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Oak Mountain catcher Mason Williams fires a ball to first base to record an important out in a close game with Huntsville. (Reporter photo/Keith McCoy)

By CHRIS MEGGINSON | Special to the Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – Oak Mountain broke its program single-season wins record and swept Huntsville High School to advance to the second round of the AHSAA Class 7A baseball playoffs Friday night. The Eagles’ 32 wins pass the 30-win mark set in 2016.

A pair of sixth-inning rallies paced the Eagles with 6-4 and 6-2 wins on the day. Mason Williamson paced the Eagles in the series, hitting 5-for-7, including a 3-for-4 performance in the second game. Logan Sheaffer and John McDonald each hit .500 (3-for-6) in the series.

Game 1: Oak Mountain 6, Huntsville 4

Oak Mountain took a 3-0 lead in the second inning of the first game when Logan Sheaffer doubled in a pair of runs with one out, followed by an RBI single by Joseph Hartsfield.

The Eagles stretched its lead to four runs after a lead-off walk in the third by Ethan Holsombeck and RBI double from McDonald.

Huntsville put three runs on the board in the fourth and tied it in the sixth. Oak Mountain regained its lead in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on an error and RBI single by Garrett DeAraujo.

Holsombeck, Sheaffer and Williamson each had two hits to lead the Eagles in the first game.

Caleb Floyd collected the save for the Eagles, securing Scott Fleming’s win. Fleming recorded 2/3 of an inning in the sixth, allowing one hit and striking out one. Gene Hurst had the start for Oak Mountian, allowing three runs, only one earned, off four hits and a walk. He struck out two.

Game 2: Oak Mountain 6, Huntsville 2

In game two, Huntsville starter Christian MacLeod held the Eagles to one hit through five innings. Huntsville took a 1-0 lead on an error in the first inning and added another run in bottom of the third on an RBI single by Tyson Lee.

However, Hartsfield settled in on the mound for the Eagles and did not allow a hit or a walk the rest of the game.

Trailing 2-0, the Eagles rallied in the top of the sixth. McDonald led off the inning with a walk, followed by back-to-back singles from Williamson and Floyd to plate the first Eagles run. Luke Percer, running for Williamson, later scored on a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Williams to tie the game, and Sheaffer singled down the right field line to give Oak Mountain a 3-2 lead. Hartsfield also bunted in a run to make it 4-2 entering the seventh.

Hartsfield struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth to secure his lead, and then the Eagles added insurance in the seventh. Holsombeck reached on a leadoff error and then moved to third after a wild pitch and McDonald single. Another wild pitch scored Holsombeck, followed by an RBI double by Williamson.

Hartsfield retired the Panthers in order in the bottom of the seventh for the complete-game win. He allowed four hits and two unearned runs in the first three innings of work and had a total of 10 strikeouts.

Oak Mountain (32-8) will meet the winner of the Sparkman and Vestavia Hills series in a three-game series next weekend, May 5-6 in round two of the playoffs. Sparkman took the first game of the series 7-6 on April 28, but Vestavia bounced back to in win game two, 9-5. Game 3 is scheduled to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 29 at Sparkman High School.

More photos at www.shelbycountyphotos.com

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