The Moody Lady Blue Devil softball team won its third St. Clair County championship in the last four years this weekend.
It was Moody’s third county crown in the past four years.
Moody’s journey through the county tournament started slowly: in its first game on Friday, they trailed Ragland 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning before scoring 4 runs and winning the game 5-3.
On Saturday, they defeated Springville 15-0 to get to the title game, then beat the Lady Tigers again in the championship game to win it all.
Moody pitcher Meagan Young was named the tournament MVP. She shutout Springville in two consecutive games Saturday, 15-0 and 6-0.
In 11 innings of work Saturday, Young gave up only 5 hits, 1 walk and struck out 19 batters.
SCCHS 4, Ashville 1
The opening game of the county tournament saw the Lady Saints from St. Clair defeat Ashville 4-1.
The Lady Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Marrin Cater walked and scored on a double by Kristen O’Barr.
SCCHS tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as pitcher Aly Johnson singled. Courtesy runner Kendall Busby stole second and scored on a single by Tiffany White.
In the next inning, the Lady Saints took the lead as Peyton Brasher singled, stole second, went to third on a pass ball and scored on a single to center by eighth-grader Ashley Johnson to make it 2-1.
In the sixth inning, St. Clair scored two runs as Busby scored on an error and Biance Atkinson scored on a wild pitch to make the final score 4-1.
Aly Johnson picked up the win for the Lady Saints while Taylor Tucker took the loss.
Moody 5, Ragland 3
The run to the county crown for Moody started with a come-from-behind 5-3 win over Ragland.
The Lady Purple Devils opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as Lauren Wright walked and moved to second on a bunt by Madison Oliver. Wright reached third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Emily Church.
In the second inning, Ragland’s Kailey Echols singled, went to second on an error and scored on a single by Paige Gann to make it 2-1.
In the home half of the second inning, Moody’s Katie Brown belted a solo home run to make it 2-1 but Ragland’s Church got the run back as she had a solo home run in the fourth inning to make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Moody scored 4 runs to win the game.
Singles by Lea Crutchfield and Kayla Stephenson was followed by an RBI double by Candace Crutchfield to make it 3-2. Tyler Stephenson followed with a RBI fielder’s choice that tied the game 3-3. The big hit of the inning came when Alexus Martin had a two-run double that proved to be the difference.
Moody’s Jessica Stone was the winning pitcher as she ran her record to 5-0. She worked 7 innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits. She walked one and struck out 10.
Sommar Wright took the loss, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits. She struck out 4.
Springville 4, SCCHS 0
In the last game played Friday, the Lady Tigers blanked St. Clair 4-0. Winning pitcher McKinley Tribble tossed a complete game two-hitter. She walked 2 and struck out 7.
She got all the run support she needed in the first inning when Sydne Waldrop singled and Tanner Earley followed with a 3-run homer to make it 2-0.
Springville added single runs in the third and sixth innings.
In the third, Hayden Henderson singled and scored on an Earley RBI single. In the sixth, Kolyn Kyser had an inside-the-park home run to make the final score 4-0.
The Lady Saints stranded 7 base runners and Logan Smith took the loss. She gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, walked 2 and struck out 4.
Ragland 11, Ashville 1
In the first game Saturday morning, Ragland eliminated Ashville 11-1 in 6 innings. The Lady Purple Devils scored 2 runs in the first inning, 5 runs in the fourth inning and 4 runs in the sixth inning.
In the first, Lauren Wright doubled and scored on a double by Oliver. Church followed with a double that scored Oliver.
In the fourth, JJ Looney started the inning with a single and scored when Leah Byers bunted and reached on an error. Church followed with a RBI single and then Sommar Wright had a two-run double. Kailey Echols beat out an infield hit that allowed Taylor Boswell to score and make it 7-0.
In the top of the sixth inning, Ashville scored a run on a solo home run by O’Barr.
Ragland ended the game in the bottom of the sixth scoring 4 runs. Lauren Wright doubled and scored on a single by Oliver. Church walked and Sommar Wright had a two-run single. Kailey Echols had a RBI single to end the game at 11-1.
Sommar Wright was the winning pitcher while Tucker took the loss.
Ragland 4, SCCHS 1
The Lady Purple Devils then eliminated St. Clair 4-1. Sommar Wright tossed a two-hitter, striking out 7.
Ragland took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Brittany Johns and Looney singled followed by a run-scoring single by Callie Echols.
It stayed 1-0 until the fifth inning when Kenzi Ledbetter’s RBI double scored Atkinson to tie the game at 1-1.
Ragland regained the lead quickly as they scored in the bottom of the fifth inning on a walk to Church and a RBI double by Sommar Wright.
Two insurance runs came in the sixth inning as Johns singled and Looney followed with a RBI double. A single by Callie Echols scored Looney to make the final score 4-1.
Moody 15, Springville 0
Meagan Young improved to 5-1 on the season as Moody advanced to the championship game by beating Springville 15-0.
The Lady Blue Devils scored 4 runs in the first inning and did not look back.
Victoria Lewis singled and scored on a single by Lea Crutchfield. Brown walked and scored on a RBI double by Madison Dunn. Kayla Stephenson ended the scoring in the first inning with a 2-run double.
A leadoff double by Springville in the top of the second inning was wasted.
Moody added 2 runs in the second inning as Martin singled and scored on a couple of errors. A single by Lea Crutchfield scored Jessica Stone to make it 6-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, Martin had a two-run double while Stone had a run-scoring single to make the score 9-0.
Moody scored 6 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to end the game at 15-0.
Lea Crutchfield had a solo home run to make it 10-0. Moody then loaded the bases with no outs. Candace Crutchfield had a two-run double to right field. Stone walked with the bases loaded then Brown put an end to the game with a two-run scoring making the final score 15-0.
Springville’s Savannah Caswell took the loss.
Springville 3, Ragland 2
In a game that will be talked about for some time, Springville defeated Ragland 3-2 after Ragland pitcher Sommar Wright was injured and unable to continue. The game ended in the top of the third inning with Springville on top 3-2.
The Lady Purple Devils took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single by Sommar Wright that scored Church and Oliver.
Springville cut the lead in half in the top of the second inning.
In the top of the third inning, Springville’s Kari Gipson doubled with one out. Hayden Henderson reached on an infield hit followed by a single by Brittany Burton to load the bases.
Kolyn Kyser had a two-run single to left field that gave Springville a 3-2 lead. The throw from left field came in to Sommar Wright, who caught the ball and threw to third base for an out. Immediately after throwing the ball to third base, Sommar Wright fell to her knees in pain.
Later, it was determined Sommar Wright had dislocated her thumb on her pitching hand in two places.
With the win, the Lady Tigers advanced to the championship game to face Moody.
Moody 6, Springville 0
For the second time in one day, Moody blanked Springville and this time, it was for all the marbles as they won the county title with a 6-0 win.
The Lady Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Lewis walked and later scored on an infield hit by Brown.
In the bottom of the third inning, Martin singled to center, stole second and went to third on an error. She then scored on a bloop double by Lea Crutchfield down the right field line that made it 2-0.
Moody added 2 runs in the fifth inning as Martin singled up the middle and scored on a double by Brown. Brown later scored on a single by Stephenson.
In the sixth inning, Candace Crutchfield doubled and scored on a single by Lewis, who later scored on a single by Martin to make the final score 6-0.
Young gave up 2 hits and struck out 12.
Tribble took the loss for Springville.
Moody coach Amanda Ellis said coming into the season and into the county tournament, there were expectations and goals.
“Winning the county tournament was one of our goals,” Ellis said. “We executed early and we fought a little bit differently this year. I honestly think we wanted it more.
“It’s not that we didn’t want it last year; we just had some missed opportunities. We left runners on base in scoring position last year.
“This year, we didn’t and we executed. We got runners in by hitting when we needed to hit. Our pitching was outstanding. It feels good to come back and win it.”
Ellis said one thing she has noticed about this year’s team is they have that instinct gut get-after-it fight in them and losing is not an option.
Moody is now 11-2 on the season.
Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.
