AISA SOFTBALL: Hooper fights back to win Class A title over Crenshaw Christian
Hooper Academy celebrates their third state title in softball in four years.
By TIM GAYLE
After dropping the first game of the Alabama Independent School Association Class A softball state finals, the Hooper Academy players gathered in right field before the start of the second game.
“We talked a lot about having the right mindset,” Hooper sophomore catcher Jade Taylor said. “And after losing the first game, we all talked about how we have to bear down deep, fix our minds. Nobody wants to go out like that. It was pure will.”
The Colts jumped out quick with three runs in the first inning and two more in the second to defeat Crenshaw Christian 6-4 and grab their third state softball championship in the last four years.
“It meant a lot to get it this year,” Taylor said. “A lot of people didn’t have faith, us losing some very important seniors last year. I think all the girls, we stepped up and did what we needed to do. We added a pitcher. I think it means a lot, her coming in and jelling with us.”
Peyton Middleton, a backup at St. James the last several years, stepped into a much-needed role as the Hooper ace, pitching every game of the state tournament to lead the Colts back to the title game after Hooper went two and out in the double-elimination tournament a year ago.
“I knew at St. James I probably wouldn’t play as much as I wanted to,” Middleton said, “so I wanted to take a chance and move to another place. I already knew a lot of people here, so that’s kind of why I moved. I knew I would play a lot more.”
A two-run double by Henlee Garvin staked the Colts to a 3-0 lead and after Crenshaw scored two runs in the bottom of the first, the Colts came right back with a two-run single by Katie Robinson for a 5-2 lead.
“We knew with us hitting first, if you hit first, you have to score first,” Taylor said. “And we went out there and everyone did their job, try to get runners around and get them in position. The big hit by Katie Rob did a lot for us, helping the momentum in the game. Once you’re high, it’s so easy to stay there.”
But Crenshaw, which pounded out 11 hits in the game, kept constant pressure on Middleton and the Hooper defense, drawing within 6-4 in the fourth inning.
“We kept saying six (runs) wasn’t going to be enough because Crenshaw is just that good,” Hooper coach Elyse Grier said. “They will explode at any moment when it comes to bats, but we just did our job. The pitcher did her job and the defense did their job.”
The Cougars pounded Middleton for four hits in the first inning and three more in the fourth, but Middleton gave up just two hits over the final three innings.
“In the dugout, we were talking,” Taylor said. “She was, ‘I don’t know if I can do it.’ I told her you go out there and spin the ball and we’re going to finish the game.
“We should have gotten more (runs). But we always talk about winning each inning. And we kept winning the innings and that’s all that mattered. If we can’t score, we can’t let them.”
Hooper managed just three hits after the second inning, putting all of the pressure on Middleton and the Hooper defense to keep the high-powered Crenshaw offense in check.
“It wasn’t tough at all,” Middleton said. “I don’t think about it. I just push past it.”
In the first game, a dropped popup by the Colts was followed with a fly ball to the outfield that popped out of center fielder Jenna Conway’s glove and over the fence for a home run, resulting in three unearned runs by the Cougars on the way to a 6-1 Crenshaw win that forced the second game.
Crenshaw would add another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Abbigale Stroud and two runs in the seventh, the last one unearned following another error, one of five committed by the Colts.
Brooke Horn held the Colts to just three hits.
Crenshaw, making its 17th appearance in the state tournament, has never won a state championship but has finished in second place four times in the last six years.
Middleton and Taylor were joined on the all-tournament team by Conway and Robinson, Edgewood’s Riley Ward, Abbeville’s Hope Kennedy and Lizzie Stewart and Crenshaw Christian’s Libby Tompkins, Emilee Sipper and Horn.
In the Class AA game, Clarke Prep managed just two hits in a 10-0 loss to Bessemer. The Rebels, winning their second state championship and first since 2021, got a three-run home run by Caroline Rhea iun the first inning, added four more runs in the second inning and three more in the third to defeat the Gators for the sixth time in seven meetings this season.
ALABAMA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Lagoon Park Softball Complex
CLASS AA
Chambers Academy 12, Southern Academy 4
Bessemer Academy 11, Fort Dale Academy 1
Clarke Prep School 15, Springwood School 0
Lowndes Academy 9, Monroe Academy 1
Southern Academy 7, Fort Dale Academy 6
Monroe Academy 14, Springwood School 4
Bessemer Academy 6, Chambers Academy 2
Clarke Prep School 12, Lowndes Academy 4
Lowndes Academy 5, Southern Academy 4
Chambers Academy 9, Monroe Academy 8
Bessemer Academy 6, Clarke Prep School 0
Chambers Academy 5, Lowndes Academy 4
Clarke Prep School 9, Chambers Academy 7
Class AA finals, Bessemer Academy 10, Clarke Prep School 0
CLASS A
Crenshaw Christian 9, Heritage Christian 0
South Choctaw Academy 5, Abbeville Christian 3
Patrician Academy 12, Edgewood Academy 7
Hooper Academy 11, Coosa Valley Academy 0
Abbeville Christian 12, Heritage Christian 1
Edgewood Academy 13, Coosa Valley Academy 7
Crenshaw Christian 13, South Choctaw 5
Hooper Acadeny 8, Patrician Academy 3
Abbeville Christian 12, Patrician Academy 10
Edgewood Academy 14, South Choctaw Academy 5
Hooper Academy 4, Crenshaw Christian 2
Abbeville Christian 4, Edgewood Academy 2
Crenshaw Christian 11, Abbeville Christian 1
Class A finals, Crenshaw Christian 6, Hooper Academy 1
Class A finals, Hooper Academy 6, Crenshaw Christian 4