PLAS's Amazing run of AISA State Titles
I once did copious research into the incredible run of championship baseball, football and basketball teams "on the hill, but didn't have anywhere to run these stories + hospital helps neighbors.
While I graduated from CHHS, I’ve always been an avid supporter and fan of Pike Liberal Arts School as many of my best friends attended the school. Also, as a long-time local journalist, I’ve covered numerous big PLAS sporting events and teams.
However, I was out of the newspaper business when Pike had its most amazing run of athletic success.
In 2021-2022, when the Patriots became AISA state champs in all three major boys sports in the same academic year, I put on my researcher’s hat and tried to quantify some of the program’s superlative and unprecedented feats in team sports.
The following stories have never been published in their entirety anywhere else. Since I’ve now re-booted the on-line Troy Citizen, I wanted to publish a few excerpts that document this amazing run of success.
Most of these statistics date to May 2021 although a few sections were updated through the AISA baseball state title of 2022.
I also did a great deal of research into other AISA sports programs that had periods of great success and even mentioned a few AHSAA sports dynasties.
Of course, PLAS is now playing in the AHSAA … but, boy, did the Patriots leave their long-time AISA family on a high note!
From February 2021 …
Note: Any errors in research are my own and will be quickly corrected if warranted.
Pike is reigning state champs in all 3 major boys sports
By BILL RICE, JR.
By defeating AISA basketball powerhouse Tuscaloosa Academy, the Pike Patriots accomplished two historic feats: They won their first-ever basketball state title, and they’re also now the reigning state championships in all three major sports (football, basketball and baseball).
In its 51-year history, only two AISA schools have held state titles in all three sports in the same school year - Edgewood Academy (AA) and Abbeville Christian (A), which both won all three state titles in the 2015-2016 academic year. Pike is the only team to pull off the feat in the larger AAA classification.
In the AHSAA, only Madison Academy (in 2014-2015) held all three state titles in the same school year.
… Assuming all AISA teams have an equal chance to win a state title at the beginning of a season, the probability three different teams from the same school would win a state title are 1-in-2,156. (As there are 11 AISA teams in AAA football and 14 in basketball and baseball, multiply all three numbers to get this probability).
Pike is also the reigning state champs in varsity and junior varsity cheerleading.
Not only has Pike won state titles in three sports, the way the Patriots did it is also impressive. In basketball, the Patriots knocked off Tuscaloosa Academy, which is THE dynasty in AISA basketball with 20 state championships. In the championship game, Pike avenged a regular season loss to the Knights.
In football, Pike avenged a 26-7 regular season loss to Glenwood with a decisive 38-21 victory in the far-more-important rematch. Pike also knocked off Bessemer in the semi-finals, a team that had defeated Pike in the pre-season Jamboree.
To win its 2019 baseball title, Pike beat one of the more impressive teams in AISA baseball history, Morgan Academy. Heading into the final two games, the Senators were 30-0 and boasted a roster with at least four players who had SEC scholarship offers (and one player who is now an All-Star in the Major Leagues).
“That was one of the greatest series I’ve ever watched,” said AISA Athletic Director Reddie Beck.“Pike just kept coming back.”
Winning clutch games apparently begets more winning.
“These kids expect to win now,” said PLAS alum Mark Knotts.
Pike also pulled off a “four-peat” in baseball as it had won the previous three state titles in the sport. The school very well could have won five consecutive baseball titles; however, the 2020 baseball season was never finished due to COVID (PLAS would have been a prohibitive favorite to win that title).
Results of Pike’s last six seasons of baseball:
2016 - Lost in finals
2017 - Lost in semi-final round
2018 - State champions
2019 - State champions
2020 - Season cancelled due to COVID
2021 - State champions
2022 - State champions
The AHSAA ‘Triple Crown’ King …
While three schools have won the boys’ “triple crown” in AISA sports, only one school - Madison Academy - has pulled off the feat in the much larger Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA). Madison Academy won state titles in football, basketball and baseball in the 2014-2015 school year.
Even more impressive, Madison Academy won at least two state championships for four school years in a row. That is, of the 12 state title trophies awarded by the AHSAA in the school years 2012-2013 through 2015-2016, Madison Academy won 10. The only state titles it didn’t win in this span was basketball in 2014 and baseball in 2013.
Pike’s Trophy Case was bare … and then filled up rapidly ….
From the AISA’s creation in 1970 through 2008 (38 years), Pike Liberal Arts School did not win a single state title in any of the three major boys sports. In the past two academic years alone, the Troy school added six state titles to its trophy case. (Pike will be joining the AHSAA beginning with this fall’s football season).
The school has now claimed 11 state titles since the 2009-2010 academic year ( four in football, five in baseball and two in basketball).
Since 2009-2010, Tuscaloosa Academy had eight state titles in the sports of football, basketball and baseball. Of Tuscaloosa Academy’s eight state titles in this span, six came in basketball.
Pike is the only AAA school to have claimed state titles in all three sports in the last 14 years. Since 2018, Pike has won five baseball state titles, two football titles and two in basketball.
Raise your hand if you don’t have a state championship ring
…. As of the Spring of 2021, at least four current or past PLAS student athletes have been members of state championship teams in three different sports. At least 21 current or past PLAS student athletes were members of teams that won state championships in two different sports.
Since the academic year of 2017-2018, at least 50 male student athletes from Pike Liberal Arts have played on at least one state championship team.
