Birmingham spring sports: Hoover wins 9 straight softball games

Birmingham spring sports: Hoover wins 9 straight softball games

Hoover won nine straight softball games last week, including capturing its own tournament during Birmingham area spring sports action.

Class 7A fourth-ranked Hoover (33-6-1) downed sixth-ranked Thompson 10-6 to clinch the Area 5 regular season title and also beat Class 5A fourth-ranked Moody 10-0 in regular season play.

The Bucs hosted the annual Hoover Classic, winning seven straight games to earn the tournament title.

Hoover beat Elmore County 9-0, West Morgan 12-0, Saraland 8-4, Huntsville 12-3, Class 6A top-ranked Wetumpka 7-2, and Class 6A third-ranked Hartselle 7-4 before downing Thompson 9-0 for the title.

The Bucs batted .458 for the week with Hannah Christian’s .667 leading the way. Christian had 6 doubles, a home run and 13 RBIs for the week.

Kate Dinkel hit .609 and Carolyne Hecklinski drove in a team-high 16 runs for the week while Lindsey Westhoven had two home runs.

Emily Sims had a team-best 1.83 ERA for the week while Kaitlyn Raines struck out 23 batters. Raines and Olivia Christian each pitched 3 wins.

In other action:

GIRLS SOCCER

CLASS 6A

Second-ranked Briarwood Christian (14-3-1) beat Oak Mountain 3-2 and lost to Spain Park 3-2 last week.

Sophomore Taylor Leib had 3 goals for the week while senior Abigail Hoaglund had 2 goals.

Seniors Piper Eigmy and Bradford Latta anchored the defense.

Ninth-ranked Indian Springs (11-3, 4-1 area) beat Helena 5-2 and Pelham 7-1 in area games.

Norah Roller had 3 goals against Helena while Addison Doyle and Beth Scarborough also scored goals.

Roller had 4 goals and Doyle had 3 assists while Kennedy Doyle, Scarborough and Chloe Williams each had a goal.

CLASS 5A

No. 10 John Carroll (12-8-2) won 4 games, beating Ramsay 10-0 twice, Jasper 10-0 and Gadsden City 3-1.

Bele Buckner has 25 goals this year while Mia Mugaveo has 17 and Lizzie Jehu has 200 saves for the year.

BOYS SOCCER

CLASS 7A

Top-ranked Oak Mountain (19-2-2) beat James Clemens 3-1 and Thompson 2-0 last week as Caleb Smith, Om Shreshta, Aidan Riley, Sam Collins and Gerardo Rodriguez scored goals.

The Eagles are ranked No. 6 in the nation by MaxPreps.

BASEBALL

CLASS 7A

Third-ranked Spain Park (26-7) split games with Chelsea, losing 8-3 and winning 10-4.

Cole Edwards and JohnRobert Thompson each had a double and run in the loss while Jacob Tobias had a double and RBIs.

Lucas Thornton pitched 4 2/3 innings, striking out 5 and allowing 4 earned runs.

Matthew Widra was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles, an RBI and 2 runs in the win while Thompson was 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs, Edwards had a hit, 2 RBIs and 2 runs and Clay Spencer had a hit and RBI.

Ninth-ranked Hewitt Trussville (21-11) was 2-1 last week with wins over Oak Mountain 2-1 (9 innings) and 9-5 and a loss to Chelsea 2-0.

Will Argo pitched all 9 innings in the 2-1 win over Oak Mountain with 7 strikeouts.

CLASS 6A

Gardendale split a Thursday doubleheader with Pell City in the first round, winning 3-2 (8 innings) and losing 3-2 before a 5-4 Game 3 victory.

Logan Fitzgerald pitched 8 innings in Game 1, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs and striking out 4 while Kyle Norris was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, including the game-winner in the eighth.

In Game 2, Ty McGraw struck out 8, allowing a hit and run in 5 innings.

Caiden Combs pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing 7 hits, 3 earned runs with 7 strikeouts.

Cooper Jarvis was 3-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs and scored the game-winning run. Ty McGraw had a double and 2 RBIs and Connor Hensley had the had the game-winning RBI single.

Minor (31-4) won three games last week, including sweeping Mae Jemison in the first round of playoffs. The Tigers beat Moody 4-3 then beat Mae Jemison 14-3 and 17-0.

Ethan Bucher hurled a no-hitter in the 17-0 win over Mae Jemison, striking out 10 in 5 innings.

Tylan Amerson was 4-for-5 with 6 runs, 2 walks, an RBI and 8 steals. Amerson has 86 steals this season, which breaks the AHSAA record for season steals.

CLASS 5A

Shelby County (18-14) won 4 games last week, including sweeping its first round playoff series with fifth-ranked Gulf Shores. The Wildcats Fairview 17-3 and Altamont 17-7 in regular season play then beat host Gulf Shores 7-4 and 9-4.

Noah Reed was 2-for-3 with a run and 2 RBIs while Carter Sheehan was 2-for-4 with 2 runs and an RBI. Jace Bolan and Cooper Pennington each had a hit and 2 RBIs.

Against Altamont, Pennington was 3-for-3 with 2 home runs, a double and 6 RBIs while Colby Matherson had a double and 2 RBIs.

Reed was 2-for-3 with a run and walk in the first game against Gulf Shores while Austin Wilson was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI, Pennington had a hit and 2 RBIs, Davis Ruston had a double and walk and Logan Starnes had a hit and 2 RBIs.

Alex Gillum pitched no-hit baseball the final 3 innings to get the win on the mound, striking out 2.

In Game 2, Matherson was 2-for-4 with a triple, run and 3 RBIs, Reed had a hit, 3 runs and a walk and Wilson had a double, RBI and walk.

Micah Morris pitched the complete game win, allowing 4 hits and 4 runs with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts.