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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars had a big weekend at the Perfect Game High School Showdown as they won three of their four games while reaching the semifinals of the Red Bracket.

Spain Park defeated Mississippi’s Madison-Ridgeland Academy Patriots 12-1 in the Red Quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 27 before losing to Georgia’s Parkview Panthers 10-3 in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 28.

However, the Jags finished the tournament strong in consolation play with a 13-3 win over the Raburn Gap-Nacoochee Eagles and a 7-6 victory over the Hazel Green Trojans on Saturday, March 1.

In the first game of the week against Madison-Ridgeland at the Hoover Met Complex, Spain Park took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second off a lead-off solo shot from Connor Greb.

Greb sparked the offense again in the top of the fourth with a one-out single that led to a walk, stolen base and sacrifice fly which brought him home and doubled up the lead to 2-0.

The Patriots homered to start the bottom of the fourth, but that proved to be their lone run of the game.

The Jags loaded up the bases off the first three batters of the fifth off a Jack Sellers single, Slade Bounds walk and when Rhys Jones was hit by a pitch. Sellers then scored during a double play before a hit by pitch and walk loaded back up the bases.

That was when Nash Davis came up with a bases-clearing triple to increase the lead to 6-1 and blow the game wide open. Eli Smallwood added a seventh run two pitches later with an RBI single.

Spain Park rallied again in the top of the sixth with a run off a passed ball, a Joe Cross RBI single, a bases-loaded walk, an RBI ground-out from Davis and a Smallwood RBI single. That capped off the 12-1 victory as the run rule triggered at the end of the sixth inning.

Greb finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and three runs. Sellers went 2-for-3 with two runs and Smallwood was 2-for-3 with three RBI off his two late singles. Davis’ RBI triple also gave him four RBI despite finishing 1-for-3 with a walk.

The next day against Parkview, the Jags slipped behind in the early innings as the Panthers took a 10-0 lead by the middle of the fifth inning.

Jones hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to keep the game alive before Sellers hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the 10-3 defeat.

Now bounced from the main bracket, Spain Park still had two more games to play on Saturday, first against Raburn Gap, a Georgia-based school that competes with North Carolina private schools.

The Eagles took an early 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the top of the first, but the Jags responded with four runs in the bottom half of the frame.

After the first two batters of the inning reached base, Cross reached off a bunt single before an error by the catcher plated two runs to tie the game at 2-2. Davis later took the lead off an RBI single before a passed ball took the lead to 4-2.

Spain Park loaded up the bases in the bottom of the second off a pair of hit batsmen and a single before Greb plated a run off a fly out for the 5-2 lead.

While the third came and went without a run, Cross quickly fixed that in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run. That blast sparked a pair of doubles before another run crossed home plate.

From there, a Jack Lutenbacher RBI double, a bases-loaded walk and two-run singles from Jones and Cross took the lead to 13-2.

Raburn Gap got a run off a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth but couldn’t get a second to stave off the run rule as the Jags won by 10 runs in five innings.

Cross was a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs while Jones went 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs.

Charles Kramer got the win by striking out four batters in four innings against two runs, three hits and a walk.

In the final game of the tournament against Hazel Green, Spain Park drew four walks in five batters in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead.

However, the Trojans quickly tied it up off a solo home run in the top of the second before a sacrifice fly and RBI single gave them a 3-1 advantage.

Spain Park answered with three straight base-runners after a lead-off pop out, and a Cross RBI single followed by a fielder’s choice tied up the game at 3-3. While the Jags didn’t take the lead in the bottom of the third, a pair of walks and stolen bases in the fourth set up a sacrifice fly to go up 4-3.

Hazel Green responded in a big way in the top of the fifth, first tying the game off an error with one out before a two-run home run with two outs gave them a 6-4 lead.

A double play doomed Spain Park in the bottom of the fifth, but a big stretch in the bottom of the sixth let it deal the decisive blow.

The Jags got four straight hits with one out, using a Sellers double and Brodie Bragg single to set up a Jones RBI single and the go-ahead two-run single from Cross.

Andrew Thornton then worked a one-two-three top of the seventh to seal the dramatic 7-6 win. He got the win with two shutout innings while allowing just two hits.

Cross went 2-for-4 with three RBI, including the game-winning hit. Bragg finished 2-for-2 with two walks and three runs.

Spain Park will take an 8-5 record into a road trip to Gardendale on Tuesday, March 4 at 4 p.m.