By Lee Davis
A 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 triple, the Bearcats rallied for seven runs to win the tournament with a 10-4 comeback.
Owen Lovell added to Cullman’s winning cause with three RBIs. After his triple, Collins scored on an error. Rodney Anderson, the losing pitcher, surrendered only two earned runs. Spain Park hurt itself with three errors.
Joe Sumner led the Jaguars with a triple and two RBIs. Dalton Brown had two hits and an RBI.
Spain Park’s record fell to 23-12 for the season.
The Jaguars reached the finals with an 11-6 win over Hendersonville, Tenn. Anderson had two hits with three RBIs, and Hunter Dawson belted a homer for the winners. Mason Duke also had two RBIs for Spain Park.
Matt Berler earned his second win of the day, pitching five innings with three hits and two strikeouts. A few hours earlier, he pitched two innings in relief to help his team edge Hartselle 10-7. Berler helped his cause against Hendersonville with two hits, including a double. He raised his record to 5-1 for the season.
Berler also had two doubles in the win over Hartselle. Tyler Wise had a pair of doubles and drove in three runs. Parker Hall added two RBIs while Anderson, Austin Haight and Dalton Brown also knocked in runs for Spain Park.
Hoover earned fifth place in the tournament with a 13-5 win over Hartselle. Nick Austin had two hits, including a triple, and added four RBIs. Josh Vines had three hits and three RBIs. Aaron Hill had an RBI and scored three runs.
Austin Moore was the winning pitcher, raising his record to 4-1.
Earlier, the Bucs fell to Hendersonville 9-5 in a quarterfinal game. Cooper Carden paced Hoover with three hits, including two home runs. Cole Chiselko had three hits for the winning cause.
Hoover ended pool play in the tournament with a 12-2 rout of Gadsden City. Carden had two doubles and three RBIs, and Billy Reed had two hits for the Bucs. Brooks Haley added two singles, and Trey Davis scored three runs.