Patriots, Jets clash for baseball title

MADISON – Bob Jones has won 17 area baseball championships since it started playing in 1974. The Patriots have also won four straight. Meanwhile, city rival James Clemens seeks its first championship in a brief 14-year history.

They’ll play for the Class 7A, Region 8 crown this week with a three-game series.

Thursday, the Patriots host Game 1 at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the two teams move all of five miles to James Clemens for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

James Clemens (20-15 overall, 4-0 in the area) needs to win one of the first two games to earn the league title. Bob Jones (24-14, 3-1) needs to take Games 1 and 2 to finish first. Third games count only for tie-breaking purposes.

Austin and Florence have been eliminated from the area race.

Across the county, Sparkman is looking to secure a 7A playoff berth with a series against Albertville that starts in Harvest and concludes in Marshall County.

James Clemens 11-9-8, Austin 1-2-6: The Jets stayed out front of the area chase with a sweep last week with the all-important first two moving them to 0-4 in Area 8.

In the first game in Decatur, Jesse Isensee struck out seven and walked two while throwing a five-inning no-hitter, and Zach Schenck hit a grand slam among two hits and had five total RBIs.

Austin got a run when lead-off batter Tyler Parker walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.

The series moved to Madison, where winning pitcher Matthew Evers and Matthew Drinkwater both drove in two runs. Drinkwater doubled as the Jets mustered just five hits but took advantage of six unearned runs.

In the nightcap, Will Congo went 2-for-2 with two RBIs to lead the attack.

Sparkman 8-4-5, Huntsville 7-3-10: Anthony Pearsall hit a two-run homer in the top of the 14th inning in the opener last weekend, and the host Panthers left the bases loaded down a run in the bottom of the inning as the Senators took a key 7A, Area 7 game.

Pearsall finished the marathon 4-for-7 with four RBIs and a pair of doubles. Braxton Williams had a solo home run and Salem Lee added a two-run blast for Sparkman, which was coming off a 2-1 and a two-game season sweep of longtime rival Bob Jones.

The teams split the doubleheader, but the Senators won the crucial first game to stay even with Grissom in the region at 3-1. Huntsville is 2-2 and several scenarios could unfold heading into the final weekend of regular season play for 7A. Albertville is 0-4.

Bob Jones 0-9-7, Florence 2-7-4: The bats stayed cold in Game 1 for the host Patriots following the 2-1 loss to Sparkman, then broke out offensively to win the doubleheader on the road.

Bob Jones, which has won nine of its last 11 games, has swept James Clemens the last two seasons and are 8-1 against the Jets since losing the first game of a playoff semifinal before advancing to beat Tuscaloosa County for its first state championship..

Cullman 4, Madison Academy 3: The visiting Bearcats scored two runs in the fifth and one in the seventh to overtake the host Mustangs in a tuneup for the 5A playoffs for both teams.

Cullman (22-8), which got home runs in the win from Jonah Inman and Carson Stancil, will host Southside in the first round. But the Mustangs (21-10), runner-up in Area 16, will travel to Fairview (19-14).

A doubleheader is scheduled for Thursday starting at 4:30 p.m. If needed, Game 3 will be Friday at 5 p.m.

* Records were gathered from online sources.