By Lee Davis
Any time Hoover and Spain Park get together on an athletic field, you can count on a first-class battle.
And that’s exactly what happened when the fourth-ranked Bucs met the 10th-ranked Jaguars in a key baseball matchup Saturday.
Spain Park used the pitching of Tristan Widra and clutch hitting to take a 4-2 victory.
Hoover took a 2-0 lead after RBI singles by Brooks Haley and Josh Vines in the first inning, but the Jaguars responded with a run in the fourth and three in the fifth to seal the victory.
Spain Park’s big inning came on the strength of RBIs by Austin Haight and Josh Rich. Matt Berler also singled and scored.
Widra yielded two runs on three hits while striking out four Buccaneer batters.
Spain Park raised its record to 28-15 for the year while Hoover dropped to 33-11.
Earlier in the week, Mountain Brook clinched the Class 6A Area 11 championship with a 6-3 win over Vestavia Hills. The Spartans exploded for five runs in the third inning to produce the winning margin.
Andrew Autrey paced the Spartans with three hits, including a double, and two runs. John Eagan had a two-run double for Mountain Brook, and Hunter Holcombe added an RBI single.
Robert Morgan led the Rebels with a triple and RBI single.
Alan Hale earned the victory for Mountain Brook, pitching five and two-thirds innings. Davis McDougal got the save.
The Spartans’ record improved to 22-10 for the season.
In track and field, the Homewood boys and Mountain Brook girls’ teams claimed victories in the prestigious Mountain Brook Invitational Meet.
The Patriots edged runner-up Thompson by the narrow margin of 105-104.
Alex Ngei helped the Homewood cause with a victory in the two-mile run while Alazae Hester-Taylor won the triple jump.
The Patriots also won the 4X800 meter relay.
Mountain Brook’s girls chalked up 131 points to outdistance second-place Pelham’s 112.5 score and third-place Homewood’s 98 total.
Rachel Reddy won the two-mile run for the Lady Spartans. Julia Leonard claimed first place in the high jump, and Mary Glenn Waldrop won the javelin throw. Mountain Brook also claimed top prize in the 4X800 relay.
Homewood’s Kiara Williams won the 100 hurdles, the long jump and the triple jump.
