Courtesy: AHSAA

“He would be so proud of all the people here that showed up. this would really have made him extremely happy and I know from heaven he is looking down on us and he is smiling as big as he can.”

Saban arrived at the University of Alabama in January of 2007 and quickly revitalized the Crimson Tide program, returning it to the nation’s elite by the 2008 season. He won his first BCS National Championship at Alabama in 2009 before etching his name in the annals of college football with back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.

Saturday night the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame will honor Saban for his accomplishments when they enshrine and celebrate the Class of 2013 during a banquet at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel.

“When you’re growing up as a kid, you always want to be able to do something of significance,” Saban said. “You hope that you can do something that affects people in a positive way and you leave some legacy at what you’ve done. Things like this make you realize that maybe you’ve done that, that your work has been recognized and that all the miles you drove in recruiting and all the family sacrifices that everybody had to make … it somehow makes you realize that it’s all worthwhile.”

Saban has won four National Championships in his past eight years coaching college football (LSU 2003), while also capturing four SEC Championships with coming at Alabama.

Saban, who will begin his seventh season in Tuscaloosa this fall, is a five-time National Coach of the Year. He is one of only four coaches in the modern-poll era of college football to win four National Championships, joining Paul “Bear” Bryant (Alabama: 1961, 64-65, 73, 78-79), Frank Leahy (Notre Dame: 1943, 46-47, 49) and John McKay (Southern California: 1962, 67, 72, 74). Saban is also one of three coaches in the poll era to win three national titles in a four-year span (Leahy and Nebraska’s Tom Osborne).

Saban has compiled a 154-55-1 (.737) record as a college head coach and has gone 61-7 (.897) in the past five seasons in Tuscaloosa, which includes a 35-5 mark in regular-season conference play. In 2012, the Tide reached the 10-win milestone for the fifth consecutive season under Saban. With another SEC Championship win and BCS National Championship Game victory last season, Saban is now 8-1 all-time in conference or national championship games.

Saban is one of eight members of the Class of 2013 inducted on Saturday evening. The group including Ronnie Baynes (SEC and NFL Official), the late Forrest Blue (Auburn center), Eric Davis (Jacksonville State football player), the late Bill Jones (North Alabama Basketball Coach), Bill Oliver (defensive coach at Alabama and Auburn), Vickie Orr (Auburn basketball) and Dannette Young State (Alabama A&M track and field).

“Anytime you get recognized with such a prestigious group of people that have been inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, it’s a tremendous honor,” Saban said.

A native of Fairmont, W.Va., Saban is a 1973 graduate of Kent State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business. He earned a master’s degree in sports administration from Kent State in 1975. Born Oct. 31, 1951, Saban and his wife, the former Terry Constable, have two children, Nicholas and Kristen.

For more information on Alabama Football, follow the Tide on Twitter @AlabamaFTBL and like the team on Facebook at AlabamaFTBL.

Courtesy: UA Media

The Eagles (46-7-2) defeated Winfield 9-0 in the finals for their 29^th consecutive win this season.

Pisgah won five straight Class 2A titles from 2001-2005 then captured 3A crowns in 2008 and 2001. They were runners-up to Saks last year.

Smith gave up 17 hits in four games, walked five and fanned 37. It was her third straight year to earn all-tournament honors. She was joined on the all-tourney team by teammates Lillie McCrary and Paxton Nance. McCrary, an all-tournament selection last year, had seven hits in the tournament including a 3-for-3 performance in the finals.

Winfield (40-10) placed four on the team–Samantha Riley, Emma Atkinson, Micaela Black and Madison Moore.

Courtesy: AHSAA

A sixth inning sac-fly off the bat of junior Molly Fichtner that scored freshman Andrea Hawkinsproved to be the difference as the Tide held on in the top of the seventh to down the Lady Toppers (42-17).

Alabama sophomore Leslie Jury(18-7) earned the win in relief, her second win of the tournament after allowing just one hit and striking out three in two innings of work.

