sanders added a pair of hits as the Wildcats defeated Marbury 5-2 on Saturday at Whittle-Armstong Field.
Wesley Stallings picked up the win, pitching six innings and striking out four.
Trinity 8, Elmore County 5
The Wildcats picked up their second win on Saturday, defeating the Panthers 8-5 at Whittle-Armstrong Field.
Copeland Service picked up the win, pitching 3.2 innings and striking out four. Brady Rascoll also pitched 2.2 innings for the Wildcats.
Trinity returns to action on Thursday in a 3A Area 6 game at home against Catholic before going on the road to play the Knights in a Friday doubleheader.
Chelsea 2, Prattville 1
CHELSEA -- The Prattville Lions lost a tough 10 inning battle with the Chelsea Hornets 2-1 on a walk off, two-out solo home run to left field.
The Lions had tied the game in the sixth inning as Jack Studdard reached on an infield single, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch with one out. Grant Williams drove a ball between first and second on a 3-2 count to score Studdard.
Studdard went 2 for 2 and was hit twice by pitches, while Willians went 2 for 4 and drove in a run.
The loss overshadowed a brilliant pitching performance by Andrew Hicks, who allowed a run and three hits in seven innings while striking out five and walking three. After giving up a run in the bottom of the first, Hicks threw six scoreless innings before being relieved by Nathan Lunsford to start the bottom of the eighth. Lunsford pitched a third of an inning, allowing a walk before he was replaced by Will Baskin (2-1) with a runner on first.
Baskin pitched the remaining 2.1 innings, striking out one and surrendering just two hits, including the solo home run in the 10th.
The Lions (12-8) return to the Birmingham area on Wednesday, facing Spain Park in the Hoover Bucs Classic at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Lowndes Academy 5, South Choctaw Academy 4
LOWNDESBORO -- Noah Smith singled in a run in the bottom of the sixth to lead the Rebels to a 5-4 win over South Choctaw on Saturday.
Drew Hanna doubled in a pair of runs in the first to give South Choctaw an early 2-0 lead before Lowndes rallied. Walker McQueen led Lowndes at the plate, going 2 for 2.