Pleasant Valley, AL – Motivated after two sub-par games, Alexandria powers up for three homers, 11-1 victory in school-hours game at Pleasant Valley.
By Joe Medley
Ebbs and flows come and go, even for recently crowned Calhoun County champions, and Brian Hess needed to snap his team out of a mini-ebb.
Alexandria’s potent softball lineup had suffered a two-hitter against Handley on Monday, and that followed a loss to Southside at Albertville on Saturday.
Hess, Alexandria’s two-time state champion head coach, knew his team wanted to attend the baseball team’s senior-night game Tuesday, after playing their school-hours game at Pleasant Valley. He also knew what the Valley Cubs did not want to do.
“I was like, ‘Well I’ll go ahead and tell you, if you come out lethargic again, there will be no baseball game,’” Hess said. “‘We’ll go home and practice until we get the lethargic stuff out of you.’”
Pressley Slaton, Jill Cockrell and Charlee Parris homered, and Alexandria downed Pleasant Valley 11-1 before a packed Pleasant Valley crowd for the in-school game.
Fans filled bleachers behind the backstop, and students filled a bleacher and a pickup bed behind the right-field fence. Pleasant Valley (13-13), Class 2A’s fifth-ranked team, caught Alexandria (23-9-1), Class 5A’s second-ranked team, on a day when the Valley Cubs came eager to regain form.
“Alexandria’s a great ballclub, and we got into those games, and we expect to compete with them,” Pleasant Valley coach David Bryant said. “They beat us 11-1, and we go run-ruled at home.
“That just don’t happen very much at Pleasant Valley.”
Alexandria beat Pleasant Valley 6-5 at home on Feb. 29.
The Valley Cubs have arguably Calhoun County’s best lineup, with power up and down the spots. It showed in their 12-2 victory over defending champion Piedmont in the county final.
It didn’t show when Handley’s Mariana Whaley pitched a two-hitter at Alexandria on Monday, so the Valley Cubs came to Pleasant Valley on a mission.
“Last night, we were just kind of down,” Cockrell said. “We knew we had to come back and have full energy today.”
Slaton, the county-tourney most valuable player, did her senior-season usual in the circle, allowing Pleasant Valley three hits with nine strikeouts and holding the Raiders to Madyson Cromer’s solo home run in the fourth inning.
More impressive was Slaton’s two-run homer in the second inning. Reminiscent of her two blasts in the county final, it cleared Pleasant Valley’s 200-foot fence and the pickup truck full of fans behind it, putting the Valley Cubs up 6-0.
Seeing it fly over the pickup “was pretty nice,” said Slaton, who finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs. “A home run is always a great thing, but I was looking for a strong at bat. My teammates helped me out, getting on base, and it was just good pitch selection for all of us today.”
Cockrell’s fourth-inning solo shot landed on the batting cage roof, behind the center-field fence, and made it 7-0. She finished 3-for-3 with four runs and three RBIs.
Parris triggered Alexandria’s four-run fifth inning with a solo shot to left-center field.
“I really wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “I kind of popped it up, but we kind of needed it to just get on with it.”
Parris finished 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI.
The Valley Cubs also got a double and a run from Cali Hess.
Cromer’s homer provided the Pleasant Valley highlight for the day. It came after some morning cage work.
“The past couple of days, I was struggling a little bit,” Cromer said. “So, since I no longer have to go to school in the morning — I have late arrival — I was really working in there hard because I wasn’t feeling too good. I needed to put some work in.”
Pleasant Valley’s record reflects a schedule with more higher-classified opponents than teams the Raiders’ size. Area tournaments start April 26, and it’s all 2A from there for a team that went 2-2 in the 2023 state tournament.
“We’re obviously looking forward to that and, hopefully, being able to have postseason opportunities,” Bryant said. “These games are opportunities for us to grow and compete.
“Today, they just had our number. I feel like our kids competed but not really to the level that we expect.”
Pleasant Valley plays host to Alexandria in an in-school softball game, and the bleachers and spaces behind the outfield fence were full.
Photos by Joe Medley
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