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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles went down to the wire with the Mountain Brook Spartans, but in the end, the Eagles prevailed at home with a 1-0 victory on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

Kelsey Crain went the distance with a complete-game shutout, earning nine strikeouts against four hits and two walks in a dominant performance.

Oak Mountain started the game strong on the mound with two strikeouts in the first three batters.

After the Eagles and Spartans could only muster one hit apiece in the bottom of the first and top of the second, Oak Mountain hit a pair of singles in the bottom of the second but couldn’t capitalize.

The Eagles did the same in the bottom of the third after getting out of the top of the frame by only facing the minimum, but the two hits led to the same result of an empty frame.

Oak Mountain got three straight outs in the top of the fourth after surrendering a leadoff walk, but Mountain Brook responded with a one-two-three inning in the home half.

After an Eagles single was the only hit in the fifth inning, Mountain Brook got to work in the top of the sixth inning and put pressure on the hosts with a pair of singles to start the inning.

However, Oak Mountain flipped the momentum back on its head with three straight outs, including a pair of strikeouts, to head to the bottom of the inning.

That was when the Eagles made their move.

Anna Dubose walked to start the inning and after Faith Cofer replaced her as a courtesy runner, Cofer advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Bella Williams then hit a single to put runners on the corners with one out.

Sophia Williams hit a sacrifice fly to bring Cofer home and score the first run of the game.

From there, Oak Mountain shut down the Spartans in four batters to take the 1-0 win.