Lady Falcons fly high
- Updated: April 21, 2021
Donoho’s Hillman, Draper team for historic state girls doubles crown; Lady Falcons finish second as team
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
MOBILE – Donoho’s Claire Hillman and Lily Grace Draper became Calhoun County’s first girls No. 1 doubles state champion in nearly 40 years Tuesday when they took the Class 1A-3A girls crown at the Mobile Tennis Center.
The two sophomores, the Lady Falcons’ 1 and 2 singles players who won state singles titles at 2 and 4 two years ago, defeated St. Luke’s Episcopal’s Grace Garrett and Anna Marie Bentley, 6-2, 6-2. They are the first top-flight girls doubles champs from the county since the three-year run of Donoho’s Farley Thompson and Winter McKay from 1980 to 1982.
“Oh my gosh, that’s crazy,” Draper said. “That is so cool because me and Claire have been working together for so long for doubles. I feel like we complement each other well on the court so I’m glad we could do that together.”
“It feels really great to win at the 1 spot,” Hillman said. “Me and LG have played doubles since our eighth-grade year. We got to the finals at the 2 spot, but never got a state title. I think it’s really cool that we won at No. 1.”
The last No. 1 doubles team from Calhoun County to win at state was Jacksonville’s Bryan Taylor and Adam Hollis, who won the boys 4A crown in 1996. Taylor won the singles title that year as well.
Jacksonville’s Katie MacTaggart was the county’s last No. 1 singles champion (4A 1997).
The county’s last state doubles title in any flight went to Donoho’s Alex Woodfin and Adele Fink, who won at No. 2 in 2013.
This year’s doubles final ended a marathon session for both teams and was tight early. Both sets were 2-2 when the eventual champs pulled away from each. Hillman hit the match winner, a big overhead smash that bounced high off the court, and the celebration began.
“We were really on our game,” Draper said. “We weren’t making very many errors and moving on the court well and making smart shots.”
“Before our match they just played Bayside and played the people I played in the singles finals and they had the longest match ever,” Hillman said. “They wore them out. We were worn out, too, because we had to play our singles finals and (doubles) semis. We basically just hit it to the same person over and over to wear them out. We also knew what shots to hit at the right moment. I feel like the other team just got the ball over when we were being smart with what we hit.”
The Lady Falcons finished second as a team to St. Luke’s. In addition to the doubles champs, they also had three singles runnerups – Hillman, Draper and No. 4 Harper Pumroy.
Hillman fell to Claire Prickett of Bayside Academy, 6-3, 6-3; Draper fell to Bentley, 7-6, 2-6, 10-7; and Pumroy fell to St. Luke’s Ella Bentley, 6-1, 6-2.
“I was so close in singles so I was a little bit disappointed I couldn’t finish,” Draper said. “But after I couldn’t finish that I knew I wanted to go finish in the doubles and get a plaque.”
Baseball
Faith Christian 13, Wadley 3: Andrew Folsom and Colton Pahman, who hit 3-4 in the lineup, both drove in three runs as the Lions scored their 20thwin of the season. Starting pitcher Brodie Dodson and Alex Almanza both had two hits. The Lions’ win total is twice as many as they’d won in the previous three years combined. They open the Class 1A playoffs Thursday at Sumiton Christian.
Piedmont 10, Cherokee County 7: Austin Estes’s two-run double – his third hit of the day – capped a five-run fifth-inning rally that erased a 6-4 deficit and put the Bulldogs ahead for good. Cassius Fairs had two hits and four RBIs. Three Piedmont pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts. The Bulldogs open the Class 3A playoffs Friday at home against Saks.
Softball
Pleasant Valley 11, Weaver 1: Leah Patterson picked up her 21stvictory in the circle and hit a solo home run in the fifth as the Lady Raiders rolled in their final regular-season area game. Rylee Haynes and Bailey Harris both went 3-for-3 and Madyson Cromer went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Patterson pitched the first four innings and struck out eight.
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