By Ashley Hargrove
MONTGOMERY — Athens Bible School won another state championship Saturday, just three days after the boys won the state Class 1A baseball title.
This time it was the softball team which cruised through the state tournament at Lagoon Park winning four consecutive games to claim the championship.
Ardmore, meanwhile, fought its way through the losers bracket in Class 4A, but lost to St. James 6-0 in the championship game Saturday to finish state runner-up.
Elkmont also played tough in Class 3A, finishing third.
The Lady Red Devils lost a heartbreaker to Pisgah 3-1 and then was eliminated in a 7-0 loss to Straughn, a team that it had beaten soundly in the opening round Wednesday.
Athens Bible 4,
Millry 1
The Lady Trojans advanced to the Class 1A state championship game for the first time since 2006 by knocking off top-ranked Millry in the winner’s bracket semifinal Saturday morning.
Abbie Melvin recorded the win, holding Millry to six hits while striking out two.
Athens Bible broke open a scoreless game in the fifth inning when Kerri Pender drove in Christina Ivey with an RBI single. Haley Chittam followed with an RBI double.
After Millry cut the lead to one in the sixth inning, Athens Bible countered in the top of the seventh.
Emily Irwin pushed Pender across the plate with an RBI single, and Katie Eubanks followed with an RBI single.
Pisgah 3,
Elkmont 1
The Lady Red Devils fell into the loser’s bracket after suffering a loss to Class 3A, top-ranked Pisgah.
Trailing 3-0 in the top of the seventh, Elkmont scored its only run of the game when Anna Grace Usery crossed the plate on an RBI single by Bailee Robinson.
Elkmont’s next opponent was to be Straughn, a team the Lady Red Devils beat Wednesday 8-0. A win and the Lady Red Devils would meet Pisgah for the state championship. The game was being played late Saturday night.
Ardmore 4,
Alexandria 0
The Lady Tigers advanced in the loser’s bracket, eliminating Alexandria from the tournament.
Casey Steadman recorded the win, holding Alexandria to four hits while striking out four.
Ardmore scored one run in the second inning, and the Lady Tigers extended their lead to four when Callie Bryant hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth.
St. James 3,
Ardmore 0
Ardmore fell into the loser’s bracket of the Class 4A state tournament Friday night, suffering a loss to St. James.
Robyn Harmon held the Lady Tigers to three hits while striking out five.
Ardmore 7,
Ashford 1
The Lady Tigers (40-12) did the bulk of their damage in the third inning, rallying for six runs.
After Casey Steadman pushed Kelsey Turney across the plate with an RBI double, Callie Steadman followed with an RBI single.
Aarika Boggs extended Ardmore’s lead to 5-0 with a three-run homer, and Brittany Brown drove in Callie Bryant with an RBI single.
Casey Steadman recorded the win for Ardmore. She held Ashford to one hit while striking out six.