Senior Kayla Braudcontinued her hot play as she batted 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. The fleet-footed outfielder now has five hits in the tournament. Hawkins followed with a 2-for-2 effort, adding a run and a RBI.

Braud ignited the scoring in the first inning as she chopped a single in front of the plate to record a hit in 22 straight games. She then stole second and third before scoring the first run of the game on a throw that sailed to the outfield on a Haylie McCleney steal attempt. Sophomore Jadyn Spencerthen drove in McCleney on a base hit up the middle to finish the frame with a pair of runs.

Western Kentucky then tied the score at two when Katrina Metoyer hit a two-run home run over the wall in left in the top of the second inning. The homer was her eighth of the season.

An inning later with two outs and a full count Metoyer struck again, this time hitting a bases-clearing triple to give the Lady Toppers a 5-2 lead.

Alabama would answer by putting up four runs in the bottom half of the third inning to take a 6-5 lead.

Senior Courtney Conley started the scoring by drawing a bases-loaded walk that plated pinch-runner Jordan Patterson. Sophomore Danae Hays then hit a sac-fly to left to score junior Kaila Huntbefore Hawkins lined a single to right that scored Spencer. Braud completed the scoring in the frame with a sac-fly to center that plated Conley.

Western Kentucky evened the score at six in the sixth inning on a two-out chopper that snuck through up the middle off the bat of Preslie Cruce.

Alabama will now await the rest of Saturday’s games to learn who it will face Sunday with an NCAA Super Regional berth on the line. First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, at Rhoads Stadium.

Courtesy: UA Media Relations

The Lady Lions, seeded eighth, defeated Salt Lake City (Utah) CC 7-3 in Saturday’s NJCAA Division I national title game, using another big offensive inning in order to capture it all at the Canyons Complex in St. George Utah.

Tournament MVP and Most Outstanding Pitcher Lindsey DeFee scattered two earned runs on five hits in seven innings, freshman Kori Benson added her school-record 23rd home run and the Lady Lions put together a five-run seventh inning to pull away and earn the college its sixth national title overall.

“I can’t say enough positive things about this team. It seems like for the last month we’ve had a lot of clutch hits from people up and down the lineup. I can’t even begin to name them all, but that’s helped us achieve this ultimate goal, along with our two sophomore pitchers,” said Wallace State coach Jayne Clem, whose team won its first national crown in 2008. “Nobody thinks Alabama can play softball in junior college, so we never get much recognition. We still may not get any after this, but we’ll continue to prove it on the field.”

A year after finishing third nationally, Wallace State’s only hiccup in the tournament was an 8-0 loss in Saturday’s opener, forcing the Lady Lions to win the title in the “if” game.

The Lady Lions (55-12) were up to the task. Their forte throughout the entire tournament was giving the pitching staff a comfortable lead by exploding for big innings. With the game tied at 2-2, Wallace State decided the seventh was the magic inning in the finale.

For the third time in the tournament Wallace State batted around, sending 10 to the plate. Victoria Frith drove in the first run with an RBI single, and Katie Gentle and Kori Benson each added two-run singles for a 7-2 advantage.

After allowing a one-out solo homer and single in the bottom of the seventh, DeFee induced a 4-6-3 double play to start the celebration.

“Words can’t describe what this means to this team.  It’s the best feeling I’ve had in my life,” said DeFee, a Eufaula native. “We proved ourselves the entire tournament. I knew our hitters were going to come through and take the pressure off the pitching staff.”

DeFee was pressed into duty earlier than she expected during Saturday’s opener, relieving BreeAnna Blevins, and readjusted to Salt Lake hitters in the championship game. DeFee (26-5) earned three victories in the tournament, including two against second-seeded Salt Lake.

“It took a while for me to get ready mentally, and after we lost that first one I told myself we weren’t going to lose the second one,” DeFee said. “I knew my teammates weren’t going to let it happen either.”

