By Lee DavisA regulation high school baseball game lasts seven innings, but sometimes just one can make a difference.Spain Park learned that fact the hard way last Thursday night.The Jaguars were leading Cullman 4-3 entering the seventh inning of the Buccaneer Classic Tournament at the Hoover Met when disaster struck.Sparked by Cole Collins’ three-run … [Read more...]

Who remembers the spring of 1980?Hostages were being held in Iran, Jimmy Carter was in the White House and much of the world couldn’t wait to find out who shot J.R. Ewing.And Rick Grammer won his first game as head coach of the Vestavia Hills High School boys’ soccer team.After 34 years, five U.S. Presidents and a “Dallas” reboot later, Grammer is still guiding … [Read more...]

The first annual Marcia Weinacker Invitational high school tennis tournament honored an Alabama woman who was a standout in the sport.Marcia Weinacker is now in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease, according to her son, Jimmy Weinacker, tournament director. During her playing days, she was ranked No. 1 in every Alabama age division from 35-75 and has been inducted into … [Read more...]

In Alabama high school athletics, February’s conclusion usually means basketball tournaments and the early stirrings of baseball, softball, soccer and outdoor track.However in 2014, it also meant the end of the tenure of some of the area’s highest profile coaches.The wave began with the announcement that Doug Goodwin had been dismissed as the head football coach of … [Read more...]

By Lee DavisSpain Park’s comparatively young history perhaps has never seen a better girls’ basketball season than the one it enjoyed in 2013-14.The Lady Jaguars compiled an impressive 26-8 record, won their region and advanced to the Class 6A Northeast Regional finals.A big reason for Spain Park’s success was the play of junior guard Victoria Baldwin. She … [Read more...]