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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Six Chilton County area high school softball teams entered their respective regional tournaments in Montgomery, and after three days of play, Isabella and Maplesville High Schools withstood the test and advanced to the state tournament.

Maplesville did so without a loss to take the Class 1A Central Regional Tournament winning all three games, but Isabella had to work its way through the elimination bracket as the No. 8 seed to earn its spot. Other teams picked up wins in their regional tournaments, including Chilton County High School coming up one game short of the Class 6A State Softball Tournament. All regional tournaments were played at Lagoon Park in Montgomery.

Isabella is the No. 5 seed in the AHSAA Class 2A State Softball Tournament and faces Pike Liberal Arts School on May 12 at 10 a.m. Maplesville enters the AHSAA Class 1A State Softball Tournament as the No. 2 seed and plays its first-round game on May 14 at 10 a.m. Both tournaments will take place at Choccolocco Park in Oxford.

 

Class 1A Central Regional Tournament

The No. 8 seed Billingsley High School found tough sledding against the No. 1 seed University Charter School falling behind 3-0 early. However, the Bears rallied in the top half of the fourth inning with McKenna Manning laying down a sacrifice bunt and Kinsley Cotton knocking an RBI single to cut the lead to 3-2. University Charter scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning to push the game out of reach.

Maplesville entered as the No. 2 seed and had their way with Keith High School in the first round winning 17-2. The Red Devils outhit Keith 10-1 and Jaden McGee led the way with a 3-for-3 effort with a double and an RBI. Kenlee Swanson led the team with three RBIs, Hannah Crowe launched a two-run homer and Ella Merchant joined her with two RBIs. Mollie Kayte Smith shut down Keith going four innings with one hit, both runs coming unearned and six strikeouts.

Billingsley moved to the elimination bracket to face Autauga Academy needing a win to stay alive. The Bears manufactured two runs, one in each of the first two innings, by way of a Brylin Tomlin RBI single and an error. Autauga Academy responded with three runs in the bottom half of the second inning, but the Bears tied the game twice down the stretch. The first in the fifth inning with Sadie Primm’s fielder’s choice RBI, and in the sixth inning on Harmony Arnold’s solo home run. In the end, Autauga Academy was able to walk off Billingsley with a single in the seventh inning.

Maplesville moved on to face Woodland High School and fell behind 1-0 in the first inning and did not find its offense until the sixth inning. When they did, they erupted for four runs in the frame behind a two-RBI triple by McGee, an RBI single from Merchant and an RBI double from Auburn Bassett. McGee put the final touches on the win with a two-run homer in the seventh inning. McGee was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Kamylia Talley and Smith joined her with two base hits each. Kennedy Reed stood firm in the circle throwing a complete seven innings with nine hits, two runs and three strikeouts.

The win moved Maplesville one win away from clinching their spot in the state tournament against Fayetteville High School. The Red Devils jumped ahead early with five runs in the first two innings, capped with two doubles by Talley and McGee. McGee was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Maplesville managed the gap the rest of the way with Reed in the circle going another seven innings with five hits, three runs (all unearned) and six strikeouts.

 

Class 2A Central Regional Tournament

The Mustangs entered the regional tournament as the No. 8 seed, but they did not play like the last team in the bracket. The Mustangs surged by Highland Home High School 23-3 in the first round led by Kylee Till and Charlotte Lovett each contributed five RBIs. Eliza Lovett and Taylor Owens each had two RBIs, while Jeslyn Wilson and Maleigha McGalliard controlled the circle for three innings.

Isabella moved on to face Ranburne High School where a huge fifth inning propelled them. The teams traded three-run frames in the second inning to leave the game at 3-3, and Isabella’s big fifth inning got started on a two-RBI single from Till, followed by two runs on a groundout and error, to build a comfortable 7-3 lead they held on to win 7-5. McGalliard was again strong in the circle, going a complete seven innings with nine hits, five runs (four earned) and three strikeouts.

