Sparkman wins North Regional, Bob Jones heads to state with Senators

There were equal parts disappointment and jubilation for both Sparkman and Bob Jones softball teams at the AHSAA North regional on Friday and Saturday as both teams saw their emotions flipped in the course of the grueling two-day event. In the end both teams made the field at the AHSAA Softball Championship Tournament and will be going to Montgomery at the end of the week.

Bob Jones began Saturday with a satisfying 11-4 win over Austin. Just a week earlier, Austin had defeated the Lady Patriots in the Area 16 tournament.  The avenging win sent Bob Jones to the championship round and assured them of a return trip to state.

 

The win was Bob Jones’ third win over a number 1 seed in the regional and set off a celebration among the Bob Jones softball players and their families.

“We’ve accomplished what we came here to do,” said Bob Jones head coach Kent Chambers who will lead the team to the championship tournament for the third straight season.

Abby Guest, clearly the ream’s MVP, continued her effective pitching throwing her third complete game.

“It’s a lot of adrenaline that takes over so I don’t feel tired at all,” Guest said. “I could go another 2 or 3 games.”

At the plate, the Patriots put the game away early with 3 runs in the second inning. They added three more runs in the fourth and 4 runs in the sixth. Hitting stars were Alyssa Worden and Sydney Booker who each scored 2 runs. Booker also had a double and an RBI.

Sparkman meanwhile faced elimination and had to win 3 games to climb out of the loser’s bracket on Saturday. After starting off the day with a 5-1 win over Oxford, Sparkman coach Dale Palmer liked his team’s chances.

“Don’t bet against us,” he told a fan who doubted the Senators. Even down a starting pitcher, Sparkman rolled 6-3 over Hewitt-Tussville to eliminate the last Birmingham area team. Sam Mayhall, one of Sparkman’s top pitchers could not overcome a bad back and Meg Willis had to pitch her third straight game.

Next up for Sparkman was Austin. A spot in the championship game and at least a runner up position for state was on the line. Junior Janna Korak took over in the circle but it was the bats that got going as Sparkman rolled to an 11-1 victory in 6 innings.

At the plate, Korak added to her impressive numbers so far this season, a .430 batting average and 10 home runs. She was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored as Sparkman clinched it with 4 runs in the 6^th inning. Jordan Bullock also had a big game going 3-3 with 2 runs scored.

“If we can pull through this tournament and go to state, we have big expectations,” Korak said during a break in the action. “We’re a very strong team in seven inning games. It is very difficult for opponents to beat us. The only way that can happen is us to beat ourselves. We just have to stay focused and realize that however many runs we score, it is not enough. We try to win each inning and score at least one in each inning,” Korak said.

Bob Jones coach Kent Chambers knew it would come down to facing Sparkman and decided to try to end it in their first game by throwing Abby Guest in what would be her fourth straight game to pitch.

“No need to hold back now,” Chambers said. “We will throw everything we got at them to try to end it this game.”

With Korak on the mound again for Sparkman the game was scoreless for three innings. Bob Jones had runners at first and third in the second but Korak pitched out of it. The next inning, Korak singled up the middle to break the tie when Bevia Robinson scored. Robinson reached on an error by shortstop Brianna Sullivan who also had a throwing error in the inning. Two runs crossed the plate for Sparkman and Korak made it stand up as she pitched seven innings for the 2-0 shutout.

Bob Jones turned to junior Angela Jolliffe to pitch the game that would send the winner to Montgomery as the regional champion. Sparkman again pitched Korak who was getting stronger as the pitch count kept rising.

“We don’t throw a lot of movement pitches, we focus on hitting our spots and when we use our breaking pitches our defense has a lot of trust that she is going to hit it and we just let the defense work for us,” Korak said before the deciding game.

Bob Jones mounted rallies in the first two innings but it was Sparkman that dented the scoreboard first when Jordan Bullock scored on a wild pitch. Two innings later Sparkman blew the game wide open. Ashley Price had an RBI single followed by a 3-run homerun by Meg Willis. Hannah Palmer followed that up with a ground rule double and Sparkman was on their way to a 6-0 victory.

After it was over, Janna Korak was named the 6A Regional Tournament MVP. Sparkman had won six games in a row after an opening game upset by Grissom.

For Bob Jones, the goal of the school’s first softball championship is still within reach. Going in as a runner up could work to the Patriots advantage, just like in the regional. The team’s 10 seniors will be going to the state tournament for the third straight year.

For Sparkman, they go in as the states top ranked team and the favorite to win it all.

Coach Dale Palmer said that Vestavia and Hillcrest will bring strong teams to the state tournament. Theodore is a team that played Sparkman to their only tie this season and Dothan will bring a strong team Palmer expects.