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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County High School won its sixth-straight Chilton County Softball Tournament on March 9 defeating Thorsby High School in the final at Maplesville High School. CCHS was led by the tournament’s most valuable player Tyeshia Williams at the plate and two stellar sophomore pitchers, Mallie Harrison and Ava Baugh, who allowed just four runs in the four games the Tigers played in the tournament.

“We had a great weekend, and it is a lot of pressure for our girls coming into that knowing they have won five in a row, and keeping the tradition going is a lot of pressure,” CCHS head coach Ashlie Harrison said. “I thought they performed well, and both Mallie and Ava were outstanding on the mound in all four games … I thought they had very dominating presences on the mound this past weekend. Overall, just everyone doing their part made it that much better.”

Mallie Harrison put the Tigers on top in the first inning of the final 1-0 with an RBI single, and an RBI single from Emma Penley followed by a wild pitch in the fourth inning made it 3-0. Anna Cate Burnett laced an RBI single to add a run to build a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning, but then the Rebels came alive.

Brinley Giambrone singled to get the inning started, and an RBI double from Makinley Turner and RBI singles from Allie Reeser and Braelyn Whitfield cut the lead to one run with one inning to play. Turner and Whitfield both had 2-for-3 efforts at the plate. Turner threw seven innings and surrendered five hits, four runs (three earned) and struck out 14 hitters.

In the seventh, Baugh retired the Rebels in order with two strikeouts to end the game and give CCHS the tournament championship 4-3. Baugh went seven innings and gave up six hits, three runs (two earned) and struck out 10 Thorsby hitters.

Williams was 2-for-3 with a double, and Burnett, Mallie Harrison and Penley each had RBIs in the final. Chilton County has now won each of the last six county softball tournaments dating back to 2019. Jemison High School was the last team besides CCHS to win the county softball tournament in 2018.

Ashlie Harrison said she was pleased with the team wins that the Tigers put together over the weekend, and hopes to carry the momentum into the second half of the regular season.

“I think just getting back on track for them is probably what will be the most beneficial for us from the tournament,” Ashlie Harrison said. “Being able to get our hitting back on track, and we hit the ball really well throughout the tournament, so having that confidence going into these area games is going to be huge for our girls.”

Jemison and Isabella High School started the final day in the first round of bracket play as Jemison took the win 5-4 to advance to the semifinals. Down 4-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, and the 90-minute time limit exceeded, the Panthers needed at least three runs to keep the game going. Three-straight RBIs from Kaitlyn Maddox, Trinity Bean and Haley Sanchez plated four runs, and the Panthers walked it off to win. Bean was 3-for-4 at the plate, and Isabella Loarocca struck out eight Mustang hitters.

Anna Johnson was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs to lead Isabella.

Maplesville and Verbena high schools faced off in the other first round matchup, and Maplesville won 6-3. Mollie Kayte Smith was 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs, and threw six innings giving up six hits, three runs (zero earned) and striking out six hitters to lead Maplesville. Allie Hand and Jaden McGee each had two hits and a double for Maplesville as well.

Jaycee Quinn threw five innings giving up six hits, six runs (two earned) and striking out 10 hitters, and Maya Schuffert was 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Verbena.

CCHS and Jemison faced off in the first semifinal that saw the Tigers advance with a 7-0 win with Mallie Harrison going six innings with four strikeouts, Ishunti Brown and Baugh each having 2-for-3 efforts and three RBIs from Macey Pierce.

Bean and Gracie Conway collected the two hits for Jemison.

Thorsby booked its spot in the final with a 12-0 over Maplesville in the semifinals behind five innings and 10 strikeouts from Turner. Allie Reeser was 2-for-2 with four RBIs, Turner was 2-for-3 with two triples and an RBI and Brooklyn Reeser and Summer Powell had two RBIs each.