The Charles Henderson Lady Trojans lost to the Andalusia Lady Dawgs in the Class 5A, Area 4 Championship on Tuesday night.

After losing to Andalusia earlier in the day, the Lady Trojans needed to win the rematch later in the day on May 3 to force a third and deciding game between the two schools. After a stellar pitching duel led the two sides to remain scoreless going into the fourth inning of game two, CHHS took control.

In the bottom of the fourth, Dakota Berry drove Stella Gilbreath home with a sacrifice bunt to put Charles Henderson up 1-0. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Heather Maxwell extended the lead to 2-0 with a triple that drove home Jada Jones. McKenzie Cain’s double then extended the lead to 3-0 driving home Maxwell.

Andalusia scored its only run in the top of the sixth inning and then, in the bottom of the sixth, Hannah Sparrow hit a solo home run to extend the Lady Trojan lead to 4-1. Madison Stewart drove Jones home again with a line drive double and CHHS held on for a 5-1 win to force a third game between CHHS and AHS.

In the Area 4 Championship Game, Andalusia captured an 8-5 win to earn the area crown and win a No. 1 seed at the upcoming Class 5A Regionals. After CHHS went up 1-0 in the first inning, Andalusia exploded to score six runs in the second inning and that lead was simply too much for the Lady Trojans to overcome.

Stewart went 2-for-3 at the plate with two home runs, two RBIs and two runs in the championship loss. Cain went 2-for-3 with a home run, an RBI and a run. Gilbreath went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Gilbreath also pitched two innings and retired a batter, while giving up four hits and six earned runs. Sparrow pitched five innings and struck out one batter along with giving up seven hits and two earned runs.

Both Charles Henderson and Andalusia will advance to the regional round of the Class 5A State Tournament on May 11 in Gulf Shores.