E.A. Sports Today

Spring break gives teams chance to play

UPDATE: Several teams hitting the road, others staying close to home

By East Alabama Sports Today

Spring break falls upon Calhoun County this week, but don’t look for the county’s baseball and softball teams to sit around idly. If anything, it gives them more chances to play – and many of them are hitting the road to do it.

Tournament play abounds during the spring break week with at least three teams – Alexandria, Piedmont and White Plains – heading south. Those who aren’t taking a trip will be busy, too.

Here are the schedules for the tournaments involving the county teams:

BASEBALL

WHITE PLAINS at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, Orlando

Tuesday – White Plains vs. The Shipley (Pa.) School, 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday – White Plains vs. Grayslake North (Ill.), 8 a.m.
Wednesday – White Plains vs. Grayslake North (Ill.), 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday – White Plains vs. Haverford (Pa.) School, 8:30 p.m.

“We’re all excited about the trip to Orlando to play at Disney’s Wide World of Sports,” Wildcats coach Chad Hudson said. “It’s a great chance to go out and play teams from all over the country in great weather at great facilities. It’s really a reward for our seniors. We have seven seniors who are good players and better people.

“We’re going to treat the games like any other game, but the rest of the time we are going to enjoy Disney World. It’s a good chance for us to get away and relax before we come back here and play the two series that will define our season.”

PIEDMONT, ALEXANDRIA at Gulf Coast Classic, Gulf Shores

Monday – Piedmont 12, Montgomery Academy 4
Monday – Alexandria 5, Smiths Station 3
Tuesday – Alexandria vs. Randolph, 9 a.m., Orange Beach Sportsplex
Tuesday – Piedmont vs. Brooks, 9 a.m., Foley
Wednesday – Alexandria vs. Brooks, 4:30 p.m., Gulf Shores Sportsplex
Wednesday – Alexandria vs. Northview, 7 p.m., Gulf Shores Sportsplex
Wednesday – Piedmont vs. Winfield, 9 a.m., Johnnie Sims Park
Wednesday – Piedmont vs. Valley View Gold, 11:30 a.m., Johnnie Sims Park
Thursday – Championship Day, Gulf Shores Sportsplex

JACKSONVILLE, SAKS, WELLBORN, WEAVER, RANDOLPH COUNTY at Weaver

Thursday’s games
Weaver vs. Jacksonville, 9 a.m.
Jacksonville vs. Wellborn, 11 a.m.
Wellborn vs. Saks, 2 p.m.
Saks vs. Randolph County, 4:30 p.m.
Randolph County vs. Weaver, 7 p.m.

Friday’s games
Weaver vs. Saks, 9 a.m.
Saks vs. Jacksonville, 11:30 a.m.
Jacksonville vs. Randolph County, 2 p.m.
Randolph County vs. Wellborn, 4:30 p.m.
Wellborn vs. Weaver, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s games
No. 1 vs. No. 2, 11 a.m.
No. 3 vs. No. 4, 1:30 p.m.

“We tried to do this last year and the stinking rain killed it,” Weaver coach David Beegle said. “This year I made it a three-day thing; if we get rained out one day we could push it back a day and still get to play.

“If everything goes as planned we should make a bunch of money and everybody will get to play ball.”

OXFORD at Hoover Buccaneer Classic

Oxford’s spring break is a week after the county schools. Here is the Yellow Jackets’ schedule for that tournament.

The teams: (Pool 1) Hoover, Hendersonville (Tenn.), Oxford, Helena, Austin; (Pool 2) Hartselle, Thompson, Northridge, Pell City, Marbury; (Pool 3) Cullman, Enterprise, Spain Park, Oak Mountain, Clanton.

March 30 – Oxford vs. Austin, Hoover HS Field 2, 9 a.m.
March 30 – Oxford at Hoover, Hoover HS Field 1, 1:30 p.m.
March 31 – Oxford vs. Hendersonville (Tenn.), Hoover HS Field 2, 1:30 p.m.
April 1 – Oxford vs. Helena, Hoover HS Field 1, 9 a.m.
April 1 – Oxford vs. Spain Park, Hoover HS Field 2, 11:15 a.m.
April 2 – Championship Day

SOFTBALL

ALEXANDRIA, JACKSONVILLE, PLEASANT VALLEY in Gulf Coast Classic II, Gulf Shores

Teams: Alexandria, Jacksonville, Pleasant Valley, Lincoln, ACA, Ardmore, Athens, Austin, Bob Jones, Buckhorn, Colbert Heights, Cordova, Crestview (Fla.), Cullman, Curry, Decatur Heritage, East Limestone, Falkville, Grissom, Hale County, Hartselle, Hazel Green, Horseshoe Bend, Huntsville, Jeff Davis, James Clemens, Lee-Montgomery, Madison County, McNary Central (Tenn.), Milton (Fla.), North Jackson, Oakman, Opelika, Pensacola (Fla.), Priceville, St. Pope John Paul II, South Pittsburg (Tenn.), Sparkman, Sumiton Christian, Trinity, Walker Valley (Tenn.), Westminster Christian, West Morgan, Winfield.

Monday’s Games
Alexandria 16, Winfield 1
Alexandria 3, Athens 2
ACA 5, Jacksonville 0
Oakman 8, Jacksonville 0
North Jackson 2, Pleasant Valley 1
Pleasant Valley 5, Lee-Montgomery 0

Tuesday’s Games
Alexandria vs. Sumiton Christian, Gulf Shores Sportsplex I, 9 a.m.
Alexandria vs. Bob Jones, Gulf Shores Sportsplex I, noon
Jacksonville vs. James Clemens, Gulf Shores Sportsplex III, 10:30 a.m.
Jacksonville vs. South Pittsburg (Tenn.), Gulf Shores Sportsplex III, 1:30 p.m.
Pleasant Valley vs. Curry, Sims Park-Phillips, noon
Pleasant Valley vs. Pensacola (Fla.), Sims Park-Phillips, 3 p.m.

This story will be updated as more schedules become available.

Spring coaches, to provide your spring break tournament schedules or report games and suggest story ideas to East Alabama Sports Today text 256-239-6715 or email musky@wrightmediacorp.com. East Alabama Sports Today is a free website dedicated to providing quality coverage of sports in and around Calhoun County.

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