Toros tame Tigers in PCA Invite Final

Story by: Griffin Pritchard | Publisher
Photos by: Brian Tannehill and Thomas Stabler

PRATTVILLE — As the run toward Oxford in May continues, a handful of softball teams converged on Prattville to battle it out in the Prattville Christian Invitational. After two days of high-level softball, Spanish Fort emerged the champions, defeating Tallassee 3-0 in the Saturday-night finale. Ainsley Lambert picked up the win for the Toros in the championship, fanning 11 and holding the high-powered Tigers offense to just two hits. 

“We had a great weekend,” said Lauren Stewart, coach of the Toros. “We were super loose this weekend and it had a lot to do with the fact that we took a tough loss to Fairhope Thursday night. We wanted to get back to square one. Our girls understand exactly what we had to do to win the tournament: execute and play loose.”

After dropping a 6-0 decision to 7A Fairhope, the Toros took their second trip to the River Region and picked up wins over Montgomery Catholic (7-3), Elmore County (2-0), Holtville (8-2), Prattville Christian (1-0) and then Tallassee in the championship. 

Lambert – who has been the Spanish Fort ace, and has committed to play college softball in the Pacific Northwest at Oregon State University – has been tough to get through striking out 137 with an ERA of .80 and a 10-1 mark. 

Stewart: “She’s our workhorse and everyone knows that. She’s such a leader and has a great headspace for winning a championship. She took the loss Thursday, so if anyone wanted to have a good weekend it was her.”

After getting tuned up by Fairhope and their nine hits, Lambert was dialed in in her three outings at Mac Gray; Elmore County and Prattville Christian were held to one hit each with a combined 23 strikeouts. 

Stewart: “Having her inside the circle takes pressure off our offense, but (my offense) is strong in their own abilities. We’ve got to do our job and not just rely on our pitching staff.” 

The Toros did their jobs at the plate outsourcing the competition 21-5 on the way to the title. 

In the finale, Chloe Davidson took the loss for Tallassee – working four innings and fanning three, despite giving up eight hits and three runs (two earned). 

Chloe Baynes and Davidson (a double) were able to get two hits off Lambert – which is one better than batters from Elmore County or Prattville Christian in their respective meetings with the softballers from Baldwin County.

Below is a team-by-team recap of the 2021 PCA Invitational

Tallassee High — The Tigers, who came into the tournament after picking up a 6-4 win over Pike Road on Tuesday, opened competition with a 2-2 Friday afternoon tie against Marbury. Chloe Baynes doubled and singled twice to lead the Tigers at the plate. She also scored once. Lexi Love, Avery Lumpkin and Chloe Dadivsion added to the Tallassee six-hit tally. Belle Haynes had the outing’s only RBI. Alexis Walls worked a complete game giving up nine hits and two earned runs while striking out two. 

The Tigers knocked off St. James 6-4 and then Prattville 5-2 before shutting down rival Elmore County 8-0. Davidson again, held court from inside the circle, limiting the rival Panthers to one hit while fanning four. 

Love and Brook Royster had the long ball working, driving in a combined six runs as the Tigers rattled off 12 hits. Bayne, Haynes, Love, Lumpkin and Royster finished the night with multiples. The win moved Tallassee into a semifinal showdown with Brew Tech. 

The Rams jumped ahead 1-0 in the third, but quickly saw their lead evaporate as Tallassee rattled off five runs over the third and fourth innings on the way to the 5-1 victory. 

Walls collected the win, working five and fanning one despite giving up five hits. 

Love had two hits and drove home four runs. Haynes singled and pushed home another. Walls, Abbie Davis and Ella Thrash contributed to the Tigers offense. 

The win moved the Tigers into the championship game against Spanish Fort. 

Prattville Christian — Coming off a 13-3 area win over Trinity, the host Panthers had their offense working. PCA defeated Jeff Davis (13-6 / Alicia Messick picking up the win) and LAMP (5-0). Landyn McAnnally (who towers above batters at 6-foot-2) held the Golden Tigers of LAMP in the dark and without a hit while striking out 10. 

Riley Sweeney picked up the win over St. James, working four innings and fanning four while giving up just four hits and limiting the Trojans to two runs. 

Against Montgomery Catholic, McAnnally held the Knights to just two hits. Sarah Williams, though, was the hero of the affair, driving home the game-winning run.

In the semifinal, Prattville Christian dropped a 1-0 decision to eventual champion Spanish Fort. McAnnally took the loss, giving up five hits and one earned run while fanning seven. 

The Panthers were led by Williams (7-for-19 with four RBIs). McAnnally (5-for-10) had three RBIs. Saniya Weaver finished the weekend 4-for-9 and Payson Hanson added three hits and three RBIs. 

Brew Tech — The Rams – after defeating JD and Holtville in pool play by a combined 27-5 – shutout Opelika to advance closer to the finals. 

“The girls had a good weekend playing well the first three games of the weekend,” said Brian Pittman, coach of the Rams. “We ran into a very good and well coached Tallassee team that took advantage of the opportunities they had and we could not string together hits in a row to stay with them. I’m proud of the way my girls fought and played; and excited about the future for this team.”

Romona McLeod picked up the complete game shutout, limiting the Bulldogs to one hit with eight strikeouts. Offensively, Gabbie York went turned on an offering and ejected it from the park, finishing the day 2-for-2 from the plate. Khamiya Brown (2-for-2) finished game with an RBI and two runs scored. 

Taniyah Brown took the loss against Tallassee as the Tigers defeated the Rams 5-1. Ariele Anderson homered in the third, her first of the season, and Brew Tech’s only run of the afternoon. The Rams finished the weekend 3-1 and are 18-2 on the year. 

Opelika — After dropping back-to-back games to Marbury and Eufaula, the Bulldogs arrived at Mac Gray Park looking to reverse their fortune.

“We played about as average as you can,” said Randy Belyeu, coach of the Bulldogs. “Our pitching was hit or miss the entire tournament and they need to listen about their mechanics instead of going out and doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. They worked hard but need to make adjustments.”

Opelika opened the weekend with an 0-2 Friday, losing to Elmore County (9-0) and Montgomery Catholic (11-5). Sanai Stringer, Ava Parker and Daysia Jones were inside the circle as the Bulldogs were outscored 20-5. 

While there isn’t much to write about in the loss to Elmore County, against Montgomery Catholic the Bulldogs were able to put the ball in play. Jones and McKay Yountz each had a triple. Leah Bales was 2-for-2 with a run scored. Stringer also had an RBI.

Opelika was able to avenge their loss to Marbury as Yountz  picked up the win, throwing a five-inning one hitter with seven strikeouts. Stringer (2-for-2) with a double, as was Raelee Fenn (2-for-2) with a pair of singles and RBIs. Parker, Nylen Thomas, Jones and Yountz also connected for singles. Paige Bales also scored a run. 

Brew Tech ended the Bulldogs run. 

Montgomery Catholic —  After knocking off Pike Road on Thursday, the Knights of Montgomery Catholic traveled over to Mac Gray looking to test their mettle against quality competition. They got their money’s worth opening the tournament with eventual champion Spanish Fort. 

“I think we did well,” said Whitney Toole, coach of the Knights. “We competed for most of them; the score may not show it. We didn’t get blown out by Spanish Fort and played PCA the best we’ve ever played them. I was proud of the way we competed and I think it gave us confidence going into this week.”

Alanna Aiken homered against the Toros and plated three. McKenzie Norton, Aiken and Hannah Parrish scored for the Knights. The nights rattled off 11 hits with 10 RBIs in the win over Opelika. Aiken homered again and finished the day with two RBIs. Nona Johnson, McKenzie Norton and Parrish doubled. 

Aiken and Carissa Gilbert combined for the win, fanning seven working a combined four innings. Norton and Aiken scored twice in the win. Chloe Walden, Auburn Wilcoxson, Rylee Wilcoxson, Cecelia Crawford, Mallory Hildebrand, Johnson and Parrish rounded out the scoring. 

The Panthers and the Knights played to a 1-0 decision and (sharing an area) will meet again this week. Gilbert gave up five hits but held the Panthers to one run while striking out seven. 

Norton, Walden and Johnson combined for the three Knights hits. 

Prattville — Prattville, like Spanish Fort, ventured to Mac Gray stinging from a Thursday defeat. The Lions lost to Central-Phenix City in extras and struggled to find their footing in the first game of the PCA Invitational, losing to Alabama Christian 2-0.

Jessica Cord took the loss, working a complete game with five strikeouts. 

“Our bats were as hot as we would have liked them to be,” said Kaitlin Campbell, coach of the Lions. 

Prattville bounced back to defeat Holtville 7-3, courtesy of a five-run second. 

Kylie Jarman picked up the win, working four innings with four strikeouts. Cord homered and pushed home two runs. Magen Baker, Kaylee Robles and Avery Stokes also legged out extra-base hits as Prattville finished the outing with 10 hits. 

St. James — Coach Mark Hall found himself in a limited capacity over the weekend as half of his Trojans were playing in the PCA tournament and his junior varsity group was playing in Wetumpka at their JV tournament. 

Hall: “Every opponent we played had a great coach leading them. All of the teams were quality and in a tournament like this, there is no rest game. In some tournaments, you play a lot of people and can rest your No. 1 pitcher. This time you couldn’t because every team you played is going to be good.” 

The Trojans defeated Holtville 13-4 on Thursday to bring a little bit of momentum into the tournament and defeated Marbury 5-4 in the first game. The Trojans picked up the run, scoring on a fielder’s choice play. 

Emily Needham – the seventh-grade surprise of a talent – picked up the win, working one inning and striking out one. She came on in relief of Cameron Greene (four innings, with two strikeouts). Bella Bright tripled and pushed a run home. Savannah Chritstian, Greene  and Needham cashed in runs for the Trojans. Hannah Grace Griggs also singled and scored a run in the win.

According to Hall, the Trojans were in position to knockoff Tallassee with runners on late, but a baserunning error ended that threat. St. James did defeat rival Alabama Christian 4-3. Griggs singled on an 0-1 count to plate the winning run. Greene came on in relief and picked up the win, throwing nine pitches. Needham did the heavy lifting though, working six innings with nine strikeouts. 

Hall: “My best pitcher lately is a 12-year-old. Somebody said they clocked her at 63 this weekend. I’m not sure about that. I  can promise you she’s throwing 61, just because I’ve seen it long enough to know what that speed looks like. She had no idea she’d be in this position this season, but she’s doing well.”

The real gamer though, according to Hall, is Parish, the catcher. 

“She’s caught every inning of every game for us,” said Hall. “She’s been my leader. She’s a senior and has caught for St. James ever since she was in seventh grade. When I took over the program, a lot of these girls were in seventh grade and had to play varsity. They’ve had to grow up every year.”

PCA ended the Trojans run. 

Elmore County — Maci Curlee picked up the opening afternoon win, throwing four innings of no-hit softball as the Panthers defeated Opelika 9-0. She was two errors away from having a perfect game as two Bulldogs took advantage of Elmore County defensive miscues to reach base. 

Ashtyn Pannell doubled and drove home a run. Madelyn Becker, Curlee, McKenzie Owens, Haliely O’Brien and Hadli Roberts combined to plate eight of the nine Panthers. 

After being shut out by Spanish Fort, Elmore County rallied back to shut down LAMP. Aubrey Allen picked up the win, with Curlee coming on in relief. They combined to throw 77 pitches and fan eight Golden Tigers while giving up two hits. Offensively, Pannell connected on another extra-base hit while five of the team’s eight runs stemmed from RBIs. 

Kelley Green, Anna Catherine Segrest, Smith, Powell, Emma Brown and Curlee combined for six hits in the win. 

The Panthers – who up until this weekend had been consistently dominant for the most part – found themselves limited to one hit in an 8-0 loss to rival Tallassee. Becker had the only Panthers hit while O’Brien and Curlee combined to take the loss. 

LAMP — After roaring to a 5-1 win over Montgomery Catholic earlier in the week, LAMP struggled to continue that success over the weekend at Mac Gray. The Golden Tigers defeated Jeff Davis 9-3 and were held scoreless in back-to-back losses to Prattville Christian and Elmore County. Caitlin Russell and Haley Herron combined to fan seven in the win over the Volunteers. Russell, Chandler Ming (both with doubles), Joana Joiner (a triple) and Chandler Gaskin combined to push home seven of the team’s nine runs. 

Russell – who also had a home run – finished the day with a team-leading four RBIs. 

Joiner, Gracey Norris, Russell, Gaskin, Haidyn Foley, Erin Sturdivant and Ming combined to bang out 11 hits in the win. 

Russell and Ming combined for the final two Golden Tigers hits of the weekend.