Golden Graham – Jags wins spring break tourney
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Led by star player Austin Graham, the Spain Park Jaguars downed two top-10 teams to win the spring break tournament co-hosted by Clay-Chalkville and Mountain Brook last week.
The Jags knocked off each of the host teams, which both entered the tourney ranked in the top 10 on the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s 6A poll, to claim the tournament title.
Graham, a University of Alabama commitment who is garnering the attention of professional scouts for his powerful pitching arm, was equally dangerous at the plate.
He had a double and two RBIs for Spain Park in the tournament final against Mountain Brook, which the Jaguars won 7-1.
Graham also went deep twice in four games for Spain Park during the tournament and pitched the Jaguars to a win against Southside-Gadsden.
But it was Jay Harrington’s solo home run that helped Spain Park edge top-ranked Clay-Chalkville 5-4 in extra innings.
Gulf Shores Tournament
Thompson 11, Briarwood 4: Thompson shortstop Ritchie Franklin was 4-for-4 with a double, home run and five RBIs to lead the Warriors past Briarwood in the Gulf Shores Tournament last week.
The Lions (12-8) were charged with four errors and gave up seven unearned runs in the loss.
Daniel Hamlin, Daniel Cox and Malachi Gandy each struck out two batters for Thompson (14-5), who scored four runs in the top of the third inning and six more in the fifth.
Joe Sparacino scored two runs and knocked in two more while Nick Harris was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Thompson.
Chris Liles was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a double for Briarwood.
Prattville 8, Thompson 1: Joe Sparacino’s solo home run in the fourth wasn’t enough to lift Thompson, who fell to last year’s 6A runner-up in the Gulf Shores tourney.
The Warriors committed seven errors and gave up five unearned runs in the loss.
Austin Lucas was charged with the loss for Thompson, striking out nine and walking three in five innings pitched.
Thompson 8, Priceville 2: Chris Grubbs pitched three innings to pick up the win for the Warriors.
Designated hitter Deven Onarheim went 2-for-2 with a run scored while Malachi Gandy and Travis Prater each had two RBIs for Thompson.
Gandy also struck out two batters in one inning pitched.
Thompson 7, Hazel Green 2: Ryan Chase went the distance for Thompson, with five strikeouts, no walks and eight hits allowed across seven innings.
Ritchie Franklin was 2-for-2 with two RBIs while Chris Myles and Daniel Hamlin each had two hits for the Warriors. Myles also scored three runs.
Dustin Holmes hit a solo home run for Thompson.
Hazel Green 5, Briarwood 4: Hazel Green scored the winning run of a throwing error in the top of the sixth. The Lions left eight men in scoring position in the loss.
Jeremy Hall was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two stolen bases for Briarwood. Grant Luke had a double and scored a run.
Brian Jeffcoat struck out four in five and one-thirds innings for the Lions in the loss.
Briarwood 13, Prattville 3: Briarwood Pitcher Kevin Pence helped himself, driving in the Lions’ first four runs in the Gulf Shores tourney victory.
Pence allowed four hits and struck out four in five innings pitched. He finished 4-for-4 at the plate with five RBIs and two stolen bases.
Brad Nichols also had four hits and scored four runs for Briarwood.
Evans Smith and Kevin Cope each added two hits for the Lions.
other games
Chelsea 7, Wetumpka 1: Doug Pate took a shutout into the final inning for the Hornets (11-3 and No. 8 in Class 4A) at Wetumpka.
Pate gave up six hits and struck out seven for Chelsea across seven innings.
Casey Morris had two hits and three RBIs with a run scored while Walker Kent went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
James Ward added two RBIs and Zach Richey had two hits for Chelsea.
Russell County 11, Chelsea 5: The Hornets fell to the top team in Class 5A with a loss to nationally-ranked Russell County in Wetumpka.
Doug Pate was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Hornets.
Casey Morris added two RBIs while Chris Sturdivant, Brad Rawlins and Matt Kennessey each scored runs for the Hornets.
Colby and Corey Rasmus hit back-to-back homers for Russell County in the fourth inning.
Brad Stidham pitched all six innings for Chelsea and was charged with the loss. He struck out three and walked four.
Shelby Academy 3, Tuscaloosa Academy 3: The Raiders eight-game winning streak came to an end in a 3-3 tie with Tuscaloosa Academy. The game was called due to darkness after nine innings of play.
Shelby jumped out to an early lead when Marcus Jones tripled to bring home Colby Green and then Jake Ingram knocked in Jones with a single to put the Raiders on top, 2-0.
Jones pitched five innings for Shelby, giving up one earned run and striking out two.
Tuscaloosa Academy picked up the lead with two runs in the top of the seventh, both unearned, off Josh Kervin, who pitched the final four innings of play.
Jason Stokes scored on a Josh Sharp grounder to tie the game for Shelby (8-0-1).
Shelby Academy 16, Central Christian 4:
Shelby had 15 hits in a win against a region opponent in Selma.
Josh Sharp was 4-for-4 for Shelby with two doubles.
Marcus Jones picked up the win, fanning five in two innings of work. He added three RBIs at the plate.
Jake Ingram struck out four batters in three innings for the Raiders. He also went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and three RBIs.
Kevin Lackey and Jason Stokes each doubled for Shelby. Lackey added two RBIs and Jamie McClain went 2-for-3