Mountain Brook’s Hunter Keller belted a 2-run shot to center field to jumpstart a fourth-inning rally and the third-ranked Spartans grabbed a 9-6 series-clinching victory over Muscle Shoals in Saturday’s Class 6A first-round playoff matchup.

Mountain Brook (27-6) trailed 1-0 entering the bottom half of the opening Inning, Carter Berryhill sending in a run for the Trojans on a two-out walk, but the Spartans quickly tied the game on a sacrifice fly from center fielder John Robicheaux, bringing in lead-off batter Hunter Keller for the tying run.

Muscle Shoals shot ahead to a 4-1 lead in the second inning. Shortstop Drew Conner scored the first run on a groundout by lead-off hitter Cruise Baker, and then scored twice with 2 outs on the board. Following Baker’s groundout, Jackson Jones doubled and starting pitcher Sam Arnold brought him home with a single, and third baseman Sam Reed scored Arnold on a double.

The Spartans added a run in the third on a double from Bennett Love and powered ahead to a 6-4 lead in the fourth inning.

Paul Barnett and Benjamin Payne reached base to open the bottom half of the fourth and Keller doubled to bring both home, prompting Muscle Shoals to pull Arnold, who allowed 5 runs on 5 hits, and bring Hadden Vance to the mound.

James Graphos and Robicheaux put up consecutive singles after the pitching change, the latter scoring Keller from third, and first baseman Sam Estes scored Robicheaux on a sacrifice fly before Luke Houser completed the order and ended the inning on a fly out.

Mountain Brook tacked on 3 more runs in the sixth to provide insurance for Kenneth Diddell, who earned the save by allowing a run on a hit and striking out 4 in 2.1 innings of work.

Robicheaux scored Graphos on a double, Estes brought Robicheaux home on a 1-out single and Trey Vinson – pinch-running for Alabama commit Caleb Burnett, who was intentionally walked all four times at the plate – scored on an error.

Muscle Shoals (15-12) added a run in the fifth and seventh innings, second baseman Noah Ray bringing home Berryhill twice on a single and a groundout, but could not complete the rally with Diddell sitting the final two batters down in succession.

Star of the Game: Robicheaux. The Samford signee went 2-of-4 with an RBI single and double, along with a sacrifice fly, and collected a stolen base on his way to a run in the sixth inning.

“The credit goes to my guys. They got in position and I was able to bring them home. We really focused on our at-bats and everybody was running the bases well. It really was a team effort today,” he said.

Stat sheet: Mountain Brook – Ty Shotts earned the win on the mound, allowing a run on 2 hits and striking out 4 in 3 innings of work, and Keller and Love both went 2-of-4 with a single and a double. Graphos had 2 singles and Estes and Payne were 1-of-3, with the former grabbing two RBIs on a sac fly and a single. Muscle Shoals – Vance was tagged with the loss, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits, and Arnold went 2-of-3 at the plate with a pair of singles. Jones was 2-of-4 with 2 doubles and Reed and Ray were both 1-of-4, but combined for 3 RBIs.

Coachspeak: “It was a lot like yesterday. They jumped on us but we were able to battle back. A lot of credit to Muscles Shoals, they gave us everything they had and more and it took everything we had to match it. Really proud of the way we came back and never got down on ourselves.” – Mountain Brook’s Lee Gann

“I’m really proud of this team, especially my seniors. We reached a point that they’ve never experienced and never flinched. We went toe-to-toe with one of the best in our state, but just couldn’t close it out. It’s not what we wanted at the end of the day, but no one should hang their head.” – Muscle Shoals’ Blake Beck

What’s next: The Spartans will face Mortimer Jordan in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.