The North Central Regional softball tournament certainly had a Cherokee County feel to it, as four teams from the county all advanced for a shot at playing for a state title.

All four teams won at least one game at Liberty Park in Vestavia Hills.

The Cherokee County Lady Warriors were the only team to advance to this year’s state tournament, but that doesn’t take away from the success the other teams had this season.

“I think it’s a great thing,” Cherokee County junior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith said. “We watched all three of the other county teams play down here, and they really did a great job, but it just didn't work out for them. It was great that all four of us were down here, and with us bringing it home.”

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One of the Cherokee County Lady Warriors’ pregame rituals is a team prayer before they take the field. However, head coach Travis Barnes added a little something extra to help the Lady Warriors earn some extra motivation during the area tournament.

Barnes got a softball and passed it around at school so the kids could put an inspiring phrase on it.

“We put it in the middle of our huddle when we pray,” Barnes said. “If something is going wrong, they can look at that ball and find a quote on there to lift their spirits a little bit.

It’s seemed to help so far, as the Lady Warriors claimed the Class 4A, Area 12 Tournament two weeks ago and went on to a 4-0 showing at the North Central Regional Tournament.

The ball will most certainly be going with the team to Montgomery’s Lagoon Park when they play Ashford on Friday at noon.

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Spring Garden second baseman Zonna Forrister suffered a scary moment on Friday when she slid into second base against Parrish in the third inning. Forrister gashed the inside of her lip and came out of the game.

However, Forrister proved to be tough as nails, as she came back on Saturday morning and played in the Lady Panthers’ games against Gaylesville and South Lamar.

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Switching gears to football, the Piedmont at Cedar Bluff spring jamboree game has been moved to May 20 at 7 p.m. The move was the result of Cedar Bluff’s baseball team making it all the way to the Class 1A state semifinals.

Piedmont is coming off a 13-2 season and its first Class 3A state championship in school history. Cedar Bluff went 8-4 and advanced to the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs.