Oxford, Spanish Fort Capture State Baseball Titles
Class 6A Championship Series
Game 3: Oxford 12, Fairhope 7
Oxford rebounded from a heartbreaking 5-3 loss in game two with six runs in the top of the sixth inning of game three to win the Class 6A state baseball championship with a 12-7 decision over Fairhope Saturday night at Riverwalk Stadium.
Oxford trailed 6-3 heading into the sixth when the Jackets (39-13) exploded for six runs to take a 9-6 lead. Mike Goodson delivered an RB I single to tie the game and Series MVP Tucker Simpson drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run.
Reliever Frazier Taylor (3-0) hurled the final three innings to get the win. He allowed only one hit, an unearned run and struck out four to keep what had been the red-hot Pirate hitters at bay. Corey Childress (3-2) took the loss.
Jackson Stephens slugged a towering solo homer in the first inning and finished with two hits and three RBIs for Oxford. Goodson had two hits and Will Davis a two-run double in the third inning, another RBI in the sixth and finished with three RBIs.
Joe McGuire also had a single and two RBIs for Coach Wes Brooks’ Jackets.
Fairhope (38-7) was led by shortstop Toby Thomas, who had a double and single and two RBIs. Beecher Faust also had two hits for Coach Stu Fuller’s Pirates.
Game 2: Fairhope 5, Oxford 3
Fairhope scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning Saturday afternoon to nip Oxford 5-3 in the second game to tie the Class 6A state baseball championship series at Riverwalk Stadium.
The two teams were scheduled to start deciding game three at 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
Hits were few for the Pirates (36-6), who were still looking for their first hit off Oxford starter Jackson Stephens heading into the sixth inning. Hunter Ellenburg broke up the no-hitter with a single to start the top of the sixth and scored on Jerrod Hathcock’s single.
Oxford (38-13), which scored all three of its runs in the first inning on only one hit off Pirates hurler Ethan Hunt (12-0), still led 3-1 going into the final inning.
Brock Gilheart started the rally by reaching first on an error. Beecher Faust was hit by a pitch and Taylor Gradle singled to left to load the bases. The Yellow Jackets then replaced Stephens (14-1), who allowed only three hits, walked two and struck nine in his six innings of work.
Frazier Taylor struck out the first two batters he faced but yielded a two-run single to Toby Thomas to tie the game. Pinch-runner Cole Henselor scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch and Thomas scored an important insurance run on Chase Domino’s single.
Hunt then retired the side in the bottom of the inning to seal the win and finished with a five-hitter and seven strikeouts.
Fairhope had gone 12 innings in the championship series without a run until the single run in the sixth.
Game 1: Oxford 2, Fairhope 0
Oxford senior pitcher Tucker Simpson took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with a one-hit, 2-0 shutout as the Yellow Jackets won game one of the AHSAA Class 6A state baseball championship series Friday night at Paterson Field.
Simpson (9-3) struck out 12, walked none and came within just one batter of pitching his second perfect game of the state playoffs. Center fielder Chase Domino broke up the gem with a single to lead off the fifth. After Simpson struck out Justin Hathcock for the second out, Domino stole second but was stranded there when Brock Gilheart grounded out to second for the third out.
No other Pirate reached base.
The two teams continue the 6A series Saturday at 4 p.m. at Riverwalk Stadium. A third game, if needed, will follow 30 minutes after completion of game two.
Oxford (38-12) scored the only run it would need in the fourth inning when Will Davis doubled to right off Fairhope starter Toby Thomas (11-1) to plate pinch-runner Jared Waits. The Jackets got their second run an inning later when Trent Simpson homered to left to lead off the inning.
Thomas also had an impressive outing, allowing only five hits, striking out 12 and walking just one.
Class 5A Championship Series
Game 2: Spanish Fort 6, Southside-Gadsden 1
Spanish Fort High School's baseball team posted the Toros’ 200th win Friday in the first game of the AHSAA Class 5A state baseball championship series. Saturday, win No. 201 clinched the school’s third straight state title.
Pitcher Jesse McCord (12-1) hurled a three-hitter and struck out four as Spanish Fort downed Southside-Gadsden 6-1 at Riverwalk Stadium to sweep the Panthers and claim the crown. McCord got all the run support he needed when third baseman Will Luft slammed a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the fourth inning to give Coach Tommy Walker’s Toros (37-8) a 5-2 lead. Luft also drove in run with a single in the second inning.
Blaine Crain, who had two hits and two RBIs in game one while fielding 12 putouts at first base, had a single and walk to score one run and earned the 5A series MVP award. Tate Godwin had a double, two runs scored and an RBI and Heath Brown, who pitched the game one shutout, had a single and run scored.
Spanish Fort lost three games in a row to start the season and then reeled off 37 wins in its last 42 games en route to the three-peat.
Southside (27-17), coached by Blake Bone, got its only run of the series in the third inning when first baseman Caleb Butler drilled an inside fastball over the left-field wall for a solo home run to cut the Toros lead to 2-1. Butler finished with two hits and Braxton Light got the other hit off McCord.
Southside pitcher Andrew Fuhrman (8-4) pitched four innings and got the loss. Jesse Fry pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits and no runs.
Game 1: Spanish Fort 9, Southside-Gadsden 0
Two-time defending Class 5A state baseball champion Spanish Fort blanked Southside-Gadsden Friday night 9-0 at Paterson Field to move one win away from a third title.
The Toros (35-8) can clinch the crown Saturday when the series resumes at Riverwalk Stadium for game two in the best-of-three format.
Heith Brown (8-2) was masterful for Spanish Fort, scattering four hits, walking three and striking out three in his complete-game effort. The Toros got him all the runs he would need in the top of the second when Joel Poe walked, Blaine Crain was hit by a pitch, Tate Godwin sacrificed the runners to second and third and Matt Hall grounded out to plate Poe.
Catcher Shane English, who had three hits and two RBIs, and Crain each singled in a run in the third inning as Spanish Fort built a 4-0 lead off Southside starter and losing pitcher Alex Pondick (8-3). The Toros added one in the fifth, two in the sixth and seventh to close out the scoring.
Crain finished with two hits and lead-off hitter Andrew Ferrell scored three runs for Spanish Fort.
Braxton Light, Blake Devine, Drew Mullinax and Conner Paulson each had a single for the Panthers (27-16).