Bucs fall in Game 1 of state final

MONTGOMERY – The Hoover High School baseball team faced an uphill climb from the get-go on Friday night, and the Bucs were never able to reach the top of the mountain in a 9-6 loss to Auburn in the first game of the Class 7A state final series at Paterson Field in Montgomery.

With the loss, Hoover will have to win two games on Saturday, the first of which will begin at 10 a.m. at Riverwalk Stadium, home of the Montgomery Biscuits.

The first four batters of the game for Auburn reached base, including runs scoring on an error, a single and a fielder’s choice before Rawlins Cleveland hit a two-run home run to give Auburn a 5-0 lead after an inning of play.

Brandon Agsalud and CJ Gilliland led off the second inning with singles for Hoover, as the Bucs began to rally. Drew Guffey knocked both of them in with a two-run double, and he came around to score on an error.

Auburn extended the lead to 6-3 in the second inning, and both teams exchanged two-spots on the board in the fourth.

Max Garvey hit a solo homer and three batters later, Peyton Wilson came around to score on a wild pitch to cut Auburn’s lead to 6-5, but the Bucs left the bases loaded.

Auburn was able to get both runs right back in the bottom half with Teddy Benda’s two-run single. The Tigers tacked on another run in the fifth, and Agsalud added an RBI single to make it 9-6.

Agsalud went 3-for-4 on the night, and Garrett Farquhar, Gilliland, Tyler Williams, Guffey and Garvey all registered two hits in the game.

Scott Elgin got the starting nod on the mound in Game 1, and went 4 1/3 innings. Griffin Lape and Daniel Swatek combined for 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

The Bucs loaded the bases in the seventh and brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but were unable to make anything of the threat.