Photo by Erin Nelson
The Lady Bucs celebrate on the court with the AHSAA Class 7A state championship trophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Bartow Arena on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The Bucs defeated the Huskies 61-37 to claim the Class 7A state championship. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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.
BASKETBALL
The Hoover girls basketball team won another state championship with a dominant win over Hewitt-Trussville last Wednesday in the Class 7A final. Click here for a full recap of the championship game.
Spain Park’s boys fell to Enterprise in heartbreaking fashion in the Class 7A semifinals on Tuesday. Click here to read about the final game in Spain Park’s tremendous season.
BASEBALL
Last Monday, the Spain Park baseball team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with a 4-3 win over Oak Mountain. Trent Thompson picked up the run-scoring hit to end the game for the Jags. Jake Majors was solid on the mound, allowing three runs (one earned) in five innings on the mound. Hayden Humber was stellar in relief, going two scoreless innings.
On Thursday, Hoover began play in the Perfect Game High School Showdown tournament with a couple games at the Hoover Met Complex. The Bucs fell short in both of them, losing to Central-Phenix City 6-1 and to Providence (Fla.) 3-1. In the Providence loss, Austin Cornelius was solid on the mound. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits and striking out 10.
Spain Park fell to Oak Mountain 9-1 on Thursday evening.
Hoover fell to Daphne 8-7 on Friday. Carter Short and Cade Carr each drove in a pair for the Bucs in the game.
Spain Park split a doubleheader with Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The Jags lost 4-3 and won 6-2. In the win, Wilkins Hunter earned a double and drove in two runs. Wes Sanders was solid on the mound, getting the start and going four innings, allowing two runs on four hits.
Hoover concluded play in the Perfect Game tournament on Saturday with a 4-1 loss to Mountain Brook.
SOFTBALL
Last Wednesday, the Hoover and Spain Park softball teams squared off, with the Jags rolling to a 13-3 victory. Annabelle Widra led the way with a dominant performance. In the circle, she struck out 14 and allowed two hits in five scoreless innings. At the plate, she went 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs and three runs batted in. Maggie Daniel homered and drove in three runs as well, while Lydia Coleman and Chloe Brittain each knocked in a couple runs. Hoover’s Gia Wade had two RBIs as well.
Hoover played in the Husky Round Robin at Hewitt-Trussville over the weekend. On Friday, the Bucs won both of their games. They knocked off Athens 4-3 in a tight contest. Campbell Hecklinski hit a home run and drove in half the runs, while Brookelyn Cannon was impressive in her seven innings in the circle, as she struck out 13.
The Bucs blew past Haleyville 15-2 in the second game. Hecklinski hit another homer and drove in three runs, while Claire Manering also knocked in three. Cannon had two RBIs and Olivia Christian allowed three hits in five innings in the circle.
Hoover finished the weekend on Saturday, winning on of its three games. In the first game, Hewitt beat the Bucs 8-5. Bella Foran led the Bucs’ offense, going 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in the contest. Caroline Whisenhunt drove in two runs in the ensuing 7-4 loss to Mortimer Jordan. But the Bucs rallied in their final game of the day, downing Helena 9-6. Hecklinski went deep and drove in two runs, while Cannon had two hits and three RBIs. Laney Roe was a great leadoff hitter, going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs batted in.
Spain Park hosted the Jag Classic over the weekend, beginning things on Friday with a 4-2 win over Hueytown. Katie Flannery knocked in two runs in that game. On Saturday, the Jags scored a 4-1 win over Corner to begin the day. Widra slugged two home runs and struck out 13 innings in six dominant innings in the circle. Spain Park then rallied to beat Satsuma 8-5 in the semifinals. Widra hit two more homers and drove in three runs, while pitching two hitless innings in relief. Flannery had two doubles, including the go-ahead hit, and drove in three.
Flannery slugged a three-run homer in the final, but the Jags fell to Vestavia Hills 4-3.
SOCCER
Last Tuesday, the Hoover boys soccer team beat Northridge 9-0. Brooks McKnight led the scoring with two goals. Also scoring goals for Hoover were Kosi Udeh, Igor Rudolph, Jacob Finley, Rod Bartenge, Rotimi Kukoyi, Graham Houlditch and Rishi Earla. Dylan Steely, Constantine Hontzas, Rudolph (two), Earla, Houlditch, Barrett Gregory, Finley and McKnight assisted on goals as well. Jonathan Figueroa made two saves in goal to earn the shutout.
Last Wednesday, the Hoover girls soccer team fell to Vestavia Hills 3-0.
On Thursday, the Spain Park boys soccer team beat Hewitt-Trussville, but the girls fell to the Lady Huskies 3-2 in double overtime.
Hoover’s boys finished the week with a 10-0 overall record after beating Sparkman 4-1 on Saturday. Jay Udeh scored three goals and Houlditch tallied the final goal in the second half for the Bucs.
TENNIS
The Hoover tennis teams took down Northridge last Wednesday, the boys winning 9-0 and the girls edging out a 5-4 victory.
Both Hoover teams won the Decatur tournament on Saturday.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.
