Eagles lock up playoff berth; Irons secures 300th win

Tuesday was a night of milestones for the Oak Mountain High School baseball program.

With a 9-3 win over Tuscaloosa County, the Eagles clinched their first playoff berth since the 2011 season. It will be the first time any player on the team will experience the postseason.

“We talked way back in January about the fact, last year’s team went their whole high school careers and never got to experience playoff baseball,” Oak Mountain first-year head coach Derek Irons said.

He said of this year’s bunch, “I told the guys, obviously we want to make the playoffs every year, but specifically this year, let’s send these seniors off, let’s give them this experience.”

The win also marked the 300th career victory for Irons as a high school head coach, but he doesn’t think that achievement will remain in the forefront of his mind.

“First of all, I’ll never remember this of (the 300th win),” Irons said. “I’ll remember this as the night we snapped the playoff drought. What it says is I’ve been incredibly blessed to coach some really good players.”

Naturally, Irons continued to deflect his own accomplishments.

“I can tell you this, those 300 wins, I have a total of zero hits. And I’ve thrown a total of zero strikes in all of them. I’m really kind of overwhelmed by God’s grace to me,” he said.

As for the game, nine total runs were scored in the first inning. Oak Mountain starting pitcher Joseph Hartsfield was greeted to a home run off the bat of Taylor Clemmons. Hartsfield allowed two additional runs in the inning, both unearned.

“They came out swinging the bats well,” Irons said. “Joe hasn’t been hit that hard all year. They were barreling balls up.”

The Eagles were not content to let the 3-0 deficit stand, and countered with six runs in the bottom half of the first. They added single runs in the third, fifth, and six to finish off the win.

Hartsfield hurled the complete game, not allowing much after the first inning. He allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out eight batters.

Mason Williamson and Gene Hurst wielded hot bats all night, each registering three hits and driving a in a pair of runs. Hartsfield and Garrett DeAraujo added multi-hit games as well. Hartsfield scored twice and DeAraujo had two RBIs.