Local high school athletes make sports history!

Belatedly, I highlight PLAS baseball, a track sensation, a talented and beautiful local tennis athlete, an All-State soccer athlete and two caddies at the U.S. Open.

The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots are already an AHSAA baseball powerhouse. It shouldn’t be that long before Pike gets the “Blue Map” trophy.

It’s been a long-time since I was a sports editor, but this would have been a great year to hold that job as multiple local teams and athletes had memorable and even historic seasons.

With my new on-line Troy Citizen newsletter, I’ve covered several of the high points of Troy University athletics, but haven’t given enough coverage to local high school athletes and teams.

Today, belatedly, I’d like to highlight some of the outstanding athletic accomplishments that occurred in recent weeks.

Noteworthy sports performers are headlined by the PLAS baseball team, which finished as 2A AHSAA state runner-ups in a playoff run that had several dramatic moments.

In individual sports, sophomore CHHS track phenom Payton Ousley won both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes in the 5A state track championships. This happened after she also won the 100-meter dash as a freshman in 2024.

Aside: My track story gave me an excuse to highlight past CHHS track stars Cencade Pennington and Wanda Elder.

In tennis, PLAS senior Amaia Vargas made local history in that sport by finishing as state runner-up in the 1A-3A tennis championships, the best AHSAA tennis finish of any local tennis athlete in history (per my belief). Amaia is the daughter of long-time Troy University tennis coach Rolando Vargas.

In soccer, Charles Henderson junior Daniel Frigge was named to the 5A All-State team, proving that CHHS is now on the state map in that increasingly popular sport.

Several other teams had outstanding seasons, including several tournament teams in Dixie baseball. (Photos and summaries to come).

A hat-tip to the website “Sports Chat with Neal & Wally” for allowing me to get basic info on these teams, as well as all of the photos that accompany this piece.

I also reviewed several stories from The Messenger and AHSAA websites to help me get my facts right.

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I also learned that my friend Collin McCrary is again working as a spotter for NBC sports at this week’s U.S. Open Golf championship and see - from Collin (as related to Wally and Neal) - that two people with deep local ties, former Troy golf coach Bart Barnes and Hunter Hamrick - are serving as caddies at this week’s tourney.

Pike baseball gets red hot in playoffs and almost wins state title

Coach Will Austin intentionally created a demanding schedule to get his Patriots ready for post-season play. Pike was just one game over .500 (14-13) when it secured its third-straight AHSAA area title in its final regular season game against Zion Chapel.

Note: In the final regular season game of the year, star player Luke Barron had one of the most eye-opening stat lines I remember from one game. In the 13-1, five-inning victory, Barron went 3-for-3 from the plate with 7 RBI, including a home run and a triple. He was also the winning pitcher on the mound, striking out nine batters in five innings and allowing only one earned run. (Barron has committed to play college ball for the University of Mobile).

Luke Barron had a stellar season for Pike on the mound and at the plate.

Pike cruised through the fist two rounds of the AHSAA playoffs, sweeping Geneva (7-3 and 9-1) and Horseshoe Bend (14-3 and 14-1). Pike outscored its first two opponents 45-8.

Competition stiffened in the quarterfinal round as Pike won a 3-2 nail-biter over long-time AISA opponent Tuscaloosa Academy. The win came in the rubber match of the 3-game series.

According to The Messenger’s game story, “Tuscaloosa Academy led 2-1 going into the sixth inning when Barron drove in Pruitt Vaughan to tie the score. Garret Whitaker then drove Jackson Bowen home for the go-ahead run.”

In the semi-finals, Pike won another thrilling series, topping Reeltown in two games at Butch Austin Field in Troy.

The second game was a lopsided 10-4 victory. However, in the first game, Reeltown rallied from an 11-3 deficit in the sixth inning to tie the game and send it into extra innings with the game knotted 11-11.

In the bottom of the eighth, facing two outs, Kade Brookins stole home to give Pike the walk-off win 12-11.

Aside: I recently wrote that I’d only seen one player steal home in a baseball game (Mike Turk against CHHS in 1982 or 1983). This play might need to move into my list of “most unforgettable” sports plays in Troy history).

The two wins sent the Patriots to their first-ever championship round in AHSAA competition against Vincent in a game played at Jacksonville State’s baseball stadium.

Pike ran into a stellar pitcher, losing the first game 7-0, but fought gallantly in the second game, where the game was knotted 1-1 in the bottom of the last inning when a Vincent hitter delivered a clutch single to secure the home team’s first state title since 1986.

Still, Pike made history by advancing to the final round and one imagines the school’s first AHSAA state title will come soon enough.

Pike, which won 8 of 9 playoff games before falling to Vincent, won five state titles in 11 years (2012-2022) while a member of the AISA, including four straight before joining the AHSAA. (Pike would have probably won another state title if the 2020 season hadn’t been cancelled due to Covid).

The Patriots, who have won the Area title every year they’ve been in the AHSAA, finished 23-17 on the year.

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Payton Ousley is, perhaps, already Troy’s greatest sprinter

Just a sophomore, Patyon Ousley could be competing in the Olympic Trials one day if she continues to improve in the track and field sprint events.

In early May, Ousley competed at the 5A state track meet, winning both sprinting events - the 100 and 200 meter dashes - with meters to spare.

Ousley also won the 100-meter dash her freshman year in high school and was third in the 200 meters as a freshman.

Payton Ousley still has two years to win more state-championship medals! (All photos from Neal and Wally’s Sports Chat Site).

Ousley won the 100 with a time of 12.16, beating out the runner-up Zykeria Heflin of Central-Clay County with a time of 12.36. In the 200-meter dash, she clocked a winning time of 24.92, beating out second place Heflin’s time of 25.13.

Ousley had finished third in both events in the preliminary races so she was clearly saving her best effort for when it mattered most.

As a freshman, Ousley was also on the 4 x 100 relay team that finished second in the state.

Ousley now has a chance to win four straight 100-meter dashes, something that, according to Google AI, has never been accomplished in state track history.

“Run Payton, run!” … and congratulations.

Cencade Pennington was no slow-poke …

The only other local high school sprinter I remember winning a state title in any sprint event was Cencade Pennington, best known as a star running back at CHHS in the mid-1990s. Pennington later played running back at Auburn.

Pennington was also track standout at CHHS from his sophomore year of 1993 through his senior year of 1995.

Pennington twice won the state title in the 200-meter dash (1993 and 1995) and finished second in the 100-meter dash three years in a row - 1993, 1994 and 1995. (Cencade’s best time in the 100 was 10.7 seconds.)

In Olympics parlance, Cencade won two gold medals in the 200 meter dash and three silver medals in the 100-meter dash (five “medals” total) … plus at least one silver medal in the 4 x 100 relay.

In just two years of competition (with two to go), Payton Ousley has won two gold medals in the 100 meters, one gold medal in the 200 and one bronze medal in the 200 (four total “medals” in two years!) … plus a silver medal on the 4 x 100 relay team her freshman year.

A little history where I can brag on a classmate - Wanda Elder

I should mention that my CHHS classmate and friend Wanda Elder Brooks might be the school’s greatest track and field star - before Payton, that is.

In the 1983 State Track Meet (when there was only four athletic classifications), Wanda won the 3A 400-meter dash, finished second in the long jump, third in the high jump and ran the anchor leg on the 4 x 400 relay team that finished second.

That year CHHS’s girls track team finished third in the state. I think Wanda accounted for all 42 of Henderson’s points. Wanda, not surprisingly, later became a standout track athlete at Troy State. Wanda now lives in Montgomery where all three of her daughters were star athletes at The Montgomery Academy.

UPDATE: See Reader Comments’ section for info on the GREATEST sprinter who ever lived in Troy - James Batie, a former All-American track star at Troy State who once held the world record in the 50-yard dash. That is, in 1970, Batie was the '“world’s fastest human!”

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PLAS tennis athlete is state runner-up

Pike Liberal Art’s senior Amaia Vargas finished as State runner-up in the 1A/2A/3A Tennis championships this Spring.

Amaia Vargas made local sports history on the tennis courts. In addition to being a talented tennis athlete, Amaia could probably secure a contract as a model.

The daughter of Troy University tennis coach Rolando Vargas, Amaia won every match in impressive fashion until falling in the finals to St. Luke’s Episcopal’s Ella Bentley, the two-time defending state champion and one of the top tennis players in the state.

In the finals, Amaia lost the first set 6-0, but rallied in a very close second set before falling 7-5.

She had won her fist-round match, taking both sets 6-1 against a player from Whitesbug Christian Academy. In the second round, she prevailed in both sets 6-4 against an athlete from Shoal’s Christian.

In the semi-final third round against a player from Lauderdale County, Amaia had little trouble, winning 6-0 and 6-1.

For her high school career, Amaia had a record of 27-4 going into the 1A-3A finals. She was undefeated in matches this year until the state finals.

Amaia’s father has been the Troy University tennis coach since 2018. Rolando Vargas’ teams have made it to the Sun Belt semifinals in four of the last five seasons.

Before being named Troy’s tennis coach, Vargas led AUM to four national titles and 12 straight conference championships (men's and women’s).

Rolando Vargas was a star tennis player at Troy, his alma mater, in the early 2000s and later played three years on the professional level.

Amaia’s mother, Tiffany, previously taught at Troy Elementary School.

Amaia is the first tennis athlete from PLAS to make it to the State Finals since PLAS moved to the AHSAA. If my memory is correct, she is the only tennis player from Pike County to play for an individual state title in this sport.

Well done, Amaia!

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CHHS junior makes All-State in soccer

Daniel Frigge (Photo credit: Neal and Wally)

Another local athlete who made noteworthy news in recent weeks was Charles Henderson junior Daniel Frigge, who was selected 1st team 5A All-State.

It looks like Charles Henderson High School and Troy are now firmly established as homes of quality youth soccer programs. (I’ve previously run brief stories and photos of recreation teams that won state titles or finished as runner-up at State Tourneys.)

Making first team all-state in any sport is a big deal and Daniel has one more year of eligibility.

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Switching to golf …

My friend Collin McCrary was a third-team All-American golfer at Troy State and has won numerous state amateur tournaments as a player. These days he stays close to the game he loves by serving as a spotter for NBC Sports at the network’s biggest golf tournaments.

Collin McCrary, working for NBC Sports at a previous British Open. (Photo source: Wally and Neal’s Sport Chat Facebook Page).

This week Collin is at the U.S. Open being played at famed Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. (This is the 10th time Oakmont has hosted the sport’s national championship).

The tournament has a local flavor as two of the caddies have deep Pike County roots.

Hunter Hamrick is now the caddie of Nick Dunlap, a former U.S. Amateur champion at Alabama who became the first amateur to win a PGA event in 33 years. Dunlap later won another tourney as a pro and was the 2024 PGA “Rookie of the Year.”

His caddie, Hunter Hamrick, was a standout golfer at Alabama (and, later an assistant golf coach at UA). Hunter has played in several PGA events and once qualified for the U.S. Open as a player, shooting the second lowest round on Friday at Pebble Beach and finishing in the Top 40.

Hamrick, who grew up in Montgomery, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hamrick, both natives of Brundidge. Bill Hamrick’s trucking insurance company has operated businesses in Troy and Montgomery for more than 30 years.

Another former player who became a caddie is former Troy University golf coach Bart Barnes, who is the caddie for up-and-coming player Kevin Velo (who recently won the New Orleans Zurich Classic, with a playing partner.)

Barnes was previously a golf coach at Troy for 12 years (coaching both the men’s and women’s teams as, first, an assistant and then the head coach).

Barnes resigned in 2021 to become a caddie for a LIV Tour golfer before working with Velo.

With top pro golfers earning millions of dollars - and the caddies making 10 percent of the winnings - many pro golf caddies undoubtedly make significant income.

As shown above, many of the caddies are/were themselves highly-accomplished players. In fact, I’d love to see a four-round tourney of the best PGA caddies. I bet Hunter and Coach Barnes would be pre-tourney favorites!

…. Happy Hump Day/Night! See you tomorrow with my next Troy Citizen dispatch.

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