Fresh off a run to the state championship match out of the consolation bracket, Orange Beach head bowling coach Phill Clemons was named the Alabama High School Bowling Coaches Association’s girls' Class 1A-5A Coach of the Year.

The Makos took home a Red Map trophy as state runners-up from the 1A-5A tournament at Bowlero Mobile for their first state championship hardware in bowling program history. Clemons owns 25 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, has helped develop the culture and character of Orange Beach varsity athletes and can now add to his trophy case.

The Makos were also the AHSBCA’s top-ranked team in the state from the final regular season poll for the girls’ Class 1A-5A division with Bayshore Christian not far behind at No. 3 and Elberta at No. 10. In the final boys’ Class 1A-5A poll, the Warriors from Elberta were the second-ranked team in the state with St. Michael at No. 10.

The AHSBCA all-state teams also featured one Baldwin County athlete each on the girls’ and boys’ Super All-State team that recognizes bowlers regardless of classification.

Emmanuel signee Megan Garrick represented Bayshore Christian on the girls’ Super All-State first team as well as earned a spot on the 1A-5A all-state squad. The Eagles found the end of the road in the South Regional Championships where Garrick registered the second-best series (two-game total) in the Class 1A-5A division at 357.

Elberta senior Copeland Bryant was similarly a first-team selection on the boys’ Super All-State squad as well as landed on the 1A-5A all-state team.

A member of the Warriors’ inaugural varsity squad as a seventh grader, Bryant grew into a leadership role and closes his six-year bowling career as an all-state honoree after Elberta’s run to the Final Four closed its fifth-consecutive state appearance. Bryant provided the state's ninth-best individual traditional game with a score of 230 in the final tournament of the year.

Baldwin County well represented on All-Region squads

Eleven other bowlers from Baldwin County joined Garrick and Bryant in garnering all-region honors from the AHSBCA.

Auna Gibson, Sullivan Jones and Reagan Busby bowled alongside Garrick and also represented Bayshore Christian on the girls’ 1A-5A All-Region 2 team. Miley Kate McMullan and Daigle Wilson from Orange Beach helped round out the all-region honors from that region.

Bryant’s senior classmates from Elberta’s inaugural squad, Jon Devery Thomas and Harris Dunlavy, also collected boys’ 1A-5A All-Region 2 recognition. Orange Beach’s Joseph Brown and Grayson Tucker bowled their way to all-region selections and rounded out that region.

On the 6A-7A stage, the Spanish Fort Toros had a pair of boys’ All-Region 2 representatives in Braylan Jarrell and Weston Payne. Spanish Fort found the end of the road in the regional round where Payne recorded the highest score (378 for 11th) of Baldwin County representatives in the boys’ Class 6A-7A division.