The Reset: Baseball, softball teams play in spring break tournaments
Over the course of the year, the Hoover Sun will keep you up to date on the various Hoover and Spain Park high school athletic teams. For previous weekly updates, click here.
BASEBALL
Hoover
The Hoover baseball team started the Buccaneer Classic on Wednesday and posted a pair of dominant victories. The Bucs began the day with a 14-0 win over Buckhorn. Evan Veal and Robby Ashford both went deep and drove home five runs. Griffin Lape allowed just two hits in five innings of work. Hoover followed that up with a 21-5 win over Pelham. Preston Moore homered and drove in four runs, while seven other Bucs each had two RBIs.
The Bucs picked up two more wins on Friday after rain altered the Buccaneer Classic schedule on Thursday. In the first game, Hoover won 4-3 over Muscle Shoals, as Moore and Veal brought in two runs each. The Bucs then beat Oakland, 6-3. Veal finished a home run shy of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs. Daniel Swatek also knocked in two runs.
Hoover won three games on Saturday to take home the crown in its home tournament. The Bucs began the day with a 6-5 win over Enterprise in eight innings. Nolan Hammonds hit the walk-off sacrifice fly to send the Bucs to victory. Moore went 2-for-3 with a double and team-high three RBIs in the game. Peyton Wilson and Swatek each racked up three hits and a homer in the contest.
Moore and DiChiara homered in the Bucs’ 5-4 win over Helena in the following game. Swatek pitched five innings and all four of the runs he allowed were unearned. The Bucs finished off the tournament with an 8-5 win over Cullman, as they scored three runs in the seventh to break a tie game. Wilson doubled, homered and drove in three runs, while Veal got two hits and knocked in two runs.
Spain Park
The Spain Park baseball team began play in Hoover’s Buccaneer Classic on Wednesday and suffered a tough-luck 7-5 loss to Springville in nine innings. In the game, Adam Wygle went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs.
The Jags played just one of two scheduled games on Thursday due to rain, but they picked up a 6-3 win over Hazel Green in the one they got in. After giving up three runs in the top of the first, Spain Park scored the game’s final six runs to win. Sam Dozier was 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, and Jarrod Kennington went the distance on the mound, allowing seven hits in seven innings.
Spain Park split its two games on Friday. The Jags won a wild one over Houston (Tennessee), 16-15, after Houston walked the bases loaded in the seventh and plunked Wygle to force in the game-winning run. Colton Ledbetter and Brody Richey homered in the game and combined to drive in seven runs. Dozier went 2-for-2 at the plate with two doubles and three RBIs. Helena then downed Spain Park, 16-2.
The Jags wrapped up the tournament with a 4-3 win over Buckhorn on Saturday. Spain Park scored three runs in the seventh inning and Matthew Moser notched the walk-off single to lift the Jags.
SOFTBALL
Hoover
The Hoover softball team spent spring break at the beach, playing in Gulf Coast Classic III. The Bucs split their two pool games on Monday. Brooklyn Cannon threw a shutout in a 5-0 win over Station Camp. Cannon also drove in two runs. Sydney Chandler homered, doubled and knocked in two runs as well. In the second game, Pepper Nichols registered two hits in a 2-0 loss to Thomasville.
The Bucs split their pool games again on Tuesday to finish with a 2-2 record. They lost to Brantley, 4-1, before picking up a 6-2 win over Clay-Chalkville. Against Clay, Campbell Hecklinski went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Brynn Parker allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in five innings of work.
Hoover put together an impressive run on Wednesday to conclude the tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals. The Bucs began the day with a 4-0 shutout win over Cordova, as Parker allowed five hits and struck out six in a five-inning shutout. The Bucs then notched a 7-1 win over Davidson Academy, behind a big game from Cannon. She drove in three runs with the bat and allowed four hits and a lone unearned run in five innings. Hoover then knocked off Beech, 10-3, as Harper Niblett tripled and drove in three. Hoover fell to eventual runner-up Hewitt-Trussville, 13-0, in the quarterfinals.
Spain Park
The Spain Park softball team also played in Gulf Coast Classic III last week. The Jags split their pool games on Monday. In the first game, they fell to Beech, 8-3. Spain Park scored three runs in the final inning, including a two-run home run by Maddie Majors. The second game went better, as the Jags ran away with a 7-2 win over Hayden. Lindsay Parker and Caroline Wooley each homered and knocked in three runs, while Majors homered again.
Spain Park won both pool games on Tuesday to finish with a 3-1 record. In a 10-2 win over Headland, Bailey Bowers was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while Wooley and Annabelle Widra each knocked in a pair. Kate Campbell threw five innings, allowing just four hits and two runs (one earned). The Jags followed that up with an 11-5 win over Colbert Heights. Wooley had a big game, as she homered, doubled and knocked in four runs. Alexis Anderson drove in four runs as well.
Spain Park wrapped up the tournament after two games on Wednesday. The Jags began the day with a 9-0 win over Sumiton Christian. Majors was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs. Parker also knocked in three runs. Anderson only surrendered a single hit in four shutout innings, while also going 2-for-2 with an RBI at the plate.
The Jags then fell to eventual tournament champion Thompson, 4-1. The Jags got their lone run on a Wooley homer.
GOLF
The Spain Park boys golf team won the West Alabama Classic, posting a tournament record score of 570, three strokes better than Mountain Brook’s 2011 performance. Nick Dunlap won low medalist honors for the tournament, firing rounds of 69 and 65 (-10). Matt Stuart placed third with a two-day total of 142. Ethan Hagood’s 143 was good for a fourth-place tie. Reed Hereford (154), Carter Goodwin (155) and Davis Brown (163) also played for the Jags.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.