Wallace State reeled off a perfect march at the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) tournament earlier this month to punch its national tournament bid and was nearly as dominant at nationals. The Lady Lions felt they were slighted by earning a No. 8 seed in Utah and they made each opponent pay.

Along their route to the title, Wallace State defeated top-seeded Butler (Kan.) CC, No. 2 Salt Lake and fifth-seeded Pima (Ariz.) CC.
“We play as a team—that’s all it is. From the first game at the state tournament to the last game here, we played as a team. Butler (CC) had tons of girls already signed with Division I programs, but that didn’t matter or intimidate us,” said Wallace State sophomore catcher Paige Rowland. “We knew what our mission was and we were going to get it. It also helped out we came so close last year (when we finished third.) We knew what to expect and some teams here didn’t.”

Benson, Wallace State’s third baseman, was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the tournament and she wasn’t a slouch with her bat either. She hit three homers in the tournament, including a two-run shot in the championship game. She finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs.

“When I committed to play at Wallace State in high school, I knew I was going to be a part of a national championship team,” said Benson, an Oak Grove grad. “We came closer as a team after we lost some games we shouldn’t have in April. That’s part of growing up, and we’ve grown up a lot in the last month.”

Also named to the All-tournament team were Wallace State’s Gentle, Madeline Lee and Brittany Gillison.

Clem was named the winner of the Karen Sykes Outstanding Coach of the tournament, earning the recognition for the second time in her eight national tournament appearances.

Courtesy: Wallace State Media Relations

A two-out rally for Valdosta State that produced five runs – including three on a bases-clearing double off the bat of South Region Player of the Year Courtney Albritton – would be all that the hosts would need in the third game of the series as the team punched its ticket to the Division II National Championships for a second consecutive season.

VSU recorded 13 hits in the contest while holding the Chargers to six and not allowing UAH to score until the sixth inning when Kathryn Whitlock singled to center to plateMary Kelley. The Chargers would put together a two-out rally in the seventh, scoring twice when Cortney McNett doubled down the left-field line, but Hanna Lythberg (16-4) would ultimately record the third out to end the contest and pick up the victory in the circle for VSU.

Kimberly Jack (15-7) was charged with the loss for UAH.

To force the deciding third game of the series, the Chargers overcame three Blazer home runs and scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn the victory.

Kelley had given UAH the first lead of the game with a two-run homer in the first, and after VSU cut the lead in half with an Albritton long fly, Whitlock singled in a run in the third to provide UAH with a 3-1 advantage.

Angela O’Connor then recorded a solo shot in the fourth inning, and Albritton belted a two-run jack in the fifth to put Valdosta State in front for the first time in the game at 4-3.

UAH would tie the contest in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Brianna Sullivan, and the Chargers then won the game on another two-out RBI as Mallory McNealsingled in Kelley who had doubled to start the inning.

Whitney Gilbert (16-7) pitched four innings of relief and earned her 16th win of the season.

UAH out-hit Valdosta State in the day’s first contest 9-8 with the 3-4-5 hitters of Kelley, McNett, and Whitlock each recording a pair with Kelley also scoring twice and driving in two runs. With three hits and three runs driven in, Albritton led the Blazers in the contest.

Courtesy: UAH Media Relations

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – On June 26, 1996, Lynn and Fitzgerald McQueen welcomed their son Gerald into the world. The pregnancy was healthy, but a few months after his birth they noticed something was wrong.

“He had this cold we just couldn’t shake,” said Fitzgerald McQueen.

After months of doctor’s visits, they received the heartbreaking news. On his first birthday, Gerald was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.

The diagnosis turned the family’s world upside down, and started a 15-year journey of surgeries, countless hospital stays, and financial struggle.

“Unless you live it, I can’t explain it. If you haven’t had a child in a crib with wires galore hooked up to them, you won’t understand it,” said Fitzgerald. “If you haven’t had to make a choice of do I get this medication or pay that bill, you won’t understand it. Every day you have a choice to make.”

Two years ago the McQueen’s made the choice to split apart the family, Gerald and his mother, Lynn, would move to St. Louis, while his father and sister would stay in Alabama, so he could have the chance of getting a double lung transplant.

However the doctor’s said Gerald wasn’t sick enough to qualify for the surgery.

“They sent us home and said you’re going to have to watch him deteriorate over the next two years,” said Lynn Mcqueen.

Now at 16 years old, Gerald is eligible for the $550,000 surgery. The McQueens  know their son’s future if the surgery isn’t done.  So now, after years of sacrifice, they’re asking for help, as they prepare to move to St. Louis.

“We have our family here and they’ve done as much as they can do,” said Lynn. “But over the years things build up, bills get backlogged and medical bills are there. So we’re in a bind.”

Even though the move is daunting, and Gerald future uncertain, the family has found the strength they need, through watching their son.

“I don’t think about before [the surgery], just think about after,” said Gerald. “It’s going to be a lot more fun. A lot more …free.”

His father, Fitzgerald, keeps the same positive outlook.

“He’s going to do it, we’re going to do it as a family, as a team, as a community. I think collectively we all have to work to get him another set of lungs, so he can have more birthdays.”

How Can You Help?

Gerald and his family will be holding a video game tournament fundraiser on Sunday, May 19th.

• When:  Noon – 4 p.m.
• Where: Bob Jones High School Gym
• Tickets are $10 per person, or $20 per family of 5.

Alabama Football tickets, a three-day vacation, and golf passes will be sold in a silent auction. They will also have a drawing for door prizes.

You can purchase tickets for the event, donate to help the family’s cause, or learn more about Gerald’s story at his website Gerald’s Second Breath.

Of those injured, at least five or six were “trauma victims,” the dispatcher said.

The accident occurred during the Hiker’s Parade at the annual Trail Days festival, which honors the famed Appalachian Trail, in the town near the Virginia-Tennessee border.

Dalton Thomson said that he was pushed out of the way of the oncoming car by a hiker.

“We all looked back. There were hikers on top, hikers under the car,” said the boy. “It was unreal. Nothing could be as scary as that.”

No deaths have been reported so far, but police say some of the injuries are severe.

The race is June 9, 2013 at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in the United Kingdom.

Good luck, Team USA Huntsville!

Tune in for great golf tips on The 19th Hole every Saturday on WHNT News 19 This Morning.

The Hornets 9-8 loss to mobile Christian earlier in the day sent them to the losers’ bracket where they would eventually win three straight and take their 4th consecutive 2A crown.

UAH will need to win two contests on Saturday to earn a trip to the Division II Softball National Championships. In 2011 when the Chargers were last in the Super Regionals, West Alabama knocked off UAH in the opening game before the team was able to win twice against the Tigers the next day to punch its ticket to Salem, Va.

The Chargers led through the majority of the contest, but VSU used a big inning late to take the contest.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth and Ashley Steinhilber aboard after drawing a walk, pinch hitter Angela O’Connor belted a two-run homer over the fence in left to tie the game at 2-2, delighting the crowd of more than 750 that were on hand to see the contest between two of the best programs in the country.

O’Connor was the last batter that Whitney Gilbert would face, and she finished the night by allowing six hits in her 5.1 innings pitched while striking out two.

Kimberly Jack (15-6) entered the game in relief, and the Blazers were able to string together five consecutive hits to plate three more runs with Fran Johnson’s two-run double ending up being the game-winning hit.

UAH was able to put together a two-out rally in the top of the seventh as Brianna Sullivan scored on a double by Mary Kelley, but Brianna Hancock (20-4) induced a fly out to left to end the ballgame.

The Chargers struck first in the contest, scoring a run in the first inning without the benefit of a hit.

Sullivan led the game off with a walk and moved to second on a Kelley sacrifice bunt after which Cortney McNett and Kathryn Whitlock drew walks to load the bases. With the bags packed, Sullivan trotted home to score the opening run after Hancock was charged with an illegal pitch.

Adding to the lead in the second, Meagan Billingsley reached on an error, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Kellie Johnson, and then stole third. That allowed her to easily score when Sullivan singled into left, providing UAH with a 2-0 lead.

The score would remain that way until the big sixth inning for the Blazers.

Game two of the best-of-three series is slated for noon CDT.

Courtesy: UAH Media Relations

The Tide picked up two runs each in the third and fifth innings. In the third, junior Ryan Iamurri and senior Kayla Braud crossed home plate on a Molly Fichtner single. In the fifth, Alabama used the long ball to plate its runs with junior Kaila Hunt and sophomore Jadyn Spencer both sending the ball over the fence with back-to-back home runs. Sophomore Leslie Jury picked up the win for Alabama, pushing her record to 17-7 on the season, while junior Tiffany Harbin took the loss for JSU, falling to 17-14.

Alabama returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. against Western Kentucky while Jacksonville State faces USC Upstate in an elimination game Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Courtesy: UA Media Relations

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Shortstop Brett Blackwood slammed a two-run homer in the first inning and third baseman Tyler Phillips added a solo blast in the fifth as Hartselle beat Spanish Fort 8-2 to take game one of the AHSAA Class 5A State Baseball Series Friday night.
In between the homers, the Tigers (43-15) posted five runs in in the third inning at Paterson Field and the defending state champion Toros (38-8) never recovered.
Coach William Booth’s Tigers managed just six hits but took advantage of five walks and three Spanish Fort errors to give their coach his 906^th career win. Winning pitcher Jackson Smith (9-1) hurled a complete game allowing just six hits and striking out two. Starter Ethan Walker (6-3) got the loss for Spanish Fort.
Phillips, batting ninth in the order, had two hits and three RBIs for Hartselle.  Catcher Chris Brown also had an RBI double to highlight the third-inning rally.
Tyler Trammell had two hits and  Will Luft had an RBI to pace Coach Brett Boyd’s Toros.
Game two of the 5A Series is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Riverwalk Stadium. Game three, if needed, will follow at approximately 1 p.m.
The games are being livestreamed via the AHSAA TV Network by digital partner Play On! Sports.

Class 3A Championship Series: Game 2
Trinity Presbyterian 8, Mars Hill Bible 0

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Trinity Presbyterian High School captured its second straight Class 3A State Baseball Championship Friday at Riverwalk Stadium with an 8-0 win over Mars Hill Bible as winning pitcher Alan Wood tossed a two-hit shutout to get the final win.
Wood (9-1), who struck out four and walked none for Coach Ken Whittle’s Wildcats (33-8),   faced only 25 batters – four over the minimum.  He yielded a game-opening double to J.T. Hudson but didn’t allow another hit until Hudson singled to start the sixth.
Thomas Burrows (12-1) started for Mars Hill Bible (32-19) and went 5 2/3 innings to get the loss. Burrows, who pitched the Panthers’ final game in their Class 2A state championship series in 2012, compiled a 21-2 record over the last two seasons.  He allowed seven hits and seven runs while striking out four Friday. Trinity scored seven of its eight runs against Coach Jay Mitchell’s Panthers in the last three innings.
Freshman shortstop Robert Adams earned MVP honors slugging a triple and single to score one run and drive in another for Trinity Friday. He also tripled on Thursday and finished with four RBIs and three runs scored in the two-game sweep.
Trace Johnston had two hits and two RBIs for the Wildcats and Brock Stevens had a triple and three RBIs.

Courtesy: AHSAA

Beyond the darkness, lies greatness.

Good sci-fi has always been about the discussion of sensitive issues in a “safe” environment.  Issues like race, morality, bigotry, and inequality.

The original Star Trek series was able to subtly subvert the societal norms of its day and really play with tough issues with episodes such as Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (January 10, 1969), which tackled racial superiority in a supercharged racial climate.  That was part of the charm, character, and importance of the original series.

Knowing what we know about the original series, does Star Trek Into Darkness make an effort to say something about our political day, or is it all spectacle and lens flare?  Read on to find out.

The outstanding cast from Star Trek (2009) is back.  Chris Pine returns as the headstrong and likeable Captain James Tiberius Kirk.  Pine has a swagger and brandish way about him that deservingly brings the role of Kirk to life for a new generation.  Kirk believes the rules don’t apply to him, and the audience believes him.

Zachary Quinto, again, is able to capture the part of Spock in a new and refreshing way, but still remains loyal to the original performance by Leonard Nimoy.  Quinto nails the duality of Spock nicely with a kind of painfully-contained emotion.

The performance that has fan-boys and girls guessing about is the character played by actor Benedict Cumberbatch.  The villain for the film, Cumberbatch is a terrorist manipulated by forces unseen, prompting an overly aggressive and unethical response from Kirk and Star Fleet.

This point is where the film truly shines as a mirror to today’s tough societal issues.  There are incursions into non-Federation space in attempts to capture the bad guy at the risk of igniting a larger war.  This rings awfully similar to the ethical questions posed by the United States’ ventures into the Middle-East to find Osama Bin Laden.

Seen in IMAX 3D, Into Darkness is visually astonishing.  Set almost 250 years into the future, Into Darkness doesn’t suffer from the “unfamiliarity” that some sci-fi films do.  Technology has moved on, but people remain the same.  People still get sick.  People still have relationship problems.   And above all, people still have the choice between right and wrong.

Should you take the kids to see Star Trek Into Darkness?  As always, that is for the parents to decide.  However, here are some things you should consider.

There is light sexual content in the film.  Kirk is seen in bed with two cat-tailed alien women.  A female character changes clothes and we see her in a bra and underwear.

There is mild “action” violence in the film.  There are several firefights, ship to ship battles, and hand to hand combat scenes.  A building is blown up by a terrorist.

There is light profanity in the film, but it is noticeable in some scenes.  It is most often used as a reaction or for emphasis.

Into Darkness is a perfect balance between moral lecture and summer blockbuster.  The movie is highly focused on societal questions, solving them in elaborate action sequences, but none the less engaged.  If you’re expecting the movie to be like Star Trek (2009), you will be happy to know that Into Darkness goes above and beyond.

Into Darkness gets 5/5 stars.

Porter says she stepped outside to check on some plants when she saw debris swirling around her home.

“I saw the wind and as I stepped back in to the house it sucked the door [closed],” said Porter.

Porter and her family sought shelter in the home’s bathroom. Outside, the winds toppled a tree, landing within inches of her home and car.

Down the road employees of Steelcase, Inc. say they think they saw a tornado.

“I didn’t really know what was going on because I’d never seen this. In real life it’s like ‘BAM!’ I’m looking up in the sky and stuff is just - stuff is just goin’ around and around,” said Gerry Robinson, who witnessed the storm.

A team from the National Weather Service went through Athens surveying the damage. They say they need to take the severity and breadth of the damage into consideration in order to determine exactly what type of weather event occurred.

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor show more than 840,000 veterans are looking for jobs. Some are our neighbors in the Tennessee Valley.

“It seems like if you apply for one job out there, probably 300-400 are applying for the same job,” said Army Veteran Derrick Pelt.

Pelt is one of hundreds who meet face to face with employers at the Empowering Our Veterans’ job fair in Huntsville.

Crystal Juengel, whose husband is a veteran, has looked for work since April 2012.

“I have in over 35 resumes right now and have not had the first interview,” said Juengel.

That’s in the last two weeks. Alabama reported a drop in its unemployment rate. Juengel is not impressed.

“It’s still a little bit high to be honest with you. The job market seems like there are a lot of jobs, but it doesn’t seem like there are many for entry level positions,” said Juengel.

She and Pelt are motivated.

“It’s very encouraging. I definitely think the veterans get a lot of help out here,” added Pelt.

Organizers registered more than 200 people for the job fair. Dozens of employers, including WHNT NEWS 19, took part in the fair.