CLASS 3A AREA 5 SOFTBALL: St. James qualifies for Regional; ACA stays alive
St. James’ Camryn Caldwell reaches third on wild pitch as Layla Pelt applies tag during the Class 3A Area 5 tournament on Monday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
St. James advanced to the finals of the Class 3A Area 5 softball tournament on Monday with wins over Montgomery Academy and Trinity.
The Trojans (30-6-1) await the winner of Tuesday’s Alabama Christian-Trinity game to decide the area championship. The Area 5 tournament winner will face the Childersburg-Thorsby loser in the opening round of the Central Regional on May 12 at 9 a.m., while the Area 5 runner-up will face the Childersburg-Thorsby winner on May 12 at 10:45 a.m.
“It’s that time of year where it’s postseason,” St. James coach Mark Hall said. “You want to be peaking at the right time, so our mentality has changed a little bit. We want to be as perfect as we can, even though we’re playing an imperfect game. They’ve been here before. They know what this is all about and they know when to pick the intensity up.”
St. James won its opening round game with a 15-0 win over Montgomery Academy in four innings, then defeated the Wildcats 10-0 to reach the finals.
Trinity managed just two hits off of St. James pitcher Emily Needham, with singles by Harper Johnson and Marley Sharpless.
“If you don’t take advantage early in the count and you let her dictate her pitches, you’re in trouble,” Trinity coach Stan Milton said.
The Wildcats battled St. James evenly through the early innings, but the Trojans eventually ended the game on the 10-run mercy rule.
“Marley did a really good job of pitching,” Milton said. “They’ve got speed that most teams don’t have, plus they’ve got a few (batters) that have some pop.”
Trinity (9-11) reached the finals with a 3-0 win over Alabama Christian as seventh grader Layla Pelt tossed a three-hitter, striking out four in a complete-game performance.
“Layla did an outstanding job in the circle, really hitting her spots, really mixing up her pitches,” Milton said. “She’s shown throughout the season that she can do it and doesn’t mind throwing in these big games. And I feel like we have our best defense behind her when she’s in the circle. I feel like it gives us the best chance to win.
“Then we played probably some of the best defensive ball we’ve played all year. Didn’t hit great, missed a lot of runners on base, so that’s something that we’ve got to get better at (for the next meeting with ACA), but we did a decent job of hitting.”
At the plate, Kayleigh Creel went 3 for 4, Johnson went 2 for 4, Pelt went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Emma Rose Meldrum went 1 for 4 with two RBIs.
“We feel better about day two than in previous years,” Milton said. “We had lost Day One and had to fight to stay in it, so I think the girls have confidence we can play with them.”
Trinity is playing for its first regional appearance since 2014. The Wildcats will play ACA on Tuesday at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to the area tournament finals at 4 p.m. A second championship game, if necessary, will immediately follow.
ACA stays alive with win over MA
Alabama Christian bounced back in the Class 3A Area 5 softball tournament from a shutout loss to Trinity with a 10-0 win over Montgomery Academy late Monday afternoon, advancing to a rematch with the Wildcats on Tuesday.
“The thing about the area tournament is you’ve got to win two before you lose two,” first-year ACA coach Greg Howard said. “So we bounced back and won this one, setting us up for a survive-and-advance game tomorrow at 2 p.m. The mindset today was to do whatever it takes to get to Tuesday.”
Alabama Christian scored at least one run in every inning, including three in the sixth inning to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule.
Campbell Hammett went 2 for 3 and scored three times, Peri Laine Holley had a two-run single to drive in the ninth and 10th runs, Taylor Hatcher reached base in all three plate appearances, scoring twice and driving in a run, Maddie Owens went 2 for 2 with an RBI and Adalee Lincoln added a two-run double for ACA.
Lincoln pitched a complete game in the circle, allowing just three singles in the final three innings. Elinor Grace Hines broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the third and Addison Kitchens and Davis Anne Fitzpatrick added singles for Montgomery Academy.
Both teams were facing elimination from the area tournament after failing to score in their opening round game. Alabama Christian (10-25) had lost 3-0 to Trinity, while Montgomery Academy lost 15-0 to St. James.
“We put a couple of people in different positions in the second (game),” Howard said. “The first game, we couldn’t field it clean, throw it or catch it. We had five errors in the first one, so that hurts. We didn’t square anything up and you get beat 3-0 with five errors and not hitting.”
Montgomery Academy ends the season at 5-17 after winning just one game in 2025.
“I think the season was better (than in years past),” first-year Montgomery Academy coach Todd Bradley said. “I thought we made a lot of improvement. Obviously, we’ve got to continue to get better. We’ll have quite a few young players next year and we’ll get them up to speed, but I was pleased with the girls. I thought they fought hard. We played a really tough schedule. Obviously, our area is tough. I think the biggest thing is we have to change our mindset a little bit more so that we can go out and compete.
“I promise to the other (area) teams, this will be the last year we’re just going to be bodies who go out there. We’re going to get better from here on out.”
Alabama Christian has qualified for the regionals every year beginning in 1997, a string of 28 years. The Eagles will play Trinity on Tuesday at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to the area tournament finals against St. James at 4 p.m. A second championship game, if necessary, will immediately follow.