In a rematch of last year’s title game, Pisgah was able to turn the tide against Saks in the second round of the Class 3A state tournament winner’s bracket.

Led by pitcher Megan Smith’s 15 strikeouts, Pisgah (44-7-2) was able to defeat defending-champion Saks 1-0 to advance and play Madison Academy (36-18) at 10:30 a.m. today.

“Just two quality teams giving all they got and we just got the one run we needed,” Pisgah coach Billy Duncan said. “We just made plays when we had to.”

The game-changing play came in the fourth inning when the Eagle’s Lillie McCrary hit a triple and was able to score on an error. It was all Pisgah needed to get past the Saks hurdle that ruined its chances of repeating as champions last season.

“I think we came back with great focus knowing we had to battle the same team that beat us twice last year,” Duncan said. “Something about this team, I can’t put my finger on it, just a special bunch of kids.”

Pisgah has a chance to win its third game this season against Madison Academy in the third round of the winners bracket. The Eagles defeated the Mustangs once in a midseason tournament and once in the regional finals.

But the Mustangs couldn’t care less about their previous troubles against Pisgah.

“We can play with them,” Madison Academy coach Bronson Patterson said. “It’ll be OK. Nothing to lose, that’s kind of our motto this year. We’re playing in the last day of the year, and that’s a big accomplishment.”

The Mustangs are enjoying the moment after being bounced in two games from last year’s tournament. Madison Academy defeated Good Hope 3-0 to advance to round three.

Katie Clarke led the way with an 11 strikeout performance. She also went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

The Mustangs returned their entire squad from last season. With a team a year wiser, Patterson said his team’s experience has been the difference this season.

“These girls are gritty,” Patterson said. “They’ve got heart, they want it. They’re not a bunch of All-Stars, but they step up when it counts.”

It wasn’t as long a stay as they would’ve liked, but the Catholic Knights feel like they proved the doubters wrong nonetheless.

The Knights (23-13) fell 4-1 to Pisgah in their first game and 12-0 to Winfield in Game 2.

“Just making it meant a lot to the whole team and I feel like we proved everyone wrong just getting here in the first place,” junior third baseman Kirstin Wood said. “I think it’s a big foundation, we only have two seniors, so hopefully we’ll come back and be in this same spot next year.”

Catholic led 2011 champion and 2012 runner up Pisgah 1-0 after three innings before the Eagles scored 3 in the fourth. Pisgah added another in the sixth.

“Pisgah, we had them 1-0 in the fourth, it was a battle,” Catholic coach Britt Taylor said. “They had two key hits. With the young girls we’ve got and the pitcher I’ve got coming back, there’s not reason we shouldn’t be back here.”

Wood went 1-for-2 with an RBI against the Eagles. Junior pitcher Sydney O’Connor went six innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs and striking out four.

The Knights’ second game was not as tight.

Winfield led 3-0 through three innings before exploding for five runs in the fourth when Micaela Beck hit her first of two grand slams on the day. Beck hit her second in the bottom of the sixth to go up 12-0 and enforce the 10-run mercy rule. Beck ended the game going 3-for-4 with eight RBIs.

Winfield pitcher Madison Moore was one walk from a perfect game. Moore threw a no-hitter and struck out 10 in six innings.

“That’s the first left-hander we’ve seen all season and we didn’t adjust,” Taylor said. “We made some mistakes and and gave up the grand slam, and when we did, we just couldn’t come back from that.”

Despite the blowout loss to end the season, the Knights were happy with their season, and expect to redeem themselves next year.

“We were hoping to get to the next day and go the farthest we could and prove everyone wrong just like in regionals,” O’Connor said. “I think there’s still some people that don’t believe we can do it. Nobody takes us seriously, we’re just little ole Catholic. So, we’ve got to prove them wrong and show them what we’re made of.”

For the Sparkman Senators, it took losing to win.

Playing on the fumes of their 2012 championship glory, the Senators got a slow start to the 2013 season.

A midseason 7-0 loss to Pelham was the turning point.

“We didn’t play like a champion,” Sparkman coach Dale Palmer said. “Not that we lost, but we didn’t play with the intensity and the passion and the fire every play, every pitch. We left that tournament and practiced for about three and a half hours and said, ‘Hey, we may not win another game, but we’re going to play like a champion.’ And I feel like those kids bought in to what we asked them to do.”

The Senators (52-8) defeated Pelham twice in the final day of the Class 6A state softball tournament on Friday at Lagoon Park. Sparkman won the championship game 9-1 after defeating the Panthers 10-0 in the first game.

“It’s definitely an unexplainable feeling,” Sparkman senior Meg Willis said. “To end on top is probably the best thing that’s ever happened. And two years in a row, the best ending to a senior year ever.”

