American Christian Academy Wins State Championship in Baseball on Friday

JACKSONVILLE, Ala.- American Christian Academy won its sixth state championship in baseball on Friday after the Patriots defeated St. Paul’s Episcopal 7-5 in Game three of the 5A AHSAA State Finals.

Del Howell, now in his sixth season as the head baseball coach for the Patriots, has led the team to its fourth state championship. His first as a coach. As a standout pitcher at ACA, he helped the program secure three state titles (2004, 2005, and 2006) before graduating and continuing his playing career pitching for Alabama.

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The Patriots lost game one on Thursday, falling to the Saints with a score of 3-2. This left American Christian Academy facing elimination in game two. However, the team from Tuscaloosa County did not disappoint. The Patriots secured a win in game two with a final score of 4-3. Notably, Eric Hines, the center fielder for ACA and an Alabama baseball commit, hit his 20th home run of the season during this crucial win.

ACA was also led by an amazing pitching effort by Brandon Garth Jr with the right-handed freshman pitcher recording six strikeouts and holding St. Paul’s to only three runs in the game two win, which saw the freshman pitch the entire game.

Game three saw American Christian Academy trail for a majority of the game, with the score being 4-0 going into the sixth inning, which saw ACA bring its first run of the game across home plate thanks to a two-out infield RBI single. After this, the Patriots’ designated hitter, Caleb McAusland, knocked an RBI single out to left field to bring home a run for the ball club, making it a 4-2 game with the Patriots having a pair of runners on base with two outs in the inning.

That didn’t faze ACA’s catcher Jaylen Crocker, with the Junior coming away with a huge at-bat resulting in a 2RBI double out to deep left center field to tie this game up at four apiece going into the final inning in this championship game three.

In the seventh inning, ACA continued its hot streak with the Patriots’ first baseman, Hunter Elmore, driving home the go-ahead runner for the Patriots thanks to an RBI single to right center field. This made it a 5-4 ball game, giving ACA its first lead of the contest. The Patriots would go ahead and drive home two more runs in the inning thanks to a sac fly from Evan Lightsey and McAusland, who picked up his second RBI of the contest, to give American Christian a three-run lead going into the bottom half of the final inning of the 2025 season.

St. Paul’s was making a strong effort to stage a comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning, having loaded the bases with no outs. However, the Patriots’ defense stepped up to the challenge and extinguished the Saints’ hopes. Benjamin Barber recorded a strikeout, giving the Patriots their first out of the inning. Shortly after, Eric Hines caught a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing St. Paul’s to score a run and narrow the deficit to 7-5. Now, the ACA Patriots needed just one more out to secure their first 5A State Championship and the program’s first state title in baseball since 2011, when they competed in Class 2A. That final out came as a pop fly to right center field, bringing the season to a close and crowning the Patriots as the 2025 5A AHSAA State Champions.

ACA has completed its redemption tour after falling in the 4A AHSAA state finals at the hands of Corner in a devastating blow-out game three loss. Now the Patriots can enjoy the success as the team wins a state championship in its first season, moving up from 4A to 5A.

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