E.A. Sports Today

Spring signings & more

Several Calhoun County schools will have athletes signing scholarships this week; also included is Monday night roundup

By East Alabama Sports Today

White Plains has a big day of signings Wednesday as five Wildcats will confirm their college choices in ceremonies in the gym.

Class 4A basketball Player of the Year finalist Michael McGuirk headlines the group that includes a basketball player, a softball player, a baseball player and a cross-country runner.

McGuirk will sign with Lee (Tenn.) University.

Southern Union will land two Wildcats with the signing of Shelby Wood for basketball and Brett Beaver for baseball.

Ashlyn Hinton will sign a softball scholarship with Shorter and Sam Larson will sign with Huntington for cross-country.

On Friday, Weaver’s three-time state wrestling champion Nick Souder will sign with Williams Baptist in Arkansas.

Oxford kicks off the local signing parties Tuesday at 10 a.m. in its Sports Arena.

Josh Thomas will sign with Birmingham Southern for football; Hareem Averitte with Dakota College at Bottineau, a Division II JUCO program in North Dakota, for football; Deishah Isaac with Faulkner soccer; and Toni Coley with Limestone College soccer.

HIGH HONOR: Piedmont quarterback and three-sport star Taylor Hayes was the Class 3A Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Scholars-Athlete winner at the group’s annual banquet in Birmingham Monday night. There were 104 regional winners, 52 each in Scholar-Athlete and Achievement categories.

Monday softball

JoJo Skinner pitched a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Haley Lyner went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs as Oxford tuned up for the Calhoun County Tournament that starts Tuesday with an 8-0 win over Pell City.

Lyner had a two-run triple in the third to break a scoreless tie, hit a leadoff homer in the fifth and had an RBI single in the sixth. Sarah Howell and Amber Dempsey also had three hits for the Lady Jackets. Brentli Champion and Ashleigh Reaves both had two hits.

Skinner retired the first nine batters she faced before giving up a leadoff walk in the fourth. She also hit a batter in the fifth and a runner reached in the seventh on a dropped third strike.

Oxford 12, Pell City 1: Sarah Howell (4-for-4), Haley Lyner (3-for-3) and Bailey Clark (2-for-2) were all perfect at the plate and drove in two runs in the opener. Lyner hit a two-run homer in the third.

Ohatchee 2, Weaver 1: Shey Clements’ two-run single with two outs in the top of the seventh sent the Lady Indians to victory.

The Lady Bearcats were within one out of the victory, but two errors and a dropped third strike loaded the bases for Clements. Her second hit of the game scored Shelby Crump and Autumn Widgeon.

Cleburne County 12, Ranburne 1: Kiara Akles went 4-for-5 and Amber Parker pitched a seven-inning one-hitter with the 16 strikeouts.

The top four hitters in the Lady Tigers’ lineup were a combined 10-for-14 with eight RBIs. Tatiana Ervin was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, Mallory Nolan was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Akles was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and Chelsea Parker was 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Amber Parker, the No. 5 hitter, went 1-for-3 with a leadoff homer in the second inning and two RBIs.

The only hit Parker allowed was a leadoff double by Kayli Olds in the seventh inning.

Lincoln 3, Springville 2: Victoria Sands delivered two hits and two RBIs and Kamryn Beasley knocked in a run to help the Lady Bears. Carlee Mulling went 2-for-3 with a double and Ray Powell pitched a complete game, giving up eight hits and striking out three.

Monday baseball

Pelham 3, Oxford 2: The Panthers pushed two runs across in the first inning on an error and a double play and stretched their lead to 3-1 in the fourth and turned back an Oxford threat in the sixth to win.

Nate Lloyd’s RBI triple got Oxford to within 3-2 in the fifth, then had the tying run cut down at the plate in the sixth.

Clay Central 9, Woodland 4: Austin Smith’s two-run triple in second helped the Vols open a 5-0 lead and they turned back a late comeback bid by Woodland for the victory.

Monday golf

William Wethington (70) and John Hilliard Catanzaro (71) both posted rounds under par at Twin Bridges Golf Club and led Westbrook Christian to the first-round lead in the Gadsden Area Invitational.

Westbrook shot 304 as a team and leads Etowah by 14 shots going into Tuesday’s final round at Silver Lakes. Southside is third at 319.

On the girls side, Hope Cone shot 74 and led Westbrook to a sieable lead in the team chase. Cone leads the individual race by 15 shots and Westbrook shot 241 as a team to lead by 62.

Boys Team Scores: Westbrook 304, Etowah 318, Southside 319, Gadsden City 341, Glencoe 354, Hokes Bluff 371, West End 374.
Boys Top 5 Individuals: William Wethington, Westbrook 70; John Hilliard Catanzaro, Westbrook 71; Tee Brown, Etowah 73; Ethan Womack, Glencoe 74; Brock McNeely, Glencoe 75.

Girls Team Scores: Westbrook 241, Gadsden City 303, Etowah 325, Hokes Bluff 335, Southside 340.
Girls Top 5 Individuals: Hope Cone, Westbrook 74; Ellie Porter, Westbrook 80; Sydney Fairchild, Westbrook 87; Gracie Guyton, Westbrook 87; Lauren Cole, Glencoe 89.

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