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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Six Chilton County area high school baseball teams entered their respective AHSAA State Baseball Tournaments with high expectations, and four of them captured wins with one moving on to the second round. As the dust settled, Billingsley High School was the only Chilton County area school to win their first round series sweeping Verbena High School 2-0. The win sets up the Bears for a second-round matchup with Leroy High School on April 26. Game one will start at 4 p.m., followed by game two right after. If needed, game three of the series will be the following day.

 

AHSAA Class 1A First Round — Verbena High School @ Billingsley High School

Billingsley wins series 2-0

Game 1: Billingsley defeats Verbena 9-0

Jackson Brothers and Mason Truesdale had a pitcher’s duel through three and a half innings before the Bears put up four runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning capped by Trent Cobern’s two-RBI single.

Truesdale kept Verbena in check while the Bears added two more runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth inning to push things out of reach. Truesdale threw a complete game with seven innings of four-hit baseball, surrendering no runs while sitting down 11 Verbena batters. He also did his part at the plate leading the team with a 3-for-4 effort with a double and three RBIs. Cobern followed with two RBIs, and Kyle Boice and Hunter Wyatt each added an RBI.

Game 2: Billingsley defeats Verbena 17-2

The Bears jumped on Verbena quickly in game two with a five spot in the first inning, followed by four runs in each of the next three innings. While Billingsley outhit the Red Devils 11-3, six errors by the visitors played into the hand of the Bears as well.

Mason Truesdale and Boice each had a three-hit, two-RBI game in game two. Eli Manning and Tanner Truesdale, who went 3-for-3, each had three RBIs to their credit. Boice entered the game to close the final two innings for Billingsley and struck out all six batters he faced.

Ryan Simmons collected an RBI for Verbena.

 

AHSAA Class 1A First Round — Maplesville High School @ Autauga Academy

Autauga Academy wins series 2-1

Game 1: Autauga Academy defeats Maplesville 5-0

Maplesville could not find their footing offensively in game one with just four hits, all singles. Jakobe Nix went 2-for-4 and Luke Gray and Randall Stoudenmire collected the other two hits.

A valiant pitching effort from the trio of Stoudenmire, Nolan Brock and James Jones struck out six batters and only two of the five runs were charged to the pitchers.

Game 2: Maplesville defeats Autauga Academy 7-0

The bats came alive for Maplesville in game two when they needed it the most and got some help from four errors by Autauga. RBIs from Braden Atcheson and Aiden Abbott in the first inning put the Red Devils up 2-0 early. Maplesville opened the game up in the third inning with four runs, capped by an RBI single from Jake Carlee. Carlee was 2-for-3, and Cade Smith was the other Maplesville batter with a multi-hit effort going 2-for-2.

J.T. Johnson was solid on the mound to force a game three with a complete game giving up three hits and striking out seven batters.

Game 3: Autauga Academy defeats Maplesville 5-2

In the decisive game of the series, the teams traded runs to start the game in the first inning. However, Autauga scored the game’s next four runs and took a 5-1 lead into Maplesville’s final at bat. With two outs, the Red Devils rallied with back-to-back singles from Carlee and Nix, and an error loaded the bases. Another error plated a run to make it 5-2 and left the bases still loaded where one swing could win the game for Maplesville, but a groundout to third base ended the game.

Abbott was 2-for-4, and Gray and Nix each collected a single.

 

AHSAA Class 2A First Round — Isabella High School @ Reeltown High School

Reeltown win series 2-1

Game 1: Reeltown defeats Isabella 11-1

It was all Reeltown in game one as the hosts jumped up 11-0 by the end of the fourth inning. Colton Conway knocked an RBI single in the final frame for the Mustangs. Conway was 2-for-3, and Austin Porter had a double.

Game 2: Isabella defeats Reeltown 6-5

The Mustangs completely flipped the script on Reeltown in game two. After falling down 1-0 after the first half inning, Isabella took the lead in their half of the first inning with a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. More good fortune for the Mustangs came in the fourth inning as an error by Reeltown plated two more runs to stretch the lead to 4-1.

Reeltown got back into the game the next half inning with three runs to tie the game, but Isabella was there to retake it 5-4 the next half inning on another wild pitch. Reeltown again tied the game and it went to extra innings still tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Isabella started the frame with three consecutive singles from Alex Henderson, Garrett Price and Samir Rincon, and the fourth single from Eli Boatwright walked it off for the Mustangs.

Boatwright was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, followed by Henderson’s 2-for-4 and Rincon’s 2-for-3 efforts.

Game 3: Reeltown defeats Isabella 13-3

Isabella carried over the momentum from the previous day into game three as Levi Wilkins ripped an RBI single in the first inning to put them ahead 1-0 early. Reeltown scored 11 runs across the first three innings of the game, and the Mustangs only got a run off an error in the third inning and a run off a Conway walk in the fourth inning.

Porter was 2-for-2 with a triple.

 

AHSAA Class 3A First Round — Lee-Scott Academy @ Thorsby High School

Lee-Scott wins series 2-1

Game 1: Lee-Scott defeats Thorsby 18-2

After Lee-Scott took a 2-0 lead in their first at bat, Thorsby’s Aiden Seeley cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the first inning with an RBI single. From there, Lee-Scott blitzed Thorsby for 16 unanswered runs to take game one. Braylon Carroll had an RBI single late in the game for the Rebels. Carroll was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Seeley and Christopher Buendtner each had a single.

Game 2:  Thorsby defeats Lee-Scott 4-2

Thorsby put the ball in the hands of their ace with Seeley taking the mound for game two to keep their season alive, and he delivered. Seeley threw a complete seven innings while giving up just three hits, two runs (both unearned) and striking out 12 batters.

Seeley settled in after the first inning where two errors plated two Lee runs. The game stayed 2-0 until the top of the fifth inning when Collier Price knocked an RBI double to cut the lead in half. In their next at bat, the Rebels rallied to post three runs off a Christian Davenport walk and a pair of RBI singles from Carroll and Kaden Collins to win 4-2.

Game 3:  Lee-Scott defeats Thorsby 10-3

Lee took the lead again in the first inning for the third time in the series, but Thorsby responded for the third time as well, as Grayson McManus roped an RBI double to tie the game at one run apiece.

In the third and fourth innings, Lee put the game out of reach with eight runs across the two innings. J.T. Green knocked a two-RBI single in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 9-3, but it was as close as the Rebels would get. Green was 2-for-4 with two RBIs — the only Thorsby batter with multiple hits.

 

AHSAA Class 5A First Round — Jemison High School @ Elmore County High School

Elmore County wins series 2-0

Game 1: Elmore County defeats Jemison 11-1

Cooper Smitherman led off the game with a double and eventually scored after an RBI from Jon Mason Hammaker to put the Panthers up 1-0. From there it was all Elmore County scoring the game’s final 11 runs.

Game 2: Elmore County defeats Jemison 15-7

Jemison came out fighting immediately in game two. After four runs from Elmore County in their first at bat, the Panthers responded with four runs of their own. Hunter Scott knocked an RBI single, London Colton launched a two-run homer to right field and a wild pitch tied the game heading to the second inning. Colton was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Smitherman knocked two doubles in his 2-for-3 effort.

The Panthers took the lead 5-4 after loading the bases and plating a run on a fielder’s choice. Elmore County reassumed control over the next few innings to jump ahead 11-4, and Jemison’s last runs would come in the fifth inning by way of a wild pitch and a Carter Domino RBI single.