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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

SYLACAUGA – Just like last year in the Class 5A, Area 8 tournament, the Shelby County Wildcats found themselves facing the end of their season with a loss to the Sylacauga Aggies in the second round.

The Wildcats needed to look at just a year ago to chart their course back. In 2024, Shelby County won four games in one day to secure the area tournament in the late hours of the night.

Once again, the Wildcats channeled that fighting spirit and claimed a championship as a result, defeating Sylacauga 13-10 and 19-0 in the two-game area championship series on Monday, April 28 at Pinecrest Park to win their fourth-straight area title.

Shelby County started its journey early in the morning at the Donald Comer Complex as it took on the Central Volunteers of Clay County in the first round.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, Kloe Gallups tied up the game with an RBI single in the home half of the inning before a big two-out rally in the second. After Caitlan Bland walked to keep the inning alive, Danslen Connell plated two runs with a double to take the lead.

Kaydence Connell followed it up with an RBI double, and Aaliyah Chaisson capped the inning in emphatic fashion with a two-run home run to increase the lead to 6-1.

Central came storming back in the top of the third with a pair of RBI singles and a run off an error to cut the deficit to 6-4.

The Vols couldn’t get any closer than that before Catelynn Davis increased the lead to four in the bottom of the fifth. After a one-out walk by Madelyn Minton, Davis launched a line drive to right that took her all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park home run, making the lead 8-4.

Central started the sixth strong and cut the gap to just two with an RBI single and a run off a passed ball, but that was as close as it would get before Shelby County sealed the 8-6 win.

Davis finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs, including her inside-the-park home run, and Danslen Connell was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run.

Chaisson had two RBI at the plate and finished with six strikeouts in seven innings in the circle. Three of the six runs she faced were earned, and she worked around 10 hits while not allowing a walk.

The Wildcats would then lose to Sylacauga in the second round. A defensive duel highlighted the first five innings before the Aggies busted open the game with six runs in the sixth, a deficit Shelby County could not overcome despite getting a Nancy Hall RBI single in the sixth and an RBI ground out in the seventh.

Kaydence Connell finished 2-for-4 with a run, Madison Tolleson was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run and Minton went 2-for-2.

That left the Wildcats facing elimination and needing to win their next three games to take the title.

Shelby County faced off against Central for the final spot in regionals after the Vols eliminated Briarwood from the tournament. The Wildcats got off to a better start with RBI singles from Chaisson and Tolleson putting them in front 2-0 in the first.

Kaydence Connell then increased that lead to 3-0 in the top of the third with a lead-off solo home run.

Central got a run back in the bottom of the fourth off a fly out before Gallups restored the three-run lead with a solo shot in the top of the fifth, overcoming a two-out hole to make the score 4-1.

Two errors to start the sixth gave the Wildcats another window to strike. They got a run off a fly out before a two-out RBI double from Kaydence Connell plated two runs and made the lead 7-1.

Shelby County got two on with two outs in the top of the seventh thanks to its second walk of the inning, and that opened the door for yet another scoring rally. Hall reached on an error that brought Gallups home, Davis scored on a passed ball, and Bland and Danslen Connell hit back-to-back RBI doubles to increase the lead to 11-1.

The Vols scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but they couldn’t overcome the entire deficit as the Wildcats booked a spot in regionals with an 11-4 win.

Danslen and Kaydence Connell each went 2-for-5 along with Bland as Kaydence had three RBI and a run, Danslen earned two runs and an RBI and Bland had an RBI and a run. Gallups finished 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI.

Chaisson got the win again by pitching all seven innings. She worked around eight hits and three walks while four total runs crossed home plate, three of which were earned runs.

The victory set up a championship series with Sylacauga where the Wildcats would need to win two games versus the one the Aggies needed to take the title.

Sylacauga loaded up the bases in the bottom of the first with three hits in the first four batters, and that set up a two-run single and an RBI double on back-to-back plays to open up a 3-0 lead.

That lead held through a scoreless second before the Aggies went back to work in the third. They followed up a one-out single with an RBI triple on the first pitch, increasing the lead to four before a two-out RBI single extended the advantage to 5-0.

However, Danslen Connell doubled to get Shelby County in business to start the fourth. Two batters later, Chaisson doubled on the first pitch she saw to score Connell, and Gallups made it three doubles on four pitches to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Tolleson singled to keep the rally going ahead of a Minton RBI ground out that made it a 5-3 game. Davis then repeated her feat from earlier against Central, sending a liner to right for the two-run inside-the-park home run that tied it up at 5-5.

Sylacauga retook the lead in the home half of the inning, capitalizing on two on with two outs to score a run off an RBI double for the 6-5 lead.

Chaisson then tied it up by starting a two-out rally of her own with an RBI double. Gallups kept it going with a single ahead of an RBI single by Tolleson, increasing the lead to 7-6 on the final play of the fifth.

That lead would grow to 8-6 off an RBI ground out by Cheyenne Patterson in the top of the sixth before a lengthy scoring run in the top of the seventh.

After two one-out singles, Tolleson took the lead to 9-6 with an RBI single. Minton made it four-straight singles to load up the bases and bring up Davis, who added to her RBI haul with two more off an RBI single. Patterson then doubled after a pitching change to score two more runs and make the lead 13-6.

The Wildcats weren’t out of the woods yet. The Aggies scored two runs off a one-out double before a run off a passed ball and a bases-loaded walk cut the gap to 13-10. However, Shelby County got two of the next three batters out to force game two.

Chaisson was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs and two RBI. Gallups and Tolleson were both 3-for-4 with Tolleson earning two RBI and two runs while Gallups had two runs and an RBI.

Davis had four RBI in a 2-for-4 game with two runs, Minton finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, Danslen Connell was 2-for-5 with two runs and Bland went 2-for-5.

The Wildcats then carried their offense over into game two while bringing an improved pitching performance with them as Danslen Connell allowed no runs off just four hits.

Bland homered on the very first pitch of the game to give Shelby County a 1-0 lead. Two singles over the next four plays set up an RBI single from Tolleson and an RBI double from Minton that took the lead to 3-0.

The Wildcats then loaded up the bases with one out in the top of the second thanks to two walks and a single. Chaisson hit a two-run single before a Gallups ground out made it a 6-0 advantage.

A hit by pitch kept the inning going ahead of an RBI single from Minton, and Davis doubled on the next pitch to put two in scoring position. Hall stepped to the plate and cleared the bases with a triple before Bland finished the rally with an RBI single to put the lead at 11-0.

Shelby County drew a lead-off walk and got a Gallups double to start the third. Chaisson then came home off a wild pitch before Tolleson plated a run off a ground out for the 13-0 lead. The Wildcats fell to two outs, but a walk kept the inning alive for a Hall RBI double and the 14-0 lead.

Shelby County worked around a pair of hits in the bottom of the third to keep the Aggies off the scoreboard.

Then, two walks and a single loaded up the bases with one out and set up the final rally. Tolleson scored two runs with a single, Minton earned an RBI ground out and Tolleson came home on a passed ball to make it an 18-0 lead. Hall singled to keep the rally going long enough for Davis to cap the scoring with a run off another passed ball.

Danslen Connell then struck out the final two batters of a one-two-three fourth to finish off the 15-run-rule win and the area championship.

Danslen Connell was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs, Hall went 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and a run and Chaisson finished 3-for-3 with a walk, four runs and two RBI. Tolleson and Minton each had four RBI as Tolleson went 2-for-3 with two runs while Minton was 2-for-4 with a run. Bland had a 2-for-5 performance with two RBI and two runs.

The Wildcats will now advance to the Class 5A Central Regional on Monday, May 5 at Lagoon Park in Montgomery as the top seed out of Area 8.