ACA followed up winning the Sectional tournament last week with a second place finish at Sub-State to qualify for the State tournament at Hampton Cove in Owens Cross Roads. The Eagles shot 337 as a team finishing behind Haleyville and beating third place Jackson by twenty-one strokes. Andrew Whang led Alabama Christian as he tied for second with a 74. Brigg Matildo shot an 82 to finish in the top ten. Eighth grader Julie Waldo continued to carry the torch for the girls as the lone female competitor for ACA won with a 66.
ACA Spring Sports Week in Review - Boys Golf Wins Match Over Pike Road and LAMP
Golf
The boys team defeated Pike Road by three strokes at the Robert Trent Jones course in Prattville on Tuesday. Andrew Whang led the charge with a round of 78 followed by Josh Kreitz (91), Mitchell Hagan (92), Hayes Finch (94) and Brady Smith (94).
Boys Soccer
The Eagles split two Area games on the week with a 3-1 loss to LAMP and a penalty kick victory over St James. Against LAMP, Tommy Sutterfield scored in the second half for the team’s only goal, assisted by Tyson Summers. Emmett Sanford recorded ten saves. On Saturday, neither ACA or St James could score as Sanford had 15 saves in regulation time and one in the extra session. The Eagles outscored St James 4-2 in the penalty shootout as Sean Moffett, Baillie Johnson, Karson Oakley and Marcus Kim found the net.
Track and Field
Saturday, the track and field team participated in the Race Against Hunger meet at MA. D’Andre Sneed finished second in high jump clearing 5’ 10”. In the girls competition, Kate Finch continued her excellence in middle and long distances. Finch finished second (13:07.87) in the 3200, third (5:57.72) in the 1600 and fourth (2:45.30) in the 800. Auumn Jackson finished fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 29’ 7”.
Girls Soccer
The girls team dropped two Area games against tough competition. Coach Ivey knows her young Eagles are gaining valuable experience this year despite the tough results. The Lady Eagles dropped a close 3-2 overtime loss to LAMP to start the week. Neither team scored in the first half and the contest ended in a 2-2 tie in regulation. Chloe Jordan and Katelyn Sutton scored the ACA goals while Marcy Gregory had seven saves. Alabama Christian was shut out against St James on Saturday as the Trojans won 6-0. Gregory had 24 saves in the contest.
ACA Spring Sports Week in Review - Finch Continues to Impress in Outdoor Season
3/12 - Track and Field
The track team started their spring break on a bitterly cold Saturday morning at the Wetumpka Invitational. The meet was the biggest, in terms of the number of participants, that ACA had competed in this spring. Kate Finch won events in the first two meets this season and continued to run well with second place finishes in the 800 and 1600 meter runs. The sophomore was one of two runners to break the three minute mark in the 800m run with a time of 2:53.75 and produced a time of 6:21.84 in the 1600m race.
3/10 - Golf
The golf team finished in third place at the Capital City Conference golf tournament at Wynlakes, finishing behind Trinity and MA while besting St James and Catholic. Andrew Whang (80) and Julie Waldo (81) were both named to the all-tournament team with Top 5 finishes.
3/10 - Soccer
Both the boys and girls teams had games rained out on Tuesday and suffered tough shutout losses to MA on Thursday. Both ACA goalies were under a constant barrage of shots and finished with season highs in saves. Emmett Sanford had 22 saves and Marcy Gregory saved 26 in the girls game. Gregory even drew the praise of the MA staff after the game with her effort.
Week in Review - Spring Sports
Boys Soccer
The boys team enjoyed their most successful week of the season as they tied Catholic and beat Brew Tech.
2/22 at Catholic
ACA fell behind 2-0 at the half and after another Catholic goal in the second half trailed by three goals before the Eagle offense came to life and scored three second half goals to salvage a 3-3 tie with the Knights. Tommy Sutterfield (2) and Sean Moffett (1) combined for the team’s three goals to even the score. Austin Cook and Emmett Sanford both spent a half in goal against the home team.
Austin Cook clears the ball against Catholic.
2/24 at Brew Tech
The Eagles jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first half and led 2-1 at intermission against Brew Tech. The offense tacked on two more goals in the second half for a 4-1 defeat of the Rams. The four goals scored was a season high for ACA. Tommy Sutterfield scored three goals for the Eagles while Sean Moffett scored the fourth. Tyson Summers had two assists and goalie Emmett Sanford picked up the win with 10 saves.
Girls Soccer
2/22 at Catholic
The Lady Eagles only game of the week was on Tuesday at Catholic. The Knights built a 3-0 first half lead and won the match by a score of 4-1. Presley Lewis scored the only goal for ACA, her fifth of the year. Marcy Gregory recorded 20 saves in goal against a steady barrage of shots from Catholic.
The Eagle defense tries to stop the Catholic attack.
Golf
2/25 LAMP and Pike Road at Arrowhead
The boys golf team beat Pike Road by five strokes and LAMP by thirty-eight strokes in a nine hole tri-match at Arrowhead on Friday. Andrew Whang shot 41 to lead ACA and finished second overall. Hayes Finch (45) and Mitchell Hagan (48) both shot under 50 on the day. Julie Waldo, Alabama Christian’s lone female golfer, tied for low medalist with a 39 in the girls competition.
Andrew Whang lines up a putt.
Softball and Baseball Win in Early Week Action
Softball
The 15-1 final score in no way showed how close the contest was between ACA and Stanhope Elmore in Tuesday's game. The Eagles led by the slimmest of margins with a 2-1 advantage heading to the bottom of the fourth. However, Alabama Christian erupted for 13 runs in the frame and did not have to bat again as they run-ruled the Mustangs in five innings. Neither team scored through the first two and a half innings until Izzy Warrick delivered a two-run single to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. After giving up a run to Stanhope Elmore in the top of the fourth, the Lady Eagles responded with a 13 run scoring barrage. Rose Costanza started the fireworks with a two-run homer to center field after a Katie Chappell single opened the inning. Skylar Crews and Warrick both drove in single runs before Haley Ingram, Chappell and Costanza hit back-to-back-to-back doubles that drove in five runs. Lawson Borland and KG Taylor drove in a run apiece before Crews finished the scoring with a two-run double, the fourth double of the inning for the Eagles. Costanza and Crews both had two run scoring knocks in the scoring outburst.
Rose Costanza led the offense with a 3 for 3 performance including a double and a homer with three RBIs. Skylar Crews finished 2 for 2 with a double with three runs driven in while Katie Chappell was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs. Haley Ingram’s double extended her hitting streak to 21 games and Izzy Warrick drove in three runs. In the circle, Costanza picked up the win while Hayley Cassidy finished the final two innings to close the game.
Baseball
ACA moved its game against Reeltown up a day due to the threat of bad weather on Thursday. The Eagles built a 5-0 lead after four and a half innings and held on for a 9-7 victory in the replacement game. The five early runs were scored on an infield error, a dropped third strike, another error, a steal of home and a sac fly. Isaac Warrick delivered a two-run single to highlight a four run seventh frame. JT Moorer earned the win with a 4 2/3 inning effort with four strikeouts and Zac Westbrook recorded the save by pitching the last three outs.
Tennis
The Lady Eagles tied Carroll in Ozark 5-5 on Monday afternoon. Molly Howard (8-4), Layne DeCapite (8-4) and Laura Stokley (8-2) each won their singles matches and Ava Rose Dean/Howard (8-3) and Stokley/Jordan Wilson (11-10) won their doubles matches.
The Lady Eagles were swept by LAMP on Tuesday afternoon.
Soccer
Both soccer teams were beaten by MA on Tuesday night. The girls were defeated 10-0 as Marcy Gregory recorded 16 saves and the boys were beaten 7-0 with Emmitt Sanford finishing with 10 saves.
ACA Soccer Defeats LAMP Twice in Area Tilts
Soccer
The Lady Eagles won a rescheduled game with LAMP on Tuesday night by a score of 6-2 in an important Area contest. ACA led the Golden Tigers by a slim 2-1 score at the half, but blew a close game open with four goals in the second half for the 6-2 win. Marcy Gregory earned the win in goal with 16 saves on the night. Senior Michaelyn Manning paced the Eagle attack with two goals and three assists. Olivia Justiss scored two goals while Katelyn Sutton had a goal and an assist and Evie Moorer scored a goal.
The boys team finished the night with a 2-1 defeat of LAMP. Dalton Hutchinson scored both Eagle goals and Landon Evans and Norton Sewell each recorded an assist. Goalkeeper Emmett Sanford picked up the win in the net with nine saves.
Golf
The boys golf team competed in the Blue Gray Invitational at Wynlakes Golf & Country Club on Monday and Tuesday. Julie Waldo was also allowed to play even though it was a boys event and was the only girl in the 137 person field. Andrew Whang posted the Eagle’s lowest score as he shot a two-day total of 168 to finish tied for 48th place. Mitchell Hagan finished with a 197 while Mikey Peavy shot a 216 and Jaron Craddock finished with a 229. Waldo shot a respectable 189 over the two days and finished tied for 102nd place.
Baseball
On Monday, the Eagle baseball team traveled down Vaughn Road to take on MA. A couple of innings got away from Alabama Christian and MA took advantage scoring 13 of 14 runs in two innings in the 14-4 win over ACA. At the plate, Isaac Warrick led the Eagles with three hits in four at bats with two doubles and an RBI. Six other Eagles collected one hit apiece. Brandon Bice took the loss as he lasted two innings. Hayes Hunt pitched three innings of relief and Caden Perry and Chase Madrid each pitched in the final inning of the contest.
Isaac Warrick bats against MA.
Golf and Boys Soccer Victorious on a Busy Day for ACA
A hole in one by Jaron Craddock highlighted an Eagle victory for the boys golf team in a four team match at Lagoon on Tuesday afternoon. Alabama Christian defeated Pike Road, LAMP and Catholic in the nine hole event. ACA was seven strokes better than Pike Road, who finished second on the day. Andrew Whang shot a team low 40 while Craddock finished with a 43, followed by Hayes Finch (48) and Sully Duke (49). Julie Waldo was the Medalist in the girls division with a 42 and Megan Davis shot a 53. Waldo finished as the Medalist in a match against MA with a 45 on Monday..
The boys soccer team dominated Park Crossing by a score of 10-0 as goalie Emmett Sanford only had one save as the contest was played on the Park Crossing side of the field for most of the game. Tommy Sutterfield led the offense with three goals while Dalton Hutchinson had two goals and two assists. Norton Sewell scored two goals and had one assist while Tyler Bradley, Josh Cleland and Jacob Ryan each added a single goal. In the opener, the Lady Eagles fell to Park Crossing 5-3 as Michaelyn Manning scored all three goals with Presley Lewis recording an assist. Marcy Gregory had 21 saves on the night.
The Eagles pose for a team shot after the win over Park Crossing.
The baseball team hosted Trinity and were beaten by the Wildcats, 8-2. The Wildcats had base runners in every inning and eventually pulled away from ACA for the win. Mason Prestage provided the offense for the Eagles with a 2 for 3 afternoon with a double and a solo homer and drove in both of the runs in the game. Preston Hicks, Thomas Stovall and Isaac Warrick each contributed one hit at the plate. Warrick took the loss on the mound as he gave up three earned runs over four innings with five strikeouts. Zac Westbrook and JT Moorer pitched the final three frames in relief.
ACA Opens Season at Robert Trent Jones in Prattville
The ACA golf team opened the season Tuesday at the PCA Boys and Girls Invitational. Mitchell Hagan, Mikey Peavy, Logan Reynolds and Andrew Whang represented Alabama Chrisitan at the Capital Hill Course in Prattville. Whang shot 88 for the best score posted by the Eagles followed by Hagan’s 109, Reynolds’ 111 and Peavy’s 115.
The Eagles will compete against Pike Road in its next match on March 5 at Arrowhead Country Club.