Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By TYLER RALEY | Special to the Reporter

The Spain Park Jaguars fought step for step with the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies as the two teams split an area series on April 9 and 11.

The first of the two games was a low-scoring affair where Spain Park had to fend off a Trussville comeback. They did so successfully, winning 3-2.

The scoring started in the top of the second inning. Aiden Berke led the frame off with a double into left field. After a sacrifice bunt moved him over to third base, Richard Moon grounded into a fielder’s choice that brought Berke in, putting the Jaguars up 1-0.

A quiet third inning set up the next scoring threat in the top of the 4th, where Berke came through in a big way once again with a lead-off triple. Samuel Waldrop brought him in with a single into center field to give Spain Park a 2-0 advantage.

The Jaguars were not done there. With one out in the top of the fifth, James Battersby legged out a triple of his own into right field. This set Chapman Blevins up to hit into a fielder’s choice that brought Battersby in.

It seemed like time was running out for the Huskies, but they eventually made their move in the bottom of the sixth inning.

After a fly out started the frame, Carson Wideman drew a walk to get things going and stole second base in the next at-bat. This set up Colby Durden to send an RBI double into right field and make it a 3-1 game.

The comeback continued into the seventh inning. In the final chances for Trussville to make a charge at a win, Sam Scarborough led the inning off with a double into center field. William Ollis came right behind him and sent a single into center, putting runners on the corner with no outs.

Rob Wright followed these two hits up with a ground out that brought in Scarborough, making it a 3-2 ball game.

Spain Park came through, though, striking out the next two Husky hitters to win game one.

The second game proved to be much more of an offensive battle, one in which Hewitt-Trussville won 10-7.

The runs started coming across early on in this one, as the Huskies put two runners in scoring position with one out in the top of the first. This led to Durden hitting a sacrifice fly to bring in a run and make it 1-0.

A double with two runners on in the top of the second inning extended the lead for Trussville, making it 3-0 in the early going.

Spain Park got back in it in the bottom half of the second with back-to-back RBI singles from Moon and Andrew Thornton. These two big hits cut the game to 3-2.

The Huskies answered back in a big way in the top of the third. After a single with the bases loaded scored a run, they eventually rattled off a sacrifice fly and three straight hits to bring in five more runs, making it 9-2 in the blink of an eye. The biggest of those came on a single from Wright that scored two of those runs.

The Jaguars got back in it with an RBI ground out from Blevins with the bases loaded to make it 9-3 in the bottom of the third.

Spain Park made its big move in the bottom of the fourth. After two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases with no outs, the Jaguars scored four runs off of two errors and a single. The single came off the bat of Matthew Widra, who sent a line drive into center field and brought home two runs.

Trussville scored one more run in the top of the sixth with a single off the bat of Scarborough to bring home a 10th run and put the nail in the coffin on this game.

Christopher Gross got the win in game one, going six full innings of work on the night. He gave up two runs on seven hits while striking out three. He only walked one hitter, as well.

Blake Patrick was credited with the loss in the second game, only staying out on the hill for two innings. He surrendered seven runs on four hits for the outing. He only struck out two and walked four Husky batters.

Spain Park moves to 22-11 with split and 2-2 in the area. It looks to improve on this in a crucial final area series against the Chelsea Hornets. The first game in that series is set for Tuesday, April 16, where first pitch will be at 5 p.m. at Spain Park High School.