Andy wins Class 4A, Area 2 title

Andalusia cruised to win its second-straight Class 4A, Area 2 softball championship Thursday afternoon at the Dwight Mikel Sports Complex.

The Lady Bulldogs only allowed one run a three-game day that saw cooler-than-normal temperatures.

AHS defeated Monroe County 17-0 in the title game; beat Hillcrest-Evergreen 11-1 in the semifinals to win a berth to the South Regional in Gulf Shores next week; and topped Wilcox Central 22-0 in the first game of the day.

As the day went along, the Lady Bulldogs got better, AHS coach Brad Garner said.

“We hit the ball a lot better (Thursday),” Garner said. “Our timing was a lot better. We’ve actually struggled against them (MCHS) hitting the ball hard at times. Today, we hit the ball hard and that’s what you want to be doing at this time of the year.”

All three of Andalusia’s pitchers — Breanna Dixon, Abbie Young and Tessa Walker — received playing time on the mound yesterday.

“We’ve got four practices to get ready to go down there (to the regional),” Garner said. “Hopefully, we’ll start coming together and it’ll start peaking when it needs to.”

After defeating WCHS 24-5 in a loser’s bracket game, the Lady Tigers turned a triple play in the top of the third against Hillcrest and went on to win 23-13 to secure their berth to the regional.

This was Monroe County’s second triple play of the season. The Lady Tigers’ first occurred on April 22.

In the championship game, AHS scored 10 runs in the top of the second inning to take a 14-0 lead.

Haley Snider hit an RBI triple; Emily Terry hit an RBI double; and Aaliyah Lawrence hit an RBI single to lead AHS in the deciding inning.

Andi Hughes, Merikal McCaskill and Lawrence went 2-for-3 each for the Lady Bulldogs (15-21).

Abbie Young hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to help lead the Lady Bulldogs to their 10-run win over the Lady Jaguars in the semifinals.

McCaskill added a two-run double, Millie Manring hit an RBI single and Terry added a two-run single in the fifth.

Snider went 2-for-4 with two runs; Manring and Terry went 3-for-4 each; Haley Harper went 1-for-3; Hughes went 1-for-3; Young went 2-for-3; Lawrence went 1-for-3; Dixon went 1-for-3; and McCaskill went 3-for-3 to lead AHS.

Hillcrest defeated Monroe County 16-6 in five innings to gain a berth to the semifinals.