THURSDAY PREPS: Lowndes Academy baseball advances to semis; St. James tennis to play for title

COMBINED REPORTS

AISA BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

Lowndes Academy 14-21, Cornerstone Christian 1-0

LOWNDESBORO - The Rebels totaled 35 runs in the sweep of Cornerstone in the second round of the AISA Class A playoffs on Thursday.

Ashton Yelder homered and had three RBIs in the opener Cooper Dansby had two hits including a double. Grant Casey added two hits and was the winning pitcher.

In Game 2, the Rebels scored 12 runs in the final two innings to advance. Braydn Stokes was the winning pitcher, allowing just two hits and struck out five. He also had two hits and drove in three runs with a double.

Lowndes will play again at home Wednesday against Escambia Academy in a Best of 3 series.

GIRLS TENNIS

St. James advances four to finals, will determine 1A-3A champion on Friday 

MOBILE -- The St. James girls finished the first day a close second to defending state champion Lauderdale County, but will settle the state championship in five meetings with the Tigers on Friday -- three in singles and two in doubles. 

Lauderdale County led the competition with 34 points after the first day at the Mobile Tennis Center, but the Trojans were second with 30 points, followed by Indian Springs with 23.

In singles, both No. 1 Reilly Taylor and No. 2 Stella Sponseller lost on the first day, but the other four Trojans are still alive. At No. 3, Karly Bailey will face Lauderdale County’s Mallory McConnell for the state championship, while at No. 4, Davis Wiliford will battle Molly Burchell and at No. 6 Addison Seale will face Ivey Tinker. At No. 5, Helen Johnston will play Shoals Christian’s Lyla Wells for the state championship.

In doubles, the Trojans’ No. 2 team of Taylor-Seale will play Lauderdale County’s Lizzie Tanner and McConnell in the finals, while at No. 3, Raliegh Court and Johnston will play Tinker and Paige Davis in the finals.  

Trinity in eighth after first day of 6A tournament 

MOBILE -- A pair of Trinity players fell early in Thursday’s competition to Mountain Brook players, but two Wildcats remain alive entering the final day of the 6A state tennis tournament at the Mobile Tennis Center.

At No. 3, Kensley Williamson reached the semifinals before play was halted on Thursday and will face St. Paul’s Episcopal’s Emme Clement when play resumes on Friday. At No. 5, Nora Grayson reached the second round and will play Hartselle’s Lily Reese on Friday.

St. Paul’s leads the 6A tournament with 47 points entering the final day, followed by Mountain Brook (44), Northridge (30), McGill-Toolen (23), Hartselle (22), Muscle Shoals (22), Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (20) and Trinity (16).

BOYS TENNIS

Treadwell’s achieve milestone in advancing to finals

MOBILE -- Samuel Treadwell and James Treadwell both reached an impressive milestone on Thursday and both Trinity brothers were alive in both singles and doubles entering the final day of the 6A state tennis tournament at the Mobile Tennis Center.

Samuel Treadwell, playing No. 1 singles, reached the quarterfinals before play was halted on Thursday and will face Briarwood Christian’s Jani Martin when play resumes on Friday.

James Treadwell, playing No. 2 singles, advanced to the semifinals, where he will play Hartselle’s Landon Robinson on Friday.

Both Treadwells, playing No. 1 singles, won their 100th career doubles match in the first round and added another win in the second round. On Friday, they will face Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa’s Griffin Armstrong and JC Foster in the semifinals. 

Trevor Wilson, Grant Speagle and Charlie Franklin all lost in the first round and Sawyer Speagle lost in the quarterfinals, leaving the Wildcats out of the chase for the championship. Trinity will enter the final day of competition with 19 points, trailing Mountain Brook (44), Hartselle (29), Northridge (28), Spanish Fort (26) and Briarwood Christian (20). 

GIRLS SOCCER

Trinity 4, Prattville Christian 1

Avery Rogers scored Prattville Christian’s only goal in a 4-1 loss at Ragsdale-Boykin Field on Thursday.

Addison Sutton assisted on the goal. 

PCA (7-10) returns home to host Julian on Friday, then travels to St. James for the first round of the 1A-3A state soccer playoffs on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER

Montgomery Academy 2, Stanhope Elmore 1

Jacob Stubblefield scored a pair of goals to lift the Eagles to a hard-fought victory over Stanhope Elmore in the first round of the 6A state soccer playoffs on Thursday night at McLemore Field.

Stanhope Elmore ended the season at 11-9-5.

Montgomery Academy (13-5-2) will remain home and play host to area rival Pike Road on Monday or Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the second round of the playoffs.

Trinity 6, Prattville Christian 1

Brady Roberson scored the Panthers’ only goal in a 6-1 loss to the Wildcats at Ragsdale-Boykin Field. Cade Segars had the assist. 

PCA (7-10-1) returns home to host Julian on Friday, then travels to St. James for the first round of the 1A-3A state soccer playoffs on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

SOFTBALL

Trinity 8, Dadeville 6

DADEVILLE -- The Lady Wildcats finished the regular season with an 8-6 road win over the Tigers on Dadeville’s Senior Night. 

Trinity picked up 12 hits on the night, including three players who went 2 for 3 -- Kate Knight scored two runs with an RBI, Micaiah Shelton had two RBIs and Emory Harris scored a run. 

Marley Sharpless was 2 for 4 with two RBIS, while Evie Knight, Emma Rose Meldrum, Harper Johnson and Madi Milton each added a hit. 

In the circle, Mae Mae Milton pitched 2.2 innings, giving up four hits and one earned run while striking out one batter. Sharpless earned the win, pitching the final 4.1 innings and surrendering just four hits and no earned runs. 

Trinity (10-9) will face Alabama Christian in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament at St. James on Monday at 3 p.m.

Pike Road 10, Charles Henderson 0

PIKE ROAD -- Pike Road honored its two seniors on Senior Night -- Haley Melton and the injured Christina Juarez -- and put aside the fan distractions and ceremonies with a nine-run fifth inning to put away the Trojans on Thursday.  

Melton pitched her second consecutive shutout, allowing just two hits while striking out four and walking one in five innings of work. 

Anna Williams got the scoring started in the second inning with an inside-the-park home run and it remained that way until the fifth when Addison Belyeu tripled in Kennedy Cuthbert, who was hit by a pitch. After several runs scored on errors and passed balls, Ameria Anderson hit a walkoff, game-ending grand slam. Anderson also doubled earlier in the game. 

Pike Road opens play in the 6A Area 3 tournament at home on Monday, facing the winner of the Park Crossing-Russell County game at 6:15 p.m. The tournament concludes with a championship game on Tuesday night.