Fitting home finale

In what will go down as his final home game and 586th win over 19 seasons, Bryant guides young Pleasant Valley team to satisfying area title.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Writer

JACKSONVILLE — David Bryant might’ve hoped his final home game as Pleasant Valley’s softball coach would linger longer than most. If so, then he got his wish Monday.

The Raiders pounded out 26 of the Class 2A, Area 13 final’s 37 hits and milked 2 1/2 hours out of an 18-9 victory on Jacksonville State University’s field, giving Bryant his 12th area title in 19 seasons and 586th victory overall.

The victory lifted a Pleasant Valley team with seventh- and eighth-graders making up half of the roster to 23-24 on the season and clinched the area’s top qualifying spot in next week’s East Central Regional at Albertville’s Sand Mountain Park.

Pleasant Valley will go to regional on a four-game winning streak, having averaged 12.75 runs over those games. The Raiders scored 35 runs in three area tournament games.

Area titles “are all special to me,” said Bryant, who announced after the 2025 season that 2026 would be his last. “This one being my last one, it’s pretty amazing.

“Plus, with this group, with where they’ve come from, you’ve got 14 kids on a varsity team, and half of them are seventh- and eighth-graders. We started this year with a lot of people saying, ‘Hey, Pleasant Valley is down. This is a rebuilding year.’ This bunch grew up real fast.”

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