Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Hewitt-Trussville’s Cooper Huffman (22) pitches in an area game against Oak Mountain on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
The high school baseball playoffs are heating up this week.
Classes 1A-6A enter the second round, while 7A opens up its playoffs this week.
In 6A action, Mountain Brook heads to Mortimer Jordan. The Spartans knocked off Muscle Shoals in a three-game series last weekend to advance.
As 7A begins, Spain Park heads to Thompson, while Hewitt-Trussville hosts Hoover in the opening round.
Hewitt-Trussville will host Hoover, two programs that are quite familiar with each other in the postseason.
“It’s going to come down to who executes and plays the cleanest game,” Hewitt-Trussville coach Jeff Mauldin said. “I don’t think either team has an overwhelming advantage.”
The Huskies claimed the Area 6 title via tiebreaker with Spain Park, after each finished 4-2 in area play. Hewitt has put together a strong season, going 26-7 in the regular season.
Mauldin said one of the keys to the team’s success has been the explosiveness of the offense. Over half the lineup has over a .300 batting average and a handful of players have driven in 25 runs or more. The pitching staff does not ultimately rely on one or two arms to shoulder the load, either.
“Our team complements each other extremely well,” he said.
Hoover, on the other hand, has been up and down. The Bucs have dealt with adversity, both as a program and in team performance, but coach Adam Moseley is proud of how his players and coaches have weathered everything.
“Guys have been learning and developing some resilience and camaraderie,” Moseley said.
The Bucs are playing their best ball of the season, winning 11 of 12 before the season-ending area series against Thompson.
“We did play a ridiculous schedule,” Moseley said. “That’s our thing. We wanted to be ready for area play with our schedule. There’s only a few games that truly matter and we wanted to be ready for those games and we were.”
The atmosphere should be electric at Phil English Field. The Huskies have brought in extra bleachers and Rodney Scott’s BBQ will be on hand as well.
Spain Park will head to Thompson to take on the Warriors, ranked as the No. 2 team at the end of the season by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
The Jags have had a solid season, posting a 24-11 record to this point. Spain Park faced Thompson twice during the regular season twice, winning both contests.
“That’s not going to make a hill of difference, but it has to give you confidence,” Spain Park coach Will Smith said.
Smith spoke of the depth and explosiveness in Thompson’s lineup, along with the depth of the pitching staff.
“To say we’ve got a tough task is an understatement,” he said.
But the Jags have been playing well and have certainly met, if not exceeded, what the coaches thought possible this season.
Smith said, “We’re putting all phases together at the right time. Whether that shows up on Friday night, who knows?”
Smith has emphasized with his players to play loose and with confidence, even though the stakes are certainly higher.
“There’s no reason for us to play tight,” he said. “Are we going to go over there happy to be there? Absolutely not. In anything we do, we’re going to give it our best shot and live with the results.”
Muscle Shoals put Mountain Brook on its heels last week, as the Trojans won the first game by jumping ahead with six runs in the second inning. But the Spartans responded, winning game two 10-3 and taking the decisive game 9-6.
“We faced a storm early and weathered that storm,” Mountain Brook head coach Lee Gann said. “It didn’t end up how we wanted it to, but the result of the series is what we were looking for.”
Gann said the Spartans remained focused on the present and that paid dividends.
Mortimer Jordan cruised past Columbia in a first-round sweep last weekend. Gann said in order to beat the Blue Devils, who the Spartans lost to 9-6 two weeks ago, Mountain Brook will need to play clean defense, pitch better than it did that day, and eliminate some mistakes on offense as well.
“Our guys are going to be ready to compete come Friday,” he said. “It’s a long time between rounds, so we’re trying to do everything we can to keep improving.”
All three series begin Friday with a doubleheader set to be played. Mountain Brook begins at 4 p.m., with the other two set for 4:30 p.m. first pitches. If needed, a third game in those series will take place Saturday at 1 p.m.
