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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles entered the weekend looking to bounce back from a devastating extra-inning loss to the Springville Tigers with three more games on their home field, trying to build momentum nearing the end of February.

The Eagles were able to do that, defeating the Montevallo Bulldogs 11-1 on Friday Feb. 21 before splitting their doubleheader with the Demopolis Tigers by winning 6-2 in game one before falling 9-2 in game two on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Oak Mountain High School.

Montevallo kicked off Friday’s action with a solo home run to left field off the bat of Grayson Duckworth, putting the Bulldogs up 1-0 early in the top of the first.

Oak Mountain was convinced to not let that stand though. After the first two batters got hit by a pitch and later advanced to second and third, Owen Edwards scored on a passed ball. Immediately after, a balk from Keiston Ross allowed Houston Hagood to touch home and put the Eagles up 2-1. Later in the inning, Gabe Jones scored from third on a wild pitch, extending things to a 3-1 just like that.

The very next inning, Oak Mountain kept their momentum going offensively. With Cole Kelly sitting on third, Noah Eady laced a single to drive him in before giving way to William Yoder, who hit a single and brought Eady in.

Later in the bottom of the second, Sam Prier grounded out to first base, but drove in a run in the process to make the score 6-1. Jones followed that up a couple of batters later with a triple of his own to score in another run and extend it to 7-1.

The Eagles continued their strike in the bottom of the third as Yoder crossed the plate and Edwards scored on a passed ball, setting the score at 9-1. 

Oak Mountain’s hot streak rolled into the bottom of the fourth inning, as with the bases loaded, Eady put a single on the ground into right field, scoring two and extending the lead to double digits at 11-1. Montevallo could not produce anything in the top of the fifth, and the game ultimately ended due to mercy rule.

Baker Williams picked up the win for the Eagles, giving up one run on one hit, while also striking out seven.

Oak Mountain started Saturday’s midday doubleheader off strong with a dent in the scoreboard. In the bottom of the first inning of game one, Edwards led things off with a free pass after being hit by a pitch, giving way to Prier, who laced a single into center field.

Later in the frame with two outs on the board, Xander Hughes brought in both runners with another single out to center field, making it 2-0 early.

The Eagles continued their momentum in the bottom of the third inning, not wanting to let go of the lead they had. With two runners on and two outs, Yoder hit a ground ball towards third base and ultimately reached on an error which allowed a run to score. Eady came up immediately after and also hit a ground ball to third base, yielding another error and allowing two more runs to score. Suddenly, it was 5-0 in favor of Oak Mountain.

The Eagles continued to hold onto the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but still were not satisfied. With Jones and Hagood sitting on first and third, respectively, Ben Heath grounded out to second base, which allowed Hagood to score and make the score 6-0.

The Tigers knocked in two runs in the top of the seventh with back-to-back two-out singles, but could not produce any more runs, giving Oak Mountain the 6-2 win.

Jones got the win for the Eagles in game one, throwing five innings of shutout action, giving up no hits and striking out eight while walking two.

Unfortunately for Oak Mountain, it could not produce much of anything throughout game two and saw Demopolis find its stride at the plate. The Eagles gave up two home runs in the game and could not put momentum together when they got to the plate, dropping the back half of Saturday’s action 9-2.