The Jags burst out of the gate with singles from Roberts and Thompson, giving them a cushion to do some damage. King and Allie bunted the two runners home before Provost sent a single to left to make it 3-0.<\/p>\n
Provost tossed a one-two-three frame in the bottom of the first, and the offense got a huge two-out rally in the following inning. Roberts walked before a Thompson grounder gave the third baseman trouble, putting two aboard for Wade. She ripped a single to center to score both runners and increase the lead to 5-3.<\/p>\n
However, McAdory immediately responded in the bottom of the inning. A hit batter and an error set up a shot to center, which resulted in a triple after the Jackets were called safe at third. It cleared the bases for McAdory\u2019s first runs, and a dropped third strike allowed the runner to score.<\/p>\n
The sequence cut the gap to 5-3, but the pitchers for both sides settled in from there until the finish. Neither side managed a base-runner until a one-out single from Wade in the fifth. Provost then struck out the side in the bottom of the inning.<\/p>\n
Both teams got a runner aboard in the sixth. The second attempt at a double play saw the Jackets get out of the top of the inning, and the Jags worked around an error with a grounder to Thompson at short to head to the seventh.<\/p>\n
Spain Park would then make it three-straight innings with a hit in the seventh, but couldn\u2019t do anything with it and trusted the defense to see it through.<\/p>\n
However, the Jags had a nervy start to the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back hits to put two in scoring position with no outs. That brought Ritenour to the circle for a moment to regroup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just said, \u2018Reset, use this break to clear your mind,\u2019\u201d Ritenour said. \u201c\u2018Stay positive and know that you can do it, and just come back ready to fight.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Young came in to pitch and got a pop out and strikeout, but a hit batter turned up the pressure with the bases loaded. She threw a couple of strikes to get a 1-2 count and then forced a pop out to Roberts to seal the win.<\/p>\n
Provost got the win with six strikeouts in as many innings, working around one earned run, three total runs, three hits and a hit batter. Young secured the save with a hitless seventh.<\/p>\n
Roberts went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run while Wade was 2-for-4 with her two-run single.<\/p>\n
After the game, Ritenour credited Young, Provost and Dees for working through challenging circumstances to set the team up for success.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve been huge,\u201d Ritenour said of the pitching staff. \u201cJaley pitched great all weekend, and then also against Helena earlier, and then Maxie came in this game and did a good job as well. They located well. They worked hard. They did their job on the mound and they brought energy. They were in tough situations, and they fought through it, so I’m so proud of them. They’re a great little combo. Mary Payton did very well against Helena as well, and so we have a great pitching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Jags battled through a trio of games decided by two runs or less to end regionals, much like their area tournament wins over Helena, each by one run. Ritenour said that clutch factor comes from within and is forged from their bond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a lot of grit,\u201d Ritenour said. \u201cThey really, really do. And they believe in each other, they trust each other and I have all the confidence in the world for this team. I’m so happy for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for where that confidence comes from?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust this group, just their energy, just their passion and how much they want to win,\u201d Ritenour said.<\/p>\n
The Jags now advance to the Class 6A state tournament on May 18 and 19 at Oxford\u2019s Choccolocco Park and will face the Hartselle Tigers in the first round on Monday, May 18 at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jags burst out of the gate with singles from Roberts and Thompson, giving them a cushion to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[543,541,4004,17,539,540],"class_list":{"0":"post-22478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-280-reporter","9":"tag-hoover","10":"tag-softball","11":"tag-spain","12":"tag-spain-park","13":"tag-spain-park-high-school"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}