Jags win area tournament, Eagles also qualify for regional
HOOVER – The Class 7A, Area 6 tournament featured a team peaking at just the right time.
Even after beginning the season on a 21-game winning streak and achieving a national ranking by some outlets, the Spain Park High School softball team put together one of its most impressive stretches last week, enacting the run rule in all three games it played on the way to its third consecutive area tournament championship.
“It was a total team effort,” Spain Park coach CJ Hawkins said. “We stuck to the game plan and the kids are focused.”
The Jags secured the right to host the area tournament by way of a coin toss with Oak Mountain, as the two teams split their two area contests during the season and finished 5-1 in Area 6.
Spain Park (43-7) took down Huffman 17-1 in the first game, and Oak Mountain knocked off Mountain Brook, 9-3, to set up the first tournament matchup between the Jags and Eagles.
The last time the two teams played, on April 13, the Eagles outlasted Spain Park, 2-0, in 10 innings, as pitcher Clara Fuller hurled a shutout. But she would have no such luck this time around, as Spain Park dominated to the tune of a 14-2 score in five innings.
Spain Park got on the board first in a big way, with a seven-run third inning that featured a Jenna Olszewski three-run homer and a two-run double by Mary Kate Teague.
Mary Katherine Tedder launched a two-run homer in the fourth and the Jags got another two-run double from Teague to stretch its lead to 11-0. Oak Mountain got on the board with Riley Sullivan’s RBI double in the fourth inning, but Spain Park answered with two more runs in the fifth on run-scoring hits by Caroline Parker and Bailey Bowers.
The win clinched Spain Park’s berth at the Class 7A North Central Regional, set to begin Thursday evening. Oak Mountain (23-16-2) rebounded to knock off Mountain Brook once again – this time by an 8-1 final tally -- locking up its spot as well.
The teams faced off again in the area championship game, and the game followed much of the same script as the first one. Spain Park jumped out to a big lead and ended the game in five innings, going home with an 11-1 victory.
After the Jags plated three in the first inning, Abby Jones singled home a run, but that would be all the Eagles could muster against Annabelle Widra, who allowed just three runs to Oak Mountain in 10 total innings over the two games against Oak Mountain. Combined with Kate Campbell and Caroline Kendrick, the Jags pitching staff allowed just four runs in three games for the tournament.
Tedder launched a shot over the left field foul pole for a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to give Spain Park the 5-1 edge. The Jags scored twice more in the third to make it 7-1, as Maddie Majors poked a single up the middle to bring in a pair.
The Jags finished the game off in the fifth, as Widra cranked her first career homer, Olszewski drove in Julianna Cross with a double and Parker’s two-run single ended the game with the margin at 10.
For the tournament, the Jags outscored their opponents 42-4.
“Our bats came alive at the right time, our pitching was strong, and the defense was solid,” Hawkins said. “We put all three together at once and that’s what’s going to have to happen at regionals because we’re going to hit a juggernaut there.”
The two games Spain Park and Oak Mountain played in the regular season were decided by scores of 2-1 and 2-0, making the Jags’ offensive performance that much more impressive.
“It’s extraordinary,” said Hawkins. “That’s a team with a lot of talent.”
The teams could potentially face off again at regionals. The Eagles and Jags are in the North Central Regional at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa with the top two finishers from Region 5, Vestavia Hills and Tuscaloosa County.
Spain Park will face Tuscaloosa County and Oak Mountain will square off with Vestavia in the opening game of the tournament. Both games are tentatively set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, but with just 1.5 hours between game times, delays are likely.
The tournament featured the last three home games in the careers of the six Spain Park seniors, who have now been part of three consecutive area tournament championships.
“It’s so hard to win an area tournament,” Hawkins said. “They’ve been very resilient and dependable. I’m super thrilled for them. They accomplished something that has never been done. They’re a joy to coach.”