North Alabama spring roundup: James Clemens baseball wins 9th straight
James Clemens, the 10th-ranked baseball team in Class 7A, scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to edge 3A No. 4 Westbrook Christian at home on Thursday to improve to 20-7 on the season. The win was the ninth straight for the Jets.
James Clemens also beat Springville 8-2 and Hokes Bluff 3-2 on Wednesday, Enterprise 3-1 on Tuesday and Charles Henderson 12-2 on Monday.
Against Westbrook, Luke Davenport stuck out nine Wildcats, giving up three runs – none earned – over five innings. The junior right-hander allowed four hits and walked one. Senior Andrew Lawrence pitched two innings in relief, allowing no hits and no runs, striking out three with one walk.
Lawrence was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Jets with a double. Nate Guyse, Satchel Wheeler, Aidan Cook and Hayden Markfort had one RBI each.
Caleb McCarty took the loss for the Warriors, surrendering four earned runs in four innings. McCarty gave up three hits, struck out four and walked six.
Mason Coley, Jacob Maples, Eli Grace and Hugh Windle had hits for Westbrook Christian.
In Wednesday’s win over Springville, the Jets pounded out 10 hits with Guyse going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Lawrence and Carson Loosier also doubled. Loosier was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Wheeler earned the win for the Jets, give up two runs – one earned – on two hits with three strikeouts and three walks over six innings.
Stephen Morrison tripled and had an RBI for Springville. Kade Willis took the loss, giving up four earned runs on seven hits with a strikeout and a walk in five innings.
James Clemens scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and gave up two to Hokes Bluff in the top of the sixth in the Jets’ 3-2 win. Guyse went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the winners. Hunter Harris got the win in relief of starter Preston Chenoweth. Hunter gave up two runs – one earned – on no hits with three strikeouts and six walks over three innings. Chenoweth pitched the first three innings, with three strikeouts and five walks.
Dawson Teague took the loss for Hokes Bluff, allowing one earned run on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Teague and Bryce Whitaker got the Eagles’ hits.
Mason Busch struck out eight Enterprise hitters on Tuesday in his complete-game victory. Busch allowed seven hits and one unearned run with one walk.
Cook got two of James Clemens’ three hits in three at-bats. Francisco Ramirez was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Guyse had one RBI.
Andrew Shiver, Cayden Boutwell and Gavin Mayo were 2-for-3 for the Wildcats. Boutwell had a double in the loss. Brady Cavanaugh took the loss on the mound, allowing three runs – one earned – on two hits with two strikeouts and two walks over 4.1 innings.
James Clemens exploded for nine runs in the fourth inning and out-hit Charles Henderson 7-4 in the win on Monday. Colten Payton went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs and Cook was 2-for-2 with a double and one RBI. Wheeler was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Markfort earned the win in 1.2 innings of relief. The junior right-hander gave up no runs on no hits.
Wilson Jones took the loss for Charles Henderson, allowing four earned runs on four hits with five walks in three innings.
KaNeil Lewis and Joshua Hooten both went 1-for-2 for the Trojans with an RBI.
In other spring sports action from the week from around North Alabama:
BOYS
BASEBALL
Westminster Christian 9, Randolph 6: The Wildcats earned the Class 4A Area 13 win at home on Tuesday as pitcher Jackson Lange allowed two earned runs on seven hits with six strikeouts over six innings. Sean Lapinskes pitched the seventh to get a save, allowing one run on one hit.
Lawson Collier was perfect at the plate for Westminster (11-6), going 3-for-3 with two RBIs. He also reached twice on walks and scored twice. Riley Friend went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Connor Goodson went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base.
Alexander Robinson went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Randolph (3-11).
Westminster Christian scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on hits by Collier, Caleb Goode and a double by Lapinskes. The Wildcats also capitalized on a pair of errors and two walks to take a 9-5 lead into the seventh.
– Jimmy Lay
West Limestone 12, Colbert Heights 2: Senior Colin Patterson tied an AHSAA record with three triples to help the eighth-ranked Wildcats to the home win on Thursday. Patterson finished 3-for-4 at the plate.
Braxton Griffin also tripled for the winners and had three RBIs as he also went 3-for-4. Aidan Smith went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Griffin picked up a complete-game win, striking out eight and allowing one earned run in the five-inning contest.
West Limestone also topped Elkmont 2-0 on Thursday to improve to 17-6 on the season. Landon Navas drove in both runs with a single in the first inning.
Patterson earned the win, striking out 10 in the shutout.
Elkmont’s Mykell Murrah struck out nine in a complete game effort.
Hartselle 9-8, Sparkman 3-3: The second-ranked Class 6A Tigers swept a double-header at home over 7A Sparkman on Monday.
In Game 1, Hartselle out-hit the Senators 12-6, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first and three in the bottom of the sixth in the win.
Eli Tidwell and winning pitcher Peyton Steele both went 3-for-4 at the plate, with Tidwell, Coleman Mizell, Jo Jo Williamson, Cam Palahach and Greyson Howard driving in one run each. Lawson Williams drove in a pair of runs for the winners.
Steele allowed three earned runs on six hits over 4.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts and two walks.
Sparkman’s Jacob Haley was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Ryan Strachan and Easton Henderson both drove in a run.
Starter Garrett Mullins took the loss, allowing five runs – two earned – on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 3.1 innings. Cade Collins struck out three and walked two in 1.2 innings of relief.
In Game 2, Hartselle pounded out 15 hits with Mizell, Palahach and Williams collecting three apiece. Palahach had a pair of doubles, Williams had one two-bagger and Howard doubled in the win.
Jack Smith earned the win, allowing three runs – two earned – on four hits. He struck out seven and walked five in 5.2 innings.
Izeah Torres took the loss for Sparkman, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits over 3.1 innings. He struck out one and walked five.
Carter Wells doubled for the Senators and drove in a run. Henderson went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
On Thursday, Hartselle split a double-header with a pair of visitors from out of state, beating Bartlett, Ill., 13-2 and losing 8-3 to Siegel of Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Against Bartlett, the Tigers had 13 hits – four of them home runs with two from Mizell, who finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Hartselle also got home runs from Brody Leathers and Cade Miles. Leathers went 3-3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Miles was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Williams and Palahach also had a pair of RBIs each.
Howard earned the win for Hartselle, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk over 4.1 innings. Miles struck out one of the two batters he faced, finishing out the game on four pitches.
In the nightcap, Siegel out-hit the Tigers 10-9 and jumped to a 5-0 lead after two innings. Hartselle scored three runs in the top of the fifth, but the Tennessee squad answered with two in the bottom to put the game out of reach.
Mizell, Leathers, Howard and Williamson all had doubles for Hartselle.
Nic Chumley was saddled with the loss, allowing five earned runs on seven hits with one strikeout in two innings.
SOCCER
Hazel Green 4, Buckhorn 1: The Trojans earned the Class 6A Area 13, improving to 12-1-1 on the year and 5-0 in area play.
Senior Anthony Lieber had a hat trick for Hazel Green and junior Tyler Holman also scored in the win. Edgar Rodriguez had three assists on the night. Hoyt Stewart got the win in goal.
Buckhorn dropped to 6-8-1 overall and 3-2 in the area.
GIRLS
SOFTBALL
Hazel Green 16, Mae Jemison 1: Mackenzie Bowling went 1-for-2 with a double and drove in four runs to help the Trojans to the rout at home on Tuesday. Mariah Bazile went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored and two RBIs for Hazel Green.
Allie Cole was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Briley Zimmerman smacked a solo home run in two at-bats with two runs scored and Sophia Hall drove in a run in the win. Alyssa Pittner scored twice, as did Raegan Wall and Lindsey Vickers.
Pittner earned the win in the three-inning contest. She struck out six and allowed one earned run.
Lawrence County 4, Morristown-Hamblen East (Tenn.) 0: Bella Cross gave up one hit and struck out five in the Red Devils’ win on Monday. She walked three in the five-inning effort.
McKenzie Hyche went 2-for-3 with a solo home run for Lawrence County. Addison Plaxco was also 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Ava Templeton was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Andee McKay doubled in her three at-bats for the Red Devils.
Also on Monday, Lawrence County beat Cherokee County 4-2, pushing across a pair of runs in the top of the fifth for the winning margin.
Raegan Johnson went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Hyche also doubled for the Red Devils. Audrie Sandlin was 1-for-2 in the win.
Kaytie LouAllen earned the win, allowing two earned runs in four innings.
Abby Lea was saddled with the loss for Cherokee County, allowing two runs on five hits.
Bristol Bass, Grayson Tucker and Macy Lea had doubles for the Warriors. Lea was 2-for-2 with a run scored and Bass had a pair of RBIs.
Madison County 10, New Hope 0: Gracyn Spicer pitched a six-inning no-hitter to lead sixth-ranked Class 4A Madison County (18-4) past the Indians in an Area 14 home game on Tuesday. Spicer struck out eight and drove in three runs at the plate.
Sydney Gurley led the Tigers with four hits and four RBIs. Livy Huter had three hits in the win.
Lauren Kelly took the loss for New Hope.
Madison County also lost 6-5 to Class 6A No. 8 Buckhorn in a home game.
Madison Academy 9, Danville 3: The Mustangs improved to 17-6 after going 3-2 on the week with Thursday’s win over Danville, a 4-0 win over Fyffe and a 2-1 win over Rockvale, Tenn. Madison Academy lost 2-0 to Huntland, Tenn., and 4-3 to Priceville.
On Thursday, Cat Schreiber struck out 13 to earn the complete-game win. Madeline Taylor was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Emily Burgreen went 3-for-3 with one RBI.
Abby Boyd went 3-for-3 with a home run in the win over Fyffe. Schreiber struck out 11 in five innings for the Mustangs.
In an eight-inning win over Rockvale, Schreiber went five innings and struck out eight. Taylor had an RBI for Madison Academy.
Memphis Houston was 2-for-2 and Schreiber stuck out four in four innings in the loss to Huntland.
Schreibert had a home run and two RBIs in the loss to Priceville.
SOCCER
West Morgan 7, Russellville 2: The 10th-ranked Class 4A Rebels raced to a 6-0 first-half lead on the way to the win over 5A Russellville at home on Tuesday.
Brandy Hernandez scored twice and had an assist in the win. Alexandra Rodriguez and Madison Parker also scored a pair of goals each for West Morgan. Stacy Blanco scored a goal and added an assist for the Rebels.
Junior keeper Diana Romero had five saves in the match for West Morgan (9-6).
Hazel Green 3, Buckhorn 1: The Trojans earned the win to wrap up the Class 6A Area 16 championship on Tuesday with all three goals scored by eighth-graders. Maddy Cantrell scored a pair of goals after Reanna Chapman opened the scoring with a goal.
Eighth-grader Charli Cantrell and seniors Makenna Boyle and Kirkleigh Sweetman had assists for Hazel Green. Anna Amara picked up the win in goal for the Trojans.
Gabi Hogg scored Buckhorn’s goal on a penalty kick.
No. 8 Hazel Green improved to 11-2 and 5-0 in area play. Buckhorn dropped to 3-8, 3-2.
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