A-J Wildcats claim own regional title
ANNA - It wasn't the prettiest day for Anna-Jonesboro's offense, but the Wildcats took advantage of Murphysboro's mistakes early and added on late to win the Class 2A Anna-Jonesboro Regional, 7-0, in softball.
The Wildcats struck with one run in each of the first three innings for a 3-0 lead.
In the first, Kansas Craig walked and quickly stole second. Craig took off for third soon after, and the throw from Red Devils catcher Maebry Presutti went into the outfield, allowing Craig to score the first run of the game.
A-J threatened again in the second inning when Addie Suggs doubled and Emma Craig singled her over to third to start the frame. Suggs scored on a wild pitch, but that was the only run the Wildcats scored in the frame as the next three hitters struck out.
Jayci Needling became the third Wildcat to get on base as the leadoff hitter with a double in the third. She advanced to third when Kynlee Needling grounded out to second and scored on a passed ball, giving Anna-Jonesboro a 3-0 advantage.
"We had nine strikeouts against (Blaire) Fox last time we played her, so we were trying to cut down the strikeouts and get baserunners on," said Wildcats head coach Rodney Seip. "I felt like if we got runners on, we could manufacture some runs."
Murphysboro also had plenty of scoring chances in the early innings. The Red Devils were unable to capitalize on a one-out double for Macey Alexander in the first, two runners on with one out in the second, and a leadoff walk in the third.
"We struggled with runners on base, and it's been a struggle for us all year long," said Murphy head coach Brian Alexander. "It seems like we leave a lot of baserunners on every game we play. We had to be able to string them together, and it didn't happen again today."
Following a scoreless fourth inning, A-J got the big swing it was looking for. Macayla Nance walked and Craig laid down a bunt to move her to second. Craig ended up being safe at first, and Maddie Moss, the courtesy runner for Nance, advanced to third on an error by first baseman Arianna Smith.
Craig followed the play by stealing second, and Moss took home on the throw through the diamond. Needling broke the game open with a no-doubt home run to left-center field to make it a 6-0 game.
"That's a good-hitting team from top to bottom, and they're hard to keep down," Alexander said. "When we got to the third time through the lineup, I thought about switching pitchers, but Blaire has been dealing the last couple of games. We struck with her, and they found the ball with the barrel."
Nance threw a complete game to seal the regional title, striking out eight. She dealt with traffic all afternoon, even after the first three innings. She stranded a one-out single in the fourth, a leadoff walk and two-out single in the fifth, and a leadoff single in the sixth before retiring the side in order in the seventh.
"She's a sophomore, so I'm sure the jitters were there a little bit in this kind of game. But she showed a lot of herself being able to control the ball and pitch out of trouble," Seip said.
Anna-Jonesboro advances to the Pinckneyville Sectional, where the Wildcats will play Mt. Carmel Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
"That whole team is tough. We just have to keep doing things right, do our job, and want to be hungry," Seip said.
The Red Devils' season closes at 16-18, a large improvement from last year's 9-20 record. Alexander said that while the team finished under .500, the competition it played had Murphy ready for postseason play.
"We traveled to Kentucky and played some really good teams, and we took on some of the really good Southern Illinois teams," he said. "I pushed this team to prepare them for this moment. We just came up a bit short today."
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.