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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park softball team completed a regular-season sweep of Oak Mountain on Monday, April 17 to lock up the two seed ahead of the upcoming area tournament.

The Jaguars, who swept both Chelsea and Oak Mountain in the area, finished area play 4-2 with the only two losses coming to area champion and tournament host Hewitt-Trussville.

Against the Eagles on Monday night, the Jags put together a dominant 12-2 effort to improve to 26-9 overall on the season and finish area play 4-2, which guaranteed the two seed.

Spain Park, however, did fall behind early in the game with Oak Mountain scoring two in the top of the first inning, but that deficit didn’t last long.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Jags quickly erased the deficit with three runs to take the lead.

Three hits in a row with one out was capped off by an RBI single from Charlee Bennett to trim the deficit down to one run. Then an error and sac fly led to the game-tying run, while Blakley Watts laced an RBI single to center field to make it 3-2.

Neither team scored in the second inning, but Spain park was able to add two more runs in the third on another RBI single from Watts, who then scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 5-2 through three.

Oak Mountain put two aboard in the top of the fourth with one out, but the Eagles couldn’t capitalize, while Spain Park tacked on one more run in the bottom half thanks to a sac fly from Kenley Holmes.

Another sac fly an inning later from Maggie Daniel then made it 7-2, but it was a five-run sixth inning that ended it.

The Jaguars got a two-RBI double from Ella Reed, scored on a wild pitch, got an RBI double from Katie Flannery and drove home the final run on a sac fly from Michael Thompson.

At the plate, Reed finished 4-for-4 with an RBI, putting together a strong night offensively and in the circle. As the starting pitcher, she gave up two runs on six hits and four walks, while she struck out 10 batters to surpass 500 career strikeouts in the winning effort.

The Jags also got two hits and two RBIs at the plate from Watts, while Holmes added two RBIs on one hit. Beyond that, Flannery, Thompson, Daniel and Bennett all had one hit and one RBI in the win.