Willis was named MVP after going 1-for-4 with two RBIs in the championship game. She went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and two walks in the first game.

Sparkman scored twice in the first, once in the third and twice in the fourth to build a 5-1 lead through five innings. The Senators exploded for a four-run sixth to seal their second consecutive title.

Pelham scored off a bases-loaded walk in the first inning.

Pelham defeated Vestavia Hills 5-0 in the losers bracket to get to the title game.

“To me, they’re still the best team in the state,” Pelham coach Amy Sullivan said. “They’re disappointed, and I completely understand that because they expected nothing less than to win it all. We just have a really special tea. Don’t worry as much about the loss, but take the positive things from it.”

Reigning state champion Sparkman didn’t have an easy day, but it made it through the first day of the Class 6A softball state playoffs at Lagoon Park unscathed.

But today, the Senators (50-8) face the daunting task of going against the top-ranked Pelham Panthers (44-4), a team they fell to 7-0 earlier this season.

“We played probably our worst game,” Sparkman coach Dale Palmer said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of fight. We waddled around out there and they took it to us. We were No. 1 at the time and they wanted to prove that they belonged. But when you put two teams on this stage with all the people around and all that’s at stake, we should come out with a little fight because we owe them one.”

The Senators needed extra-inning heroics to earn its 6-5 victory over Dothan in the first game. Senior Meg Wilis hit a single in the bottom of the seventh to bring in fellow senior Janna Korak for the tying run. Junior Bevia Robinson hit a walk-off double to score freshman Kinsay Moore in the bottom of the eighth.

Sparkman scored two runs in the top of the sixth in its 3-1 win over Thompson in Game 2.

“We’ve been on the ropes both games but we keep fighting,” Palmer said. “It’s good to see seniors step up. (In the first game) you had a senior lead off getting on and a senior with two strikes and two outs hit the ball down the line to score the tying run. (In the second game) we had a senior pitcher finish it up.

“When the chips are down, these kids, they fight. We won two game, which is great, and we haven’t played our best game yet.”

The Panthers had drama in their first two games as well, getting by Hueytown in Game 1 and Austin in Game 2 with 2-1 margins each game.

A roster slated with Division I talent, Pelham missed out on state last season and are looking to make up for lost time this year.

Several juniors have already committed — Becky Fox to UAB, Kristian Foster to South Alabama, Emily Spain to Auburn and Caitlyn Sapp to Jacksonville State — and senior Whitney Gillespie has signed with Jacksonville State.

“Their motto was ‘Unfinished business,’” Pelham coach Amy Sullivan said. “I’ve got five juniors, and as tough as it was, maybe it was a good learning experience for them to realize you’ve got to bring you’re A game every time or somebody’s going to beat you.”

Because of last season’s heartbreak, Sullivan said this year’s team takes nothing for granted.

“We played (Sparkman) three or four weeks ago and played well,” Sullivan said. “But for our kids, it doesn’t matter that we played them already, because all that’s null and void at this point. If you ask them our record, for us it’s 0-0. We celebrate right after the win, and now our record is 0-0, and our opponent is 0-0. The whole mindset is what’s helped us.”

Hamburgers, nachos, sledge hammers and Mike Myers masks, just the typical Old School vs New School Prattville wrestling night.

The wrestling fundraiser featured former Prattville stars going against current grapplers, culminating in the main event where football coach Chad Anderson and assistant wrestling coach Jordan Countryman went head to head.

That’s when it got interesting.

Countryman took a 2-1 lead after the first period. In the second period, the “Enforcer” — defensive coordinator Ryan Wilson dressed in a Mike Myers mask and a polo bath robe — attacked Countryman with a sledge hammer while the referee was distracted, allowing Anderson to get an easy pin.

“Every time,” Countryman joked. “I should’ve known this was going to happen. I guess that’s what you’ve got to expect out of those kind of guys, the old guys. My mistake, I learned a hard lesson I guess. Can’t get too cocky going into a match.”

Former Lions stars came together to support the Old School team in a night filled with playful trash talk and play-by-play from coach Trent Miller.

Out of all the former state champions to show up, no Prattville alumni has a better record than Anderson, who is now 1-0 for his career.

“We’ve kind of had this in the works for two or three weeks to garner some interest in the program,” Anderson said. “He could’ve killed me at any given moment. He actually did a move a few times where I was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty fast.’ He hasn’t lost much of a step for sure.”

Despite the foul play, Countryman said he has no intentions of getting revenge on the football field.

“I don’t think I can handle that,” Countryman said. “He whooped me on the wrestling mat, there’s no way I’m going on the football field. I don’t stand a chance against that guy.”