By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

Jaguars start 4-0, 12 see time on mound early

Spain Park has gotten off to a hot start in 2016, reeling off four straight wins to start its season. The Jaguars have beaten Chelsea 12-6, Shelby County 7-1, Chilton County 9-4 and Homewood 7-2. Quinton Hoffman, Jake Whitehead, Will Battersby, Hayden Freeman, Michael Purser, Nic Carra, Drew Hawker, Hunter Howell, Clarence Grayson, Spencer Graham, Adam Schulz and Kevin Hopkins have all seen time for Spain Park through the first four games, as the Jaguars have used three pitchers in each of their first four games in a pitch-by-committee strategy.

 

Pelham drops first game of 2016

The 2015 6A runner-up Pelham Panthers got behind early against a tough Vestavia team, and fell 12-5 in the first game of the season. The Rebels scored seven runs in the first two innings, and shut Pelham out until the fifth inning behind the arm of Sonny Potter.

“I felt we weren’t aggressive enough,” Pelham head coach Sean Anderson said after the game. “Sonny Potter is a good pitcher and we took too many fastballs. Anytime you get behind a pitcher like that, it’s a big disadvantage.”

 

Calera starts strong

The Eagles from Calera have started the 2016 strong with two convincing wins over in-county opponents Shelby County and Montevallo. Jacob Smith, Will Glasscock and Matt Marfice each had three hits against the Wildcats as Calera rolled to a 13-3 win in seven innings. In the second game of the young season against Montevallo, Jacob Smith struck out 17 batters over six innings and didn’t allow a single run as Calera rolled 11-1 in seven. Glasscock again had three hits to lead Calera.

 

Vincent drops first game to Leeds

In the first game of the Ryan Halla era at Vincent, the Yellow Jackets lost a heartbreaker to Leeds by a final of 6-5. Vincent held a 5-4 lead headed into the bottom of the seventh before giving up two late runs on a triple that ended the game and dropped Vincent to 0-1.

 

Thompson splits series with Helena

In the first series of the year for 2015 7A state runner-up Thompson, the Warriors split a home series with Helena, winning the first game 7-3 before dropping the second 9-3. Heath Haskins went 2-for-2 from the plate in the first game with two RBIs and a pair of walks as well to lead Thompson in the first game. In the second game the Huskies used a seven-run fifth inning to get the 9-3 win.