Tigers defeat Spain Park in extra-inning thriller

By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle's baseball Tigers (13-8) came from behind to defeat the Spain Park Jaguars of Hoover 6-5 in nine innings before losing a nightcap to Clay-Chalkville's Cougars 4-2 at Reuben Sims Field in Hartselle on Saturday.
In between those two games Cullman took on Clay-Chalkville and Spain Park.
Hartselle 6
Spain Park 5
In the opening game, the Tigers trailed the Jaguars 5-2 after six innings but roared back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and send it into extra innings.
The visitors had runners on first and third with no one out in the top of the ninth but lost their bid for a go-ahead run on a fly-out to the second baseman. The Tigers' Jordan Parker scored the winning run in the bottom of the inning after he smashed a double to center field and stole third base. The Tigers out-hit the Jaguars 9-5.
Justin Hargett paced the Tigers with a triple and a pair of singles and an RBI. He also had a pair of stolen bases. Joe McClanahan went 2-for-3. He had an RBI single and walked twice. Parker was 1-for-5 with a two-run, game-tying double. Quinn Dunlap, Daxton Maze and Jake Bradford each singled.
Will Rankin was the winning pitcher in relief. He pitched five innings and allowed just one hit, a single.
Clay-Chalkville 4
Hartselle 2
The Tigers dropped to 13-9 on the season after losing a 2-4 decision to Clay-Chalkville in the night cap.
Hargett continued his hot batting streak by going 3-for-3 and knocking in a run with a double. McClanahan had an RBI single in two times at bat and Parker singled and scored a run.
Hartselle 14-14
Austin 2-3
Hartselle's Tigers posted a doubleheader sweep of Austin's Black Bears on Thursday, winning 14-2 in the opener and 14-3 in the nitecap.
The wins moved the Tigers to 12-8 on the season.
Leading the Tigers at the plate in the first game was Hargett who went 2-for-3, knocked in three runs and scored three times. He was followed by Parker who went 1-for-3 and had three RBIs.
Josh Aycox and McClanahan each had two hits and two RBIs and McCaghren was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Rankin was the winning pitcher. He pitched three innings and allowed one run on two hits.
In the second game, Dunlap had a double and single and four RBIs.
Hargett was 2-for-3 with four RBIs and Bradford and Wes Chenault each went 3-for-4. Luke Bole was the winning pitcher. He allowed one run on two hits.