By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

TUSCALOOSA – After winning the 7A Area 6 tournament on May 7 with a 9-0 win over Vestavia Hills, the Spain Park Lady Jaguars moved on to the North Central Regional Tournament in Tuscaloosa as the top seed out of the area. Spain Park met cross-town rival Hoover in the first round of the tournament, beating the Lady Bucs 10-2, before beating Vestavia once again in the championship round to punch its ticket to the 7A state tournament.

Game 1. Spain Park 10 – Hoover 2

Kynadi Tipler and Julianna Cross scored in the bottom of the first inning for Spain Park in the first game of the day against Hoover, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. The Lady Jags added another six runs in the bottom of the second to take an early 8-0 lead and never looked back as Spain Park eventually won the first game of the North Central Regional by a final of 10-2.

Annabelle Wildra, fresh off her impressive pitching performance in the 7A Area 6 tournament, pitched a complete game for the Lady Jags against cross-town rival Hoover. Wildra threw 123 pitches over seven innings, gave up just four hits and two runs, neither of which were earned, as she struck out 11 in the win.

Destini England went 3-for-4 from the plate in the game with two RBIs, a double and a triple to lead Spain Park from the plate while Mary Katherine Tedder and Jenna Olszewski each had two hits in the game, including a home run for Olszewski.

 

Game 2. Spain Park 5 – Vestavia Hills 4

The tournament was a double-elimination tournament, meaning Spain Park had to be beaten twice in a row to close the tournament in order to miss the cut for the state tournament. After falling behind the Lady Rebels 4-2 heading into the sixth inning, it looked as if the Lady Jags might have to recalibrate and focus on the potential third game of the day. However, two runs in the bottom of the sixth tied the game at 4-4, and after holding serve in the top of the seventh, Maddie Majors was walked on five pitches with two outs in the bottom of the inning. After Caroline Parker, the next batter, was walked, putting Majors on second, Casey Kizer came to the plate. Kizer hit the sixth pitch of her at-bat to third base, and the Vestavia third baseman mishandled the ball, and Majors came around from second to score, winning the game for the Lady Jags.

With the win, Spain Park moved to 36-17 on the season. The Lady Jags will now travel to Montgomery on May 20, where they will take on Fairhope in the opening round of the 7A state tournament.