Marching in
- Updated: April 15, 2021
St. Clair County tops Alexandria, Saints march to area title; Donoho’s win over Ragland gets Faith Christian in playoffs, Cherokee County tops Jacksonville for area crown; includes county playoff schedule
THURSDAY’S SCORES
Cherokee County 16, Jacksonville 6
Donoho 8, Ragland 6
Oxford 15-8, Southside 0-9
Piedmont 19-3, Glencoe 2-0
Pleasant Valley 3-0, Ohatchee 2-2
St. Clair County 7-6, Alexandria 2-8
White Plains 12-10, Anniston 0-0
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
The high school baseball playoffs might not start officially until next week, but for St. Clair County and Alexandria they started Thursday afternoon.
Both teams are in the Class 5A playoffs, but Thursday they were locked in an intense winner-take-all showdown for the Area 11 championship.
The Valley Cubs came back twice to tie the game, but couldn’t do it a third time after the senior-laden Saints scored three in the fifth inning and lost 7-2.
“Give them all the credit,” Cubs coach Andy Shaw said. “They had big hits, pitched it well and did everything right. Today they were better than us, just a lot better than us.”
It was the Saints’ first area title since 2005. They’ve gone to the playoffs several times before in between, but always as the area runner-up. They will host Area 9 runner-up Pleasant Grove in the first round this year. Alexandria will travel to John Carroll for its first playoff game since 2016.
“It’s a great feeling,” said pitcher Jackson Bryant, who was 3 the last time the Saints won the area. “We all put in the work. Nobody believed in us but we came out and we did it.”
“They shocked the area,” Saints coach Steven Nuss said. “I don’t think anybody gave us a shot to really win the area. This program historically, the last 20 years, has not been great. We’ve been fair to midland a couple years, but we haven’t had a lot of success in area play.”
The Saints, looking like the late-’70s Phillies in their Columbia blue-and-maroon road uniforms, took leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but Alexandria rallied both times to tie it.
They took the lead for good in the fifth after loading the bases with one out and sophomore first baseman Will Keenum bounced a first-pitch curveball from lefthander Wesley Wright over third baseman Ty Brown into left field for a two-run single that broke a 2-2 tie. Keenum had three hits.
“He’s not our normal first baseman, our first baseman’s actually been out sick the last couple days,” Nuss said. “He’s DH’d some for us this year, (but) played very minimal on the field. We went through a stretch where he was cold and didn’t play for like 10 games straight. He came up huge for us today.”
Bryant, meanwhile, wasn’t overpowering on the mound, but kept the Cubs off-balance and pitched a complete game. He gave up six hits and faced only four batters over the minimum after the Cubs tied the game 2-2. His defense helped him with a double play and cutting a runner down at the plate.
“It’s just trusting the guys behind you, throwing the ball in the zone, letting them hit it knowing your guys got you always,” Bryant said.
“Every time he’s pitched from March on he’s given us a chance to win, no matter what,” Nuss said. “
Jake Upton doubled home Alexandria’s first run in the second and Sam Wade raced all the way home from second when the Saints didn’t get anybody on Zack Baskins’ double play grounder to short.
The teams played the second game of their scheduled doubleheader with Alexandria coming from behind to win 8-6. Baskins, Upton (2-for-2) and Drew Brown all drove in a pair of runs for the Cubs.
St. Clair County 7, Alexandria 2
St. Clair Co. 101 031 1 – 7 11 0
Alexandria 011 000 0 – 2 6 1
WP: Jackson Bryant. LP: Wesley Wright. 2B: Sawyer Motes (S), Garrett Whitehead (S), Jackson Bryant (S), Will Keenum (S), Jackson Lindsey (S), Jake Upton (A).
Alexandria 8, St. Clair County 6
St. Clair Co. 301 020 0 – 6 6 2
Alexandria 021 401 x – 8 5 5
WP: Austin West. LP: Jordan Stephenson. 2B: Sawyer Motes (S), Aiden Bruner (A), Jake Upton (A).
Lions secure playoff berth
Faith Christian didn’t play a game Thursday, but the Lions may have been the biggest winner of the day.
Thanks to Donoho’s 8-6 series-sweeping win at Ragland, the Lions locked up their first baseball playoff berth since 2012. The Lions will open the Class 1A playoffs next week at Sumiton Christian.
“Congrats to coach (Steve) Gendron and the Donoho Falcons (for winning the area championship),” Faith coach Jason Pahman said. “And don’t be surprised if I’m not over there on that mountain tomorrow with a dozen or two cupcakes for them.”
The Lions needed nothing less than a Donoho sweep to get their spot. If Ragland had won either game in the series, the Purple Devils would be going as the area runner-up and the Lions would be on the outside looking in despite a 17-win season.
As it was, the Falcons scored a walk-off win on Tuesday and the Lions held their breath Thursday as Ragland staged a rally in the bottom of the seventh and had the winning run at the plate with nobody out.
“Us having to wait on Donoho to beat Ragland shouldn’t take away the fact that we worked extremely hard this year and had a tremendous season up to this point,” Pahman said. “We put ourselves in position to be where we are.
“I was prepared for it to go either way, but it wasn’t going to take away from the fact how hard our guys worked and how far improved they are from when we took over. We won two games two years ago and we’re 17-7 and in the playoffs.
“It’s a really good feeling. I’m proud of our boys, proud of our school that we’re able to make it in the playoffs. We have picked up so many bridges and picked up the pieces after being knocked down, it’s amazing what these guys are doing. It hasn’t been an easy road, but we’re certainly proud and we’re not done.”
Donoho 8, Ragland 6: The Falcons carried an 8-3 lead into the seventh inning, but had to hold their breath as the Purple Devils rallied for three runs and had the winning run at the plate with nobody out.
Slade Haney pitched a complete game and got out of the jam with a double play and game-ending strikeout. He allowed seven hits, three earned runs and struck out six with no walks.
Judson Billings went 4-for-5 for Donoho with two doubles and two RBIs. Nic Thompson and Lucas Elliott both had a pair of hits and William Folsom had two RBIs.
Cherokee County 16, Jacksonville 6: The Warriors pulled away from a two-run game with five runs in the third inning and continued to pour it on in winning the winner-take-all showdown for the Class 4A Area 9 championship.
It was a 5-3 game when the Warriors batted around in the third to pull away. Two bases-loaded walks and a two-run single by Connor Wilson highlighted the outburst. Wilson had three hits in the game.
The Warriors scored 24 runs in the last seven innings of the series. Both teams are in the playoffs.
Pleasant Valley 3-0, Ohatchee 2-2: Carson Tittle threw a 60-pitch complete-game one-hit shutout in the nightcap for Ohatchee to salvage a game in the area series and a split of the day’s doubleheader.
The only hit Tittle allowed in the nightcap was Garrett Cranmer’s leadoff single in the second and the Indians threw him out trying to stretch it into a double. He allowed only four other base runners. He went to three balls on three batters and threw two pitches or fewer to 14.
In the opener, Cranmer’s bases-loaded fielder’s choice in the fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie after Ohatchee tied the game with three in the top of the inning. Jackson Almaroad held Ohatchee to five hits and struck out 11 to get the win.
Oxford 15-8, Southside 0-9: Trey Higgins hit another homer and Carter Johnson and Hayes Harrison combined on a five-inning one-hitter in the opener, then Southside scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the nightcap and salvage a split.
Higgins hit a three-run homer in the second inning of the opener. Johnson went 3-for-3 in the game, while Peyton Watts, Chance Griner and Trey Mooney all drove in a pair of runs. The only hit Southside got in the game was a leadoff single in the third inning.
The Jackets took an 8-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but Southside scored five to get close, then put together a three-run rally with two outs in the seventh. Thomas Little’s two-run single tied the game and Little scored the game-winner on a wild pitch.
Piedmont 19-3, Glencoe 2-0: Sean Smith went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and seven RBIs in the opener and Noah Reedy pitched a four-inning no-hitter in the nightcap.
Smith’s slam highlighted a six-run fourth inning, but the Bulldogs had an even bigger inning in the seventh (nine runs). Jakari Foster and Cassius Fairs also had three hits in the 20-hit attack. A dozen Bulldogs, including every starter, had at least one hit in the game.
In the nightcap, Reedy retired the first six batters he faced. He allowed only four base runners on three walks and an error.
Last playoff appearances
| Team | Last | 2021 Opponent (best-of-3 series, DH+if) |
| x-Alexandria | 2016 | @John Carroll, Friday, 5 p.m. |
| Anniston | 1990 | |
| xy-Donoho | 2019 | Meek, Friday, 2 p.m. |
| x-Faith Christian | 2012 | @Sumiton Christian, Thursday, 12:30 p.m. |
| x-Jacksonville | 2016 | @Curry, Friday, 5 p.m. |
| JCA | 2016 | |
| x-Ohatchee | 2019 | @Childersburg, Friday, 4:30 p.m. |
| xy-Oxford | 2019 | Arab, Friday, 5 p.m. |
| xy-Piedmont | 2019 | Saks, Friday, 5 p.m. |
| Pleasant Valley | 2018 | |
| x-Saks | 2009 | @Piedmont, Friday, 5 p.m. |
| Weaver | 2019 | |
| Wellborn | 2017 | |
| White Plains | 2013 |
y-2021 area champion
NOTE: There were no playoffs in 2020 (COVID-19)
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