'Cherish them forever': ACA baseball reflects on 2024 season following state championship loss

American Christian Academy baseball was three outs away from winning its sixth state championship on Thursday and first since 2011.

The Patriots were in control of the 4A championship series against Corner heading into Thursday, winning Wednesday's Game 1 by a score of 7-2 behind a dominant performance on the mound from Addison Goodman, striking out seven batters and allowing two runs, one earned, off of four hits. Heading into Thursday, ACA was one win away from claiming the state title.

Game 2 saw the teams go back-and-forth with the lead, with the Patriots regaining control in the sixth inning, putting up three runs to take a 6-5 advantage. They had a chance to add some insurance runs in the sixth, ultimately leaving the bases loaded. Corner added two runs in the bottom half of the seventh to win it in walk-off fashion and force a winner-takes-all Game 3 match-up, which the Yellow Jackets won 13-0 to claim their first state title in program history.

“Losing the first game the way we did kind of gave them all the momentum back,” ACA coach Del Howell said postgame. “We fought hard that first game. We had chances in the sixth and the seventh and weren’t able to get any more runs. Even though we did take the lead, I think that really hurt us obviously.”

Jaylen Crocker started on the mound for ACA in Game 3 after catching the previous two. In Game 3, Crocker pitched 3⅔ innings, giving up seven runs on eight hits. He struck out one and walked three.

"Having to catch two games then starting pitching in the third game, that's tough," Howell said. "He battled, but it's hard to catch two games in a day and a half then try to pitch."

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ACA finished its 2024 season at 28-18. Heading into the playoffs, ACA was sitting at 18-14, before going 8-1 over the first four rounds of the playoffs. The Patriots dropped their first game in the opening round to Orange Beach before winning the next eight and outscoring its opponents 51-5.

It was the first ACA team to compete in a state championship series since the 2016 season, where it made it to the 3A championship series before falling to Madison Academy. As a program, ACA has won five state titles (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011).

"We had a good run," Howell said. "The game is tough, that's why it's so hard to play. This senior class, earlier in the year, we did not get to .500 until two or three weeks before the playoffs, but they kept everybody going, kept everything going. Evan Lightsey started stepping up, Goodman started stepping up, (Coltyn) Mitchell turned it around on the mound, so that class just kept getting better and better. The hard part is going to be what we are going to do tomorrow, because I look forward to seeing these guys faces every day."

For the team, the 2024 season will be one remembered as a family.

"This team definitely was a family," senior shortstop Bubba Lester said. "So many memories, so many good times. With the long run that we had, whenever we stepped in between those lines, we played for each other. I think that's kind of what sets us different from other teams. I think that was a big part of us making it this far, just playing for each other."

ACA will lose nine seniors to graduation but return 12 underclassmen from its current roster. One of those underclassmen is junior center fielder Eric Hines, who led the team from the plate through the regular season, batting .466 with 54 hits in 116 at bats, tallying 25 RBIs and eight home runs. During the championship series, Hines went 5-for-8 from the plate including a solo home run in Game 1 on Wednesday.

"We always played for each other, we were always there for each other," Hines said. "We've all been playing with each other for a long time ... It was fun. We're going to miss the seniors but cherish the moments that we had together. Cherish them forever."

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: ACA baseball reflects on 2024 season after falling in state championship