For context, a typical class at PLAS has between 30 to 40 students, of whom about half would be males. In other words, the vast majority of male students who attended or are still attending the school have been members of at least one state championship sports team.
The king of kings in AISA sports …
What AISA school dominated the boys sports world more than any other for an extended period of time? Edgewood Academy of Millbrook … by a country mile.
From the academic year of 2009-2010 through 2016-2017 (8 years), Edgewood claimed 14 state titles in the three major boys sports. In football, the school won seven titles in eight years. It also won six state titles in eight years in baseball, as well as one title in basketball.
That is, of the 24 state championship trophies the AISA awarded in these eight academic years, teams from Edgewood won 14 (58.3 percent). If one counts only the sports of football and baseball, Edgewood won 13 of 16 possible state titles from 2009 through 2016.
AISA Boys State Titles by School & Sport - Through Spring 2021
Tuscaloosa Academy - 24 (20 basketball, 3 baseball, 1 football)
Edgewood Academy - 22 (12 baseball, 7 football, 3 basketball)
Glenwood Academy - 20 (14 baseball, 3 football, 3 basketball)
Marengo Academy - 17 (9 football, 7 baseball, 1 basketball)
Morgan Academy - 13 (11 football, 2 basketball)
Hooper Academy - 12 (6 football, 4 basketball, 2 baseball)
Lakeside Academy - 12 (9 basketball, 3 baseball)
Monroe Academy - 12 (10 football, 1 basketball, 1 baseball)
Patrician Academy - 12 (9 football, 3 baseball)
Bessemer Academy - 11 (8 football, 3 basketball)
Pike Liberal Arts - 11 (4 football, 5 baseball, 2 basketball). Note: All 11 Patriot state titles have been won since 2009.
Most State Titles by Sport …
FOOTBALL
Morgan Academy - 11
Monroe Academy - 10
Patrician - 9
Bessemer - 8
Edgewood - 7
BASKETBALL
Tuscaloosa - 20
Lakeside - 9
Evangel Christian - 8
BASEBALL
Glenwood - 14
Edgewood - 12
Demopolis - 11
Marengo - 7
5.Pike and Faith - 5
Longest consecutive championship streaks
8 consecutive titles - Edgewood baseball (2009-16)
6 consecutive titles - Edgewood football (2011-16)
5 consecutive titles - Lakeside basketball (1989-93)
4 consecutive titles - Southern football (2005-08)
- Morgan football (1998-2001)
- Demopolis baseball (1985-88)
Dynasty Runs ….
Edgewood Baseball - 8 state titles in 8 years
Tuscaloosa Basketball - 8 state titles in 10 years (1989-98)
Edgewood Football - 6 state titles in 6 years
Lakeside Basketball - 8 state titles in 11 years (1985-1995)
Morgan Football - 9 state titles in 13 years (1989-2001)
Groundhog seasons …
In the 2010 and 2011 baseball seasons, the same three teams won state titles both years: Coosa (A), Edgewood (AA) and Glenwood (AAA). Edgewood and Glenwood also won the state titles in 2009 to make it 3 years in a row that the AISA had the same state champions in two classifications. Said differently, two baseball teams pulled a “three-peat” and three teams pulled off back-to-back titles.
Excellence through the decades …
Only one AISA boys sports program has claimed state titles in the same sport for five consecutive decades - Tuscaloosa Academy basketball. The Knights have won state titles in the 1980s (5), ‘90s (7), 2000s (3), 2010s (4) and 2020s (1).
The Monroe Academy football program has won state titles in four decades: ‘70s (4), ‘80s (1), 2000s (1) and 2010s (4). Also, the Glenwood baseball program has claimed state titles in four decades: ‘80s (3), ‘90s (3), 2000s (3) and 2010s (5).
AISA Boys State titles since 2009, AAA Classification:
PLAS: 11 (5 in baseball, 4 in football, 2 in basketball)
Tuscaloosa: 8 (6 in basketball, 1 in football; 1 in baseball)
Gleenwood: 7 (6 in baseball, 1 in basketball)
Bessemer: 6 (4 in football, 2 in basketball)
Monroe: 4 (3 in football, 1 in baseball)
What schools have had the greatest success in the major AISA boys sports for extended periods of time. The following research provides some answers …
Most State Titles by Sport - Through Spring 2022
FOOTBALL
Morgan Academy - 11
Monroe Academy - 10
Patrician - 9
Bessemer Academy - 8
Edgewood Academy - 7
BASKETBALL
Tuscaloosa Academy - 20
Lakeside School - 9
Evangel Christian - 8
BASEBALL
Glenwood Academy - 14
Edgewood Academy - 12
Demopolis - 11
Marengo - 7
Faith - 5
Pike Liberal Arts - 5
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Hospital employees present funds to worthy organizations
Thanks to the generosity of Troy Regional Medical Center employees, Troy Regional presented a check this Christmas season for $600 to each of these community food pantries: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, the Salem-Troy Baptist Association, and the Pike County Salvation Army.
The Employee Philanthropy Food Bank Program has the mission of helping feed our neighbors in Pike County.
Employees are given an opportunity to set up payroll deduction for Employee Philanthropy, with several programs available. The causes are Food Bank, Pike Medical Foundation, Employee Benevolence/Assistance Fund, Christmas Families, and Patient Assistance Fund. There are programs to help co-workers, the community, patients, and the hospital.
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