Photo by Erin Nelson
Mountain Brook's Caleb Barnett (9) bumps helmets with a teammate during the Spartans' first round playoff series against Muscle Shoals on Friday, April 19, 2024.
MOUNTAIN BROOK -- John Robicheaux drove in three runs and Ty Shotts pitched three strong innings to lead the Mountain Brook High School baseball team to a 9-6 victory over Muscle Shoals on Saturday, in the decisive third game of the first round Class 6A playoff series.
Mountain Brook, which lost 9-6 in the first game of the series Friday before rallying to win 10-3 in the second game, faced the daunting task of playing in its second consecutive elimination game. Spartans head coach Lee Gann said his team staved off pressure by living in the moment.
“The results will take care of themselves,” said Gann. “We've got to worry about the next pitch. Every pitch has a life and history of its own and that's the only thing you can really control. We talk a lot about controlling the controllables and I thought our guys did a really nice job of that.”
Muscle Shoals wasted no time building a threat, loading the bases in the top of the first inning before Mountain Brook could record an out. The Trojans took an early lead on a Carter Berryhill walk. Spartans starter Sellers Neuendorf limited the damage, though, striking out two in the inning.
Mountain Brook’s Robicheaux tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half, but Muscle Shoals responded with a string of hits to regain the lead. Outfielder Cruise Baker, pitcher Sam Arnold, and third baseman Sam Reed each drove in a run, staking the Trojans to a 4-1 lead in the top of the second.
The Spartans began to claw back in the bottom of the third, with an RBI double from Bennett Love cutting the deficit to 4-2. Mountain Brook’s Hunter Keller turned the game on its head in the next frame, belting a game-tying double to force a Muscle Shoals pitching change. Robicheaux and Sam Estes drove in two more runs, giving the Spartans a 6-4 lead by the end of the fourth inning.
“We weathered the storm there in that second inning from a defensive standpoint,” said Gann. “We just kind of told our guys, just keep chipping away. It's a long game. They did exactly that and gave us a chance to win at the end.”
Muscle Shoals struggled to find a response to the Spartans’ comeback, largely due to the pitching of Shotts, who struck out four batters in three innings.
“Ty did a fantastic job coming in there and shutting things down and really becoming that bridge guy between the starter and Kenneth Diddell, our closer,” said Gann. “He battled his rear end off and gave us a chance. If he doesn’t come out and perform the way he did, we may be looking at a different outcome.”
Mountain Brook scored three more runs in the sixth inning courtesy of RBIs from Robicheaux and Estