It was another banner year for Baldwin County where five Blue Map trophies were earned in team sports and 26 more individual goal medals were won by local athletes.

Gulf Coast Media looked back and compiled some of the top storylines of the year which ranged from first-time achievements to athletes ascending onto the next levels, to athletic investments as well as the state championships that returned to the county.

Visit gulfcoastmedia.com for more on the year in review from education, lifestyle and community, tourism, food and other news perspectives. Stay tuned for a photo edition of the year-in-review coverage on social media at @GCMSportsAL.

Athletic investments

Both high schools on Pleasure Island have made athletic investments with multi-sport complexes coming to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

Baldwin County Public Schools also diverted funds toward athletic facility upgrades across its seven high schools and racked up over $42 million in improvements. Another $14,000 went toward parking/campus refiguration and band/music room expansions.

First-time achievements

Thanks to growing participation, the AHSAA sanctioned girls’ wrestling and flag football for championship play. In the recent reclassification, they were included as the association’s 12th and 13th championship sports.

Bayshore Christian fielded its first football team; Gulf Shores climbed to its first No. 1 state ranking; St. Michael qualified for its first postseason; Bayside Academy’s Graham Uter was the first Admiral named an AHSAA All-Star.

The first all-state bowling team featured eight local athletes, four each from the boys’ and girls’ circuit.

Foley girls’ basketball went to its first final four where Jestiny Dixon was named Central Region Tournament MVP; Snook boys’ basketball claimed its first regular-season area title.

Both Gulf Shores soccer teams qualified for the state tournament for the first time; St. Michael girls’ team reached first final four tournament. All three teams earned their schools’ first Red Map trophies.

In an expedited ceremony, Orange Beach’s Georgia McDonald became the first graduate of the city school system so she could help the Mako softball team in the state tournament. Fairhope’s Ryley Harrison earned her school’s first Miss Softball honor.

Foley’s Evan Catlin became the Lions’ first wrestling sectional champion; Elberta’s Colton Sullivan earned the Warriors’ first individual state podium finish with third place in the 145-pound division.

Locals playing at the next levels

Over 100 Baldwin County alumni played college football this season, headlined by Spanish Fort’s Kris Abrams-Draine at Missouri who earned second-team All-American honors from the AP, CBS Sports/247 Sports and Walter Camp.

Other high school sports with NCAA Division I signees included basketball, track and field, baseball, golf, soccer, softball, lacrosse, swimming and volleyball.

Professionally, former Foley teammates landed with NFL teams where Julio Jones signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and DJ Fluker returned from a two-year hiatus to earn a practice squad signing with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Gulf Shores’ Brandon Silvers and St. Paul’s AJ McCarron also reunited on the XFL gridiron where McCarron went on to win league MVP then signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Baldwin County’s state champions

The most recent team to hoist a Blue Map trophy was the Gulf Shores football Dolphins who claimed the program’s first state title with an undefeated season. NC State signee Ronnie Royal took home MVP honors with a viral, one-handed interception.

The Orange Beach Makos remained the queens of the softball diamond despite two steps up in classification due to enrollment. South Carolina commit KG Favors, the second-ranked prospect in the Class of 2025, used an MVP effort to help Orange Beach earn its third consecutive state title.

Kalyse Hill from Daphne and Tamara Reed from Baldwin County also remained atop the girls’ wrestling world with their second straight individual championships in the 132-pound division and the 235-pound division, respectively. Trojan freshman Alanah Girard also returned to Daphne with an individual title in the 100-pound division.

Indoor track: Elberta’s Cameron Ossler won the 60-meter hurdles (with a school-record time) and the high jump for the Warriors’ first individual state titles in the sport. Similarly, Gulf Shores’ Lily Zlab (high jump) and Lydia Reno (shotput) recorded their school’s first individual state championships. Foley’s Destiny Roper (60-meter dash) and Zi’morah Foster (long jump) increased school-record marks to grab gold medals.

Outdoor track: Snook Christian’s Kareem Harris won the high jump to bring home the Eagles’ first AISA individual state title. Nine more golds were won on the AHSAA circuit, including Foley’s Destiny Roper (100-meter dash) and Emily Wolf (shot put), St. Michael’s Tia Acker (100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes), Bayside Academy’s 4x800-meter relay team (sophomores Annie Midyett, Catherine Doyle, Grace Dawson and Amelia Wells), Gulf Shores’ Lydia Reno (shot put) and Lily Zlab (high jump) and Spanish Fort’s Hunter Hall (discus).

Boys’ soccer teams from Daphne (Class 7A) and Bayside Academy (Class 4A) repeated with second consecutive Blue Map trophies. Noah Miller and Joey Jones were named their respective Tournament MVPs.

Spanish Fort’s Goodwin Holley won the No. 1 singles championship on the Class 6A boys’ tennis circuit. During a two-day hiatus from the finals and the rest of the tournament, Holley signed with the University of Mobile before he earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Luke Schwefler from Mountain Brook to help the Toros finish fourth overall.

Bayshore Christian’s Michael Heaton (Class 1A-2A, his second in a row) and Spanish Fort’s Jackson Spybey (Class 6A) collected individual state championships. Heaton logged a two-day score of 145 and Spybey led all local qualifiers with a final score of 138.

Bayshore Christian’s Caden Phillippi used an individual title to help the Eagles win their third straight cross country state championship. Phillippi crossed the finish line in 15:55.73 to take gold.

Cooper Brechman (1-meter diving) and Lena Amare (100-yard free and 200-yard IM) from Fairhope, as well as Liam Bickham from Gulf Shores (100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly) took home gold medals from the AHSAA swimming and diving championships.