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Spain Park made a strong run to the title game in the Jag Classic with four wins in two days at the Hoover Met against Grissom, Cleveland, Hayden and Saint James. (Reporter Photos/Andrew Simonson)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars welcomed some of the best softball teams in the state to the Hoover Met Complex for the annual Jag Classic, and they came close to walking away with the top hardware.

Spain Park finished the tournament as the runner-up, losing 9-1 to the Curry Yellow Jackets in the finals to secure a 4-2 record in tournament play. The Jags defeated the Grissom Tigers, Cleveland Blue Raiders of Tennessee, Hayden Wildcats and Saint James Trojans en route to the finals.

In the opening game of pool play on Friday, March 7 against Grissom, the Tigers started out the game strong with a two-run RBI double with two outs in the top of the first innings.

Those two runs would be their only ones of the game as Spain Park rallied for five unanswered runs from then on.

Allie Whitaker slashed the deficit in half with a lead-off solo shot in the bottom of the second. Chloe Wade singled on the next pitch and stole second so that she could come home off an error on Tatum Lasseter’s fly ball.

After an error plated the tying run, another Grissom miscue led to the go-ahead runner Skylar Simpkins reaching home and giving the Jags a 3-2 lead.

Spain Park then got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the third and increased the lead to 4-2 in the bottom half of the inning, when Klara Thompson’s lead-off single led to another run thanks to a stolen base, wild pitch and sacrifice fly.

Both teams piled on the baserunners over the next few innings, but neither team could capitalize in the fourth. Maxie Provost then orchestrated a one-two-three top of the fifth to shut down the Tigers offense.

Charlee Bennett then capitalized off a pair of one-out singles with an RBI double, taking the lead to 5-2 ahead of time expiring.

Thompson finished a perfect 3-for-3 with a run while Whitaker, Reagan Roberts and Bennett each had run-scoring hits.

Jaley Young took the win with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings, working around two runs, six hits and two walks to keep Grissom at bay. Provost earned the save with 1.2 perfect innings.

However, the Jags hit a speed bump in their second game of the evening as they fell behind to Lawrence County.

The Red Devils scored five runs in the first three innings to establish a commanding lead, and while a two-run single from Roberts cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth, it wouldn’t be enough.

That left Spain Park matched up with Cleveland in its first game of bracket play on Saturday, March 8.

The Blue Raiders took the early lead, working past a pair of Provost strikeouts to hit a solo shot off a 3-0 pitch in the top of the first.

That advantage would not last long as a Jordan Weiner RBI single tied up the game in the bottom half of the inning before a passed ball brought her home for the go-ahead run.

Spain Park wouldn’t allow a single run from there as Provost settled into a groove. She went the distance in six innings and racked up seven strikeouts while surrendering just one run and three hits.

A walk and an error in the bottom of the third allowed the Jags to plate another run off a sacrifice fly, and Spain Park added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

First, Simpkins came home off a Lasseter bunt that turned into a double play, and Young came home two batters later on a catcher’s error to finish the 5-1 win. Young was the only Jag with multiple hits in the game as she went 2-for-3 with a run.

Spain Park fell behind in their next game against Hayden as well after giving up a run off an error on the first at-bat of the game.

However, like the game against Cleveland, the Jags didn’t allow another run for the rest of the game.

Spain Park went right to work taking the lead in the bottom half of the first, capitalizing off a walk and a single to start the inning to score two runs off errors before going up 3-1 on a sacrifice fly.

The Jags struck again after a one-out walk in the bottom of the third as Whitaker launched a two-run home run for the 5-1 lead.

After that, Spain Park finished the job with four-straight base runners in the bottom of the fourth. After a Roberts single and Lasseter walk, Young and Bennett hit back-to-back RBI singles to cap off the scoring and the 7-1 win.

Young finished the game with no earned runs in five innings, striking out three batters while working around an unearned run, two hits and three walks.

The Jags then matched up with Saint James in the semifinals after the Trojans made a strong run to the final four.

Provost was dominant once again though, allowing just one hit in six shutout innings while racking up eight strikeouts in the complete-game win.

That lone hit was off of a single in the top of the second, but Provost dispatched the next 12 batters to give Spain Park a strong foundation to build off of at the plate.

Whitaker and Provost opened up the bottom of the second with back-to-back singles before a Lasseter one-out bunt loaded up the bases for Roberts. She sent a grounder to second but plated a pair of runs off a fielder’s choice play and an error to open up the scoring.

Two batters later, Bennett made it a 3-0 lead with a two-out RBI single to center.

While the Jags didn’t need any additional runs to finish off the win, they got one in another two-out spot in the bottom of the fifth. Thompson came up with a hit to bring Nylah Cottrell home to secure the 4-0 victory and reach the title game.

Spain Park couldn’t translate that form into a title game victory as it gave up a 9-0 lead in the first three innings against Curry. Wade hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth to put the Jags on the board, but that was the only run it could muster in the championship.

Spain Park improved to 13-6 with the 4-2 weekend at the Hoover Met. The Jags will be back in action with a crucial area game against the Chelsea Hornets on Tuesday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m. at Spain Park High School.

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