Baseball bat

The Gardendale baseball team swept a home doubleheader on Saturday. 

Presley Walker homered and pitched five innings in a 5-1 win over Oak Grove. Walker surrendered one run on three hits to go with three strikeouts for the Rockets (3-1). Offensively, Colby Tittle went 2 for 4 while Carson Cook went 1 for 4 with two RBIs. 

Part 2 of the doubleheader saw Tittle drive home four runs to go with three more RBIs from Cade Jay in a 19-6 win over Shades Valley. Jay went 3 for 5 at the plate, matching Clay Norris. Justin Valentine tossed four innings, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out five batters. 

The Gardendale softball team finished at 5-2 in the John Carroll Kick-off Classic over the weekend. The Rockets (5-2) beat Boaz 9-0, Mountain Brook 7-2, Shades Valley 12-3, Decatur 10-0 and McAdory 5-2. They also dropped a 3-2 final against Corner and a 4-0 final to Bob Jones. 

For the Rockets, Sarah Beth Brake delivered with 10 hits and nine RBIs to lead the tournament run. Kailey Vaughn came through with eight RBIs to go with as many hits, and leadoff Abbie Waters finished with 11 runs scored and nine hits. 

Haley Horton and Preslie Ross shared pitching duties for head coach Barry Brake. Horton threw 16 tournament innings, striking out seven batters and allowing only three earned runs. Ross struck out 13 and allowed six earned runs in 14 innings of work. 

The Fultondale baseball team dropped two games on Saturday, falling by a 3-0 score to Southeastern and following with an 11-0 loss to Locust Fork. 

Nick Weldon pitched thee-plus innings in the opener, striking out four batters and allowing two runs on three hits. 

Later on, Locust Fork would scatter 11 hits on the Wildcats (0-3) in a mercy-rule game. Joe Hamaker, Joe Hammett and Weldon each recorded a hit for Fultondale in the loss. 

The Mortimer Jordan baseball team won its second, third and fourth straight with an 8-2 win over Pleasant Grove on Friday and a two-game sweep of McAdory on Saturday. 

On Friday, the Blue Devils (4-1) put up five runs in the bottom of the first and later went to the fourth with an 8-0 lead. Logan Duffer and Dalton Myers took turns driving home single runs in the first, and Austin Morris slapped in two more in the second. 

Austin Lavender struck out six and scored the win in four innings pitched against the Spartans. 

Mortimer Jordan went past McAdory twice on Saturday, 2-0 and 6-4. Brody Harris recorded the first win in four-plus innings pitched, leaving it to Morris for the save. Trey Perkins reached on two walks and scored both Blue Devil runs. 

The nightcap provided a bit more offense, as Garrison McCleney doubled and scored twice in a 6-4 Mortimer Jordan victory. Griffin Busby went 2 for 3 at the plate and came out of the bullpen for a two-inning save. Garrett Pannell got the start and went five innings to earn the win. 

The Corner softball team won three of its four games at the John Carroll Kick-off Classic. The Yellow Jackets (3-1) knocked off Shades Valley 9-2, Jemison 13-5 and Gardendale 3-2, before falling to John Carroll 6-3 on Saturday. 

Olivia Cummings struck out four and held the Rockets to two runs on two hits on Saturday in a 3-2 win. Offensively, Jaden Goodwin doubled and McKenzie Wagnon homered against Gardendale. 

Shaun Kelley drove in two runs and Mackenzie Self pitched four innings to earn a win over Shades Valley. In a 13-5 win over Jemison, Corner put up 11 hits and 11 RBIs, including three and three from Lauren Dill, two and four from Self, and two and three from Anna Hinkle. 

The Corner Baseball team jumped out to an early lead on Saturday and carried it all the way to a 3-0 win over Moody. The Yellow Jackets (4-0) posted two runs in the first and another in the second, which was good enough for starter Colin Daniel (five innings pitched, nine strikeouts, one hit and no runs) and the bullpen to notch a home win. 

Corner later finished the doubleheader with a 13-1 victory over Lynn. It was a team effort on the offensive end, as 10 different Yellow Jackets crossed home plate. Tyler McNiese, Hayes Brown, Justin Cummings, Brayden Rowe and Tanner Hayes each chipped in with a single RBI.