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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

SUMITON – The Oak Mountain Eagles survived a marathon weekend as they played eight games on April 4 and 5 at the Sumiton Christian Claw Classic, passing test after test on their way to claiming the tournament championship.

Oak Mountain defeated the Corner Yellow Jackets three times along with the Cordova Blue Devils, Sumiton Christian Eagles and Carbon Hill Bulldogs to finish the Claw Classic with a 7-1 record and win the title.

In the first game of the tournament against Corner, the Eagles got three-straight base runners to start the game and earned a 2-0 lead off a fielder’s choice and a bases-loaded walk.

Oak Mountain had a similarly strong start to the second inning, getting two on with one out ahead of an Anna DuBose RBI ground out to take the lead to 3-0.

Brooke Monosky then got hit by a pitch to bring up Marian Cummings, who reached on an error and let Sheridan Andrews score for the 4-0 lead. Andrews went 2-for-3 with two runs.

However, Corner would threaten to erase that lead with an RBI triple followed by an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. The Eagles recovered to secure the final two outs and seal the 4-2 win.

Later that day against Cordova, Oak Mountain loaded up the bases in the top of the second and plated two runners with an Andrews RBI double. Two batters later, Bella Williams scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 3-0.

The third inning came and went without a run, but an RBI ground out got the Blue Devils on the board in the bottom of the fourth, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

The Eagles responded with an Addison Green RBI single in the top of the fifth to restore the three-run lead. Two plays later, Rylie Redden scored another runner off a sacrifice fly for the 5-1 lead, and Oak Mountain held on to that advantage until the end of the game.

Williams and Andrews each went 2-for-3 as Andrews had two RBI and Williams earned a run.

Kelsey Crain took the win with three shutout innings to start, allowing just three hits and two walks.

However, Oak Mountain hit a speed bump the next day when it lost to Sumiton Christian to start. A four-run first inning for the tournament hosts proved to be too much to overcome as Sumiton Christian won 4-0 despite six strikeouts in relief from Cummings.

Williams and Green each finished 2-for-3 in the loss.

The Eagles bounced right back with a 7-1 win over Carbon Hill.

After a scoreless first inning, the Bulldogs got an RBI single with two outs in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead, but Oak Mountain went on to score seven unanswered runs.

The Eagles started the bottom half of the inning with a pair of singles before Ella Carrillo tied the game up on a wild pitch ahead of a go-ahead RBI triple from Redden. Ava Grace Miller followed that up with an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1 ahead of the end of the inning.

Williams secured an RBI single in the bottom of the third for the 4-1 lead, and Oak Mountain continued pulling away down the stretch.

With one on and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Andrews launched a triple to left to score another run ahead of a Cummings RBI ground out for the 6-1 lead. Faith Cofer then stole home in the bottom of the fifth to finish off the 7-1 win.

Williams was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run, Redden finished 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs and an RBI and Carillo went 2-for-3 with a run. Crain secured five strikeouts in 4.1 perfect innings of relief.

Oak Mountain then found itself in a rematch against Sumiton Christian, its lone loss of the tournament.

After an error allowed Carillo to reach to start the second inning, the pinch runner Emma McGregor stole second to set up Green’s RBI double, scoring her from second and taking the 1-0 lead.

That lead held throughout a low-scoring duel that saw Sumiton Christian only earn three hits all game.

Each of those came in the first three innings before Crain came in for the three-inning save, going perfect in each of the innings with three total strikeouts. Madeline Prevallet also had a scoreless start to the game while working around three hits and a walk to take the win.

That lead held until the top of the sixth when a DuBose double and Monosky single, her second hit of the game, set up the Eagles with runners on the corners. Carillo hit into a sacrifice fly to double up the lead and finish the 2-0 win.

The Eagles then took the field for what proved to be the first of back-to-back games against Corner.

The Jackets broke through just before the end of the second inning as they secured an RBI single but couldn’t get the second runner across home before getting called out at the plate.

Oak Mountain equalized off a DuBose ground out in the top of the third, and Miller would steal home soon after to take the 2-1 lead.

However, Corner tied it up again at 2-2 off an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the third.

After getting a walk and a hit batter to start the fourth, a Redden ground out moved both runners to scoring position and set Carillo up to come home from third on an error at home plate for the 3-2 lead.

Another error in the top of the fifth led to another run for the Eagles as a mistake on a Monosky pop fly brought Andrews home after her lead-off single.

That extended the lead to 4-2, but a two-out rally from Corner in the bottom of the frame changed things. An RBI single and a passed ball plated two runners and tied the game back up at 4-4.

After getting a ghost runner to start the sixth, Williams reached third on a passed ball during the first at-bat and then came home two batters later on a wild pitch. That gave the Eagles a 5-4 lead and soon after, they secured a two-run, two-out RBI single from Andrews to go up 7-4.

Cummings then slammed the door shut with two on in the bottom of the inning. She got the win with four innings of relief, finishing with two earned runs off three total runs, four hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Andrews was 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, two RBI and a run.

Oak Mountain had much less trouble in the second game against Corner.

While the first inning came and went without a run, back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the second set up an RBI single from Williams for the 1-0 lead. Green then singled to keep the rally going and force a pitching change.

The new pitcher didn’t change much as Corner threw eight-straight balls to plate two more runners on bases-loaded walks, increasing Oak Mountain’s lead to 3-0.

The Eagles then finished off the 4-0 win in the bottom of the second with a Williams RBI ground out and rode Prevallet and Crain to victory.

Prevallet took the win with four shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk. Crain pitched a perfect fifth inning to seal the win.

Green and Cummings were both a perfect 2-for-2 in the title game as both crossed home plate once for a run.

Oak Mountain improved to 17-12 as a result of the wins. The Eagles will resume area play on Tuesday, April 8 when they hit the road to face the Vestavia Hills Rebels at 4:30 p.m.