Bob Jones’ Cole Spainer brought home the go-ahead run in the opener and Tanner Hermesch came up just short of a walk-off hit in the nightcap as the second-ranked Patriots split a doubleheader with No. 10 Tuscaloosa County in Friday’s Class 7A semifinal series.

Bob Jones (37-11) won the opener 4-3 in 8 innings and the Wildcats earned a 10-8 victory in the nightcap in Northport.

“I’m super proud of those guys,” Bob Jones coach Jared Smith said. “We got the win in the first one and then to be down 4-0, then 10-4, and get back within one swing. Proud of our guys just to be in that position. We let it get out of hand and that’s on me.”

In the Game 2 showdown, the Wildcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning as Brooks Mellown led off with a walk and Jashaun Moten brought him home on a single. Colson Mellown singled to score Ford Traweek and Drew Keller pushed the advantage to 4 runs with a 2-RBI single.

Bob Jones turned a 5-3 double-play to end the top half of the second and answered in the third inning. Mick Tyrell grabbed a 1-out double and Myles Hammonds sparked the rally on an RBI single to bring Tyrell home. Camden Martin brought in a pair of runs on a triple and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

Tuscaloosa County (31-13) went ahead on an RBI double from Brooks Mellown in the fifth and the Wildcats surged ahead to a 10-4 lead in the sixth inning.

“That was a great job of regrouping, especially with the rain and losing a tough one in Game 1,” Tuscaloosa County coach Nick Richardson said. “It shows a little bit of heart, coming back in Game 2 and taking care of business. That’s not easy to do.”

The first four baserunners in the sixth were issued walks, which scored the first run, and a passed ball brought in the second run. Keller pushed the advantage to 9-4 on a 2-run single and Camden Barnett scored the final run on a double.

Bob Jones turned a 6-4-3 double play to close out the top half of the sixth and trimmed the lead to 10-7 in the bottom half of the inning on a 2-RBI double from Spainer, who then scored on a wild pitch. The Patriots scored an additional run in the seventh but could not complete the rally as Hermesch’s would-be 3-run walk-off home run came up a few feet shy of clearing the fence and instead fell into the glove of Dillon Dubose.

The Patriots scored in each of the first two innings of the opener for an early 2-0 lead, but Tuscaloosa County responded with a run in the bottom half of the second. The Wildcats tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth on an RBI single by Colson Mellown, but Bob Jones went back ahead on an RBI single by Hammonds.

Tuscaloosa County tied the game in the seventh to force extra innings and Spainer scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a single following a lead-off error that allowed Dillon Adkins to reach.

Star of the doubleheader: Spainer. The senior first baseman went 3-of-8 on the night and scored the go-ahead run in the opener on a single. He singled and doubled in the nightcap for a total of 4 RBIs on the night.

Stat sheet: Bob Jones – Hermesch got the complete-game win in the opener, allowing 3 runs off 7 hits while issuing 8 strikeouts and no walks. Hammonds was 4-of-8 in the doubleheader with 2 RBIs and 4 singles, followed by Martin, who went 4-of-7 with 2 singles, a double and a triple. Jack Shaw started the nightcap but gave way to Joshua Wilhide, who was tagged with the loss. Tuscaloosa County – Colson Mellown was 3-of-6 with 3 RBI singles in the doubleheader and Keller was 3-of-4 with a 2-run single in the nightcap. Brooks Mellown, who earned the Game 2 win on the mound, and Camden Barnett each recorded a single and an RBI double. Mellown allowed 7 runs off 5 hits and produced 7 strikeouts against 2 walks. Tate Pettus was handed the loss in the opener.

Coachspeak: “To be able to fight back and get back in that game, that shows a lot about this team. Hopefully, we bring that fighting edge again tomorrow and not get down. We’re really good at playing from behind, but hopefully we’ll get out ahead and close it out.” – Bob Jones’ Smith

“All the momentum is in our dugout, I would think. But Bob Jones is a great team, a well-coached team, and they’ll be ready to play. We will be too.” – Tuscaloosa County’s Richardson

What’s next: Bob Jones and Tuscaloosa County will play a decisive Game 3 scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. The winner advances to face No. 3 Enterprise in the Class 7A title series next week.