Playoff pairings set for Bob Jones, James Clemens and Sparkman
Patriots clinch Class 7A, Area 8 title over rival James Clemens
MADISON – Sometimes, the only thing on the line is bragging rights. That can be enough, especially when two neighboring rivals square off in the sports arena. Over the weekend, the Bob Jones baseball team had a lot to crow about at the expense of James Clemens.
Friday, the Patriots clinched the Class 7A, Area 8 championship and the right to host a first-round state playoff series with a 6-3 road win in eight innings over the Jets. Saturday, the three-game set moved to Bob Jones where it took a doubleheader 9-4, 6-4.
Both teams now move on to best-of-three postseason play. Friday, second-ranked Bob Jones (32-9) will host Thompson (26-13) in a doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, James Clemens (24-11) visits Tuscaloosa County (2612) for two games with a 5 p.m. start.
If needed, Game 3 will be Saturday, tentatively at 1 p.m.
“(Saturday) was definitely about bragging rights for both of us,’’ Bob Jones head coach Jared Smith said. “I mean, we’re (both) already set for playoff seeding, so it didn’t affect that, but definitely it was bragging rights. We like to beat those guys.’’
The Patriots have won 14 of the last 15 meetings with the Jets, who snuck in a series-opening playoff semifinal win last season before Bob Jones won the last two en route to the 2024 state championship.
“We both wanted to play well going into the playoffs, so we feel good about that,’’ Smith said. “It was a great, great series all the way around. We had to battle back in a couple of games we trailed. It’s always close against those guys.’’
In the opener Saturday, winning pitcher Cam Martin and Reece Brazeal combined on a six-hitter. Tanner Hermesch, who tossed all eight innings in the extra-winning victory the night before, had a double and home run with three RBIs, while Cole Spanier homered and totaled three RBIs.
Trip Morgan went 3-for-3 with a double and RBI for the Jets.
In the nightcap, Spanier hit a three-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the seventh. Zack Johnson had two hits with a double and two RBIs, and Josh Wilhide earned the win in 2.2 innings in relief of starter Jack Shaw.
Ian Berry had two hits and an RBI while he and Morgan both doubled for James Clemens.
Sparkman completes sweep: In Harvest, the host Senators kept hopes of a 7A, Area 7 championship alive with wins of 12-2 and 12-11 over the Aggies. However, the Aggies had to settle for a No. 2 seed when Grissom swept Huntsville.
The Senators won Saturday’s opener in five innings with RJ Freiholtz earning the win in four. Will Peccia had a two-run single and Jack Wells tripled with the bases loaded in a 9-run fourth for Sparkman.
In the second game, Sparkman took a 7-3 lead in the first but had to score twice in the bottom of the seventh to win it. Braxton Williams doubled home one run, and he scored on a single by Wells to end the game. Williams had two hits with two RBIs. Salem Lee had four hits and two RBIs, Tripp Morris three hits with a double and two RBIs, Mark Bundy tripled twice and had an RBI and Ryan Gross added three hits.
Sparkman (20-19) faces a challenging test in the first round with a series at top-ranked Hewitt Trussville (31-2) with times for Friday’s doubleheader TBA..
The Senators have hovered around .500 most of the season but moved back above the water line against the Aggies for the first time since they were 12-11 in March.
“It’s been somewhat up and down this year,’’ Sparkman head coach Ben Sevenson said. “We’ve had some frustrations throughout the year for sure, some spells where it seemed like we couldn’t get some things going. But I mean, the guys have continued to show up every day at practice, continued to kind of compete, battle.’’
Sparkman went 5-1 in games counting toward the area standings to end the regular season.
“We’ve preached all year – you’ve got to start playing your best baseball when you get into area play and hopefully that leads into the playoffs. We finished strong, won some tight ball games, battles. We’ve got to carry that over into this next weekend.’’
