Glenwood rolls to second straight title

Glenwood played a familiar foe in the AISA Clkass 3A state championship game Saturday at Lagoon Park.

And the outcome was the same as last year. Glenwood beat Autauga Academy 7-2 to win its second straight state championship and fifth in the last eight years.

“I was proud of our team as whole. This is probably the best hitting team with the highest team batting average I have ever coached,” Glenwood coach Dusty Perdue said. “With the way this team was hitting, who wouldn’t want to pitch behind them?”

Autauga (40-15) knocked out Lee-Scott, Pike Liberal Arts and Bessemer Academy in extra innings to earn the berth to the finals.

Meanwhile, the Lady Gators, who set a team record with its 50th win of the season, won each of its three games in the tournament in easy fashion, with the mercy rule shortening each game, including an 18-5 victory in the semifinals over Bessemer on Saturday.

In the title game, the tournament MVP, Kirstin Reynolds hit a long home run to left field, her second of the tournament, for a 1-0 lead.

Autauga took the lead as Glenwood committed two errors and the Lady Generals had a bunt single and turned that into a 2-1 lead.

Glenwood regained the lead with a five-run third, highlighted by back-to back doubles by Parker Slappey and Reynolds that chased home three runs.

Hope Gullatt tripled in the final run of the game in the sixth for the final score.

Meanwhile, McKenna Gillespie was busy shutting down the Lady Generals as both runs scored against her were unearned. She gave up no other hits after the second. She struck out seven batters including the last two to end the game.

Gillespie, Gullatt, and Slappey were also named to the all-tournament team.

In the win over Bessemer, Glenwood overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit to score multiple times in the next three innings.

“We got a little rattled in that first inning, made an error and McKenna had a ball called on her for not delivering a pitch in the time limit,” Perdue said.

“But after that we hit the ball up and down the lineup and everyone was putting the ball in play and scoring.”

Reynolds led the hit parade going 3-for-4 and scoring two runs. Slappey scored three runs. Carle Hampton hit the Gators’ third home run of the tournament, a three-run shot in the five-run fourth inning as well.

“I did not expect for McKenna to shut out every team but after the first inning, she settled down and we gave her a lot of run support,” Perdue said. Three of the five runs by Bessemer were unearned.

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 8:13 PM with the headline "Glenwood rolls to second straight title."