State baseball
- Updated: May 13, 2026
Piedmont’s deepest playoff run since 2022 ends at Gordo. Westbrook Christian’s semifinal series at Central-Florence will go to Game 3.
Baseball playoffs
NOTE: Best-of-3 semifinal series.
CLASS 3A
Game 1: Gordo 9, Piedmont 3
Game 2: Gordo 6, Piedmont 4
Gordo advances to Class 3A title series.
GORDO 9-6, PIEDMONT 3-4: Gordo swept visiting Piedmont 9-3 and 6-4 to clinch a berth in next week’s title series.
The third-ranked Green Wave (32-8) will play the winner between defending state champion and top-ranked Glenwood and No. 8 Lee-Scott Academy starting on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Choccolocco Park.
No. 2 Piedmont, which made its first semifinal appearance since 2022, finished 31-9.
Cole Austin, Carson Cleveland, Alex Bass and Ethan Tidwell each had a single to account for Piedmont’s four hits in Wednesday’s Game 1. Gordo pounded out 12 hits, including Makain Robertson’s three-run home run in the third inning.
Tidwell hit a solo homer in Game 2, and Cole Austin went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
“I’m proud to be the coach of these guys as much as any group I have ever coached,” Piedmont coach Matt Deerman said. “They played with a chip on their shoulder all year because everyone doubted them all over the state.
“They were not happy with the way their season had ended the two previous years, and they let that drive them to a 31-win season, area championship, county runner-up and a Final Four appearance. Not to mention they are great kids on and off the field. A really special group that made our school and community proud!”
Piedmont will lose two seniors, Ben Dempsey and Judd Pope.
“Both of these guys were a part of this program for six years and gave us everything they had,” Deerman said. “Both excellent students in the classroom and great young men that represented our program the right way.
“They are going to be great husbands and fathers one day, and ultimately, that’s what we ultimately want coming out of our program.”
— East Alabama Sports Today
CLASS 4A
Game 1: Westbrook Christian 9, Central-Florence 7
Game 2: Central-Florence 14, Westbrook Christian 10
Game 3: Thursday, 4 p.m.
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 9-10, CENTRAL-FLORENCE 7-14: Class 4A No. 5 Westbrook Christian and Central-Florence split Wednesday’s first two games of their best-of-3 semifinal series, and both teams will face Game 3 for the first tim in this year’s playoffs.
First pitch is Thursday at 4 p.m., and the winner will advance to next week’s Class 4A title series.
Westbrook (25-10) scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead in Wednesday’s Game 1. The rally featured four doubles … Brody Blevins’ lead-off double, Emmett Daniel’s RBI double, Brady Carden’s two-run double and Brady Ryan’s RBI double.
It was enough to overcome Central, which scored all of its seven runs in the second inning.
Westbrook’s Jacob Maples went 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Ryan went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI.
Carden went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs, Wil Chadwick 2-for-3 with a double and two runs and Dalton Helms 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Brodie Johnson went 2-for-5 with a triple, three RBIs and a run in Game 2, and Ryan went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Daniel had a single, two RBIs and a run, and Carden had a double and an RBI.
Blevins went 1-for-2 with three runs and an RBI.
— East Alabama Sports Today
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