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Rhys Jones was the hero for Spain Park on senior night as he walked it off against Briarwood to give his team its first win of the young season. (For the Reporter/Reagan Hopper)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars may have struggled against some tough opponents during the PBR Kickoff Classic on the opening weekend of the season, but they fought to secure their first win of the young campaign in their home opener.

Thanks to a Rhys Jones walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning, Spain Park defeated the Briarwood Christian Lions 3-2 on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at Spain Park High School to get into the win column.

During the game, the Jags honored their 13 seniors for their contributions to the program: Arnold Bush, Trevor Julich, Eli Smallwood, Andrew Thornton, Jack Sellers, Patrick McQueeney, Jack Millard, Charlie Kramer, Max Vinson, Hagen Holley, Bryce Campbell, Wesley Williams and Connor Kinney.

Spain Park had to play from behind as Briarwood struck first in the first inning. After the first two batters of the game popped out on three total pitches, Parker Daniels swung for the fences on a 3-1 count and was rewarded with a solo shot to put the Lions up 1-0.

The Jags responded in the bottom half of the inning after the lead-off batter walked ahead of a Jones single. With a pair of runners in scoring position, Joe Cross put the ball in play to bring Slade Bounds home and tie the game at 1-1.

While the next batter was hit by a pitch, Briarwood got out of the jam by getting the next two batters to fly out to strand the runners at the corners.

The Lions got an opportunity to strike back in the top of the second after infield errors put John Paul Harbor and Parker Sfakianos on with no outs. Harbor scored on the next pitch to put Briarwood up 2-1.

Spain Park came up empty in the bottom of the second but didn’t let a second inning go by without scoring a run. Jones hit a lead-off double to put a runner in scoring position for Eli Smallwood, who hit a line drive to left on the first pitch he saw. The RBI single tied the game back up at 2-2.

From there, neither team scored until the seventh inning as the Jags and Lions were unable to get more than one runner on base during any given inning before the defense shut them down.

Spain Park had to deal with some trouble in the top of the seventh as the hosts walked a pair of batters to put two on with two out. However, Charlie Kramer got a grounder to short to get the pinch runner Charles Dedmon out at second and send the teams to the bottom of the seventh.

The Jags also benefitted from a pair of walks as they got Jack Lutenbacher and Bounds to reach base on the first two at-bats of the inning. The biggest difference was Jones’ response.

He hit a line drive to right on his first pitch of the at-bat to walk it off on senior night for Spain Park and take the 3-2 win.

Jones finished the night 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Bounds reached three times off two walks and a hit as he went 1-for-2 with a run.

Kramer secured the win for pitching a shutout seventh, working around two walks but allowing no hits or runs.

Daniels led Briarwood as he reached in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with two walks and a home run.

Spain Park will take its 1-3 record into the PBR South Alabama Showdown from Feb. 20-22.

Briarwood is now 1-2 on the year after falling to Springville 3-2 on Valentine’s Day and beating John Carroll Catholic 4-2 on President’s Day.

While their rematch with John Carroll on Thursday, Feb. 20 was canceled due to sub-freezing temperatures, the Lions will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 22 for a doubleheader against Grissom and Gardendale at 1:30 p.m. at Gardendale High School.

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