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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Spain Park Jaguars put together a strong weekend by the coast at the PBR South Alabama Showdown to get back to .500 on the season.

Spain Park beat the Spanish Fort Toros 13-3, the Hartselle Tigers 6-5 and UMS-Wright Bulldogs 9-4 to open the tournament before falling 9-2 to the American Christian Patriots in the final game of the weekend.

In the first game on Thursday, Feb. 20 against Spanish Fort at Robertsdale High School, the Jags used hits from Slade Bounds and Rhys Jones to set up a two-run double from Joe Cross in the top of the first. Three of the next three batters were struck by pitches to take the early lead to 3-0.

The Toros continued having problems pitching in the top of the second as they walked or hit three of the first four batters. As a result, a wild pitch and a passed ball generated a pair of runs to increase the lead to 5-0.

A pair of one-out walks in the top of the third put Spain Park back in business before a passed ball and a Bounds RBI double made the lead 7-0. Two batters later, Cross got another run across home plate with an RBI single for the eight-run advantage.

After a one-two-three bottom of the third, the Jags got two on with one out in the top of the fourth for Sellers, who made the lead 9-0 with an RBI single. Jones plated a pair of runs with an RBI single two batters later as his team went into the fifth up 11-0.

A Taylor double followed by a Connor Greb walk let Logan Bradford reach off a fielder’s choice as the second baseman covered his own bag and let the 12th run score. Three batters later with runners on second and third, a wild pitch took the lead to 13-0.

Spanish Fort scored three runs off two RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the run rule as Spain Park took the 13-3 win.

Bounds and Cross each went 2-for-3 in the win as Cross got a walk, three RBI and two runs while Bounds had three runs and an RBI double.

Patrick McQueeney was stellar on the mound, earning the win with nine strikeouts in four shutout innings against four walks and two hits.

The next day against Hartselle at the Orange Beach Sportsplex, Spain Park used a pair of one-out singles to lead to a run of an error before Greb tripled to bring Cross home and take the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the first.

However, an error and a sacrifice fly in the top of the second let the Tigers tie up the game at 2-2.

The Jags caught another big opportunity in the top of the third when the first three batters reached base. Despite suffering a strikeout on the next at-bat, a walk and an error plated two runs to put Spain Park back out front. Evan Taylor followed it up with an RBI single for the 5-2 lead.

After a scoreless fourth, Hartselle got two free baserunners before the Jags made a pitching change. The Tigers worked a 2-2 count before clearing the bases on a triple, and they got another run immediately afterwards on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 5-5.

The tension built as the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth passed without a run, but a Nash Davis walk and Andrew Thornton single kicked off the bottom of the sixth for Spain Park and gave them reason to hope.

From there, the Jags used small ball to take the win. A Jack Sellers groundout put runners on second and third for Bounds, who hit a sacrifice fly to plate the go-ahead run.

Wesley Williams shut it down with a double play in the top of the seventh to cap off the 6-5 win where he earned the decision, securing a pair of strikeouts in three innings of relief against one run and four hits.

Davis finished a perfect 2-for-2 with a walk and a run while Greb, Taylor, Bounds and Jones each had run-scoring hits.

The Jags went back to Robertsdale on Saturday for the first game of two to end the tournament, this one coming against UMS-Wright.

Cross scored the opening run of the game off an RBI groundout, taking the first pitch he saw to first after Jones turned a single into three bases with an error on the previous at-bat.

That run proved crucial as Houston Holmes started the game strong with four scoreless innings. He kept the Bulldogs at bay on the mound so the Jags could increase the lead in the top of the third.

A Bounds single and an error off a Jones grounder set up Cross with two on. Just like in the first at-bat, he ripped the first pitch of the at-bat to first, but this time, he got a single in addition to plating a run for the 2-0 lead. Jones then came home off a wild pitch to make it a 3-0 game.

Following a scoreless fourth, UMS-Wright walked the first two batters of the fifth ahead of a Cross single to load the bases. A passed ball brought Bounds home before the Bulldogs let the base paths fill up again on a hit by pitch.

From there, a Greb RBI single, an error and a bases-loaded walk made the lead 7-0, and two batters after that, Eli Smallwood got hit by a pitch with the bases juiced to take the lead to 8-0.

UMS-Wright started generating offense off the Jags bullpen in the fifth and sixth innings. The Bulldogs got on the board with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fifth before a fielder’s choice and an RBI double cut the deficit to 8-3.

The teams then traded runs in the seventh, first another Cross RBI groundout in the top of the seventh for his third run-scoring play of the game before UMS-Wright got an RBI double on the second-to-last batter of the game.

Cross finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run to lead the offense while Jones was 2-for-4 with three runs.

The Jags couldn’t finish off the perfect tournament record as they gave up nine runs in the first two innings of a 9-2 loss to American Christian.

Spain Park will take a 4-4 record into a Tuesday, Feb. 25 matchup with the Cullman Bearcats. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Spain Park High School.