Isabella was downed by Horseshoe Bend High School 6-2 in the winner’s bracket final with Wilson going 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Mustangs. They moved on to the elimination bracket final in a rematch with Ranburne and a spot in the state tournament on the line. Trailing 3-2 in the fourth inning, Isabella was awakened with an RBI single from Owens and a two-RBI single from Aubreigh Davenport to jump ahead 5-3. Owens was 2-for-3, and each Isabella hitter recorded a hit. The game was iced away the next inning as Wilson knocked a single to drive in two more runs to send Isabella to the state tournament.

 

Class 3A Central Regional Tournament

Thorsby High School dominated the games they played in the regional tournament against teams not named Lee-Scott Academy. Lee-Scott downed the Rebels 7-0 in the first round, but they bounced back in a huge way in the elimination bracket with a 17-0 win over Greensboro High School. Raygan Linville pitched three hitless innings with seven strikeouts while many of the Thorsby hitters had perfect days at the plate, combining for 17 hits. Allie Reeser had three RBIs, followed by Brooklyn Reeser and Linville with two RBIs each.

The win set up Thorsby against Childersburg High School where the Rebels offensive onslaught continued with eight runs in the first inning. Childersburg posted seven runs of their own through the first two innings, but Thorsby outscored them 12-3 over the next three innings to win 20-10. Allie Reeser was 4-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs, and Addison Wood joined her with three RBIs. Tamara Hinton led the team in runs driven in with four, and eight of the nine hitters drove in a run for Thorsby.

The win moved the Rebels into a rematch with Lee-Scott, and after two runs from Lee in the first inning, Thorsby cut it in half with a Linville RBI single. From there, Lee pulled away to win 9-2. Kadence Parker was 2-for-3, and Linville drove in both runs.

 

Class 5A Central Regional Tournament

Jemison High School entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed and drew the top seed Holtville High School in the first round, falling 14-2. Haley Sanchez and Hannah Popwell each posted two hits, and Popwell and Braelyn Bradford each drove in a run.

The Panthers moved to the elimination bracket against Sylacauga High School and jumped on them early to lead 7-3 after the first two innings. Two groundout runs in the first inning were followed by an RBI single from Abi Rivera, a two-RBI double from Bradford and an RBI single from Popwell in the second inning. Jemison could only manufacture one more run the rest of the way and fell 12-8. Bradford was 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, and Rivera was 2-for-3.

 

Class 6A Central Regional Tournament

It was a long and tough road for Chilton County High School in the Class 6A Central Regional Tournament as the No. 1 seed was upset by Spain Park High School 5-1 in the first round. The Tigers got their journey in the elimination bracket started against McAdory High School and fell behind 3-1 entering the seventh inning. With three outs left in their season, I’shunti Brown and Goggins knocked singles before Kaylee Dunn launched a three-run homer to take a 4-3 lead. Macey Pierce followed behind with a solo shot to make it back-to-back homers for the Tigers that proved to be the winner in the 5-4 game.

CCHS continued to keep things interesting against Hueytown High School trailing 3-0 entering the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Brown tied the game with one swing of the bat and plated three runs. Goggins followed with an RBI single and a groundout RBI later from Pierce to put the Tigers on top 5-3, and they held on the rest of the way behind Dunn in the circle going seven innings with seven hits, three runs and five strikeouts.

Life on the edge continued for CCHS against Calera High School as the Tigers got three runs in their first at bat from a Pierce RBI single, a Harrison sacrifice fly and a Lily Benson RBI double. Calera tied the game at three runs before CCHS scored three more runs in the fifth inning as Pierce smashed a three-run homer to put the Tigers on top 6-3. Calera fought back again with five runs in the sixth inning to take an 8-6 lead, but CCHS was not going to be denied. Dunn knocked a triple that drove in two runs before Pierce launched her second homer, a two-run shot, to take the lead 9-8 and the eventual win. Pierce was 4-for-4 with six RBIs, and Dunn was 3-for-4 with a double, triple and an RBI.

The Tigers finally reached the elimination bracket final to face Helena High School. Helena got a run in the first, third and fifth innings to lead 3-0 before Avree Williams knocked an RBI single to cut into the lead. However, that was all CCHS could muster and lost 3-1 to end their season. Harrison was 2-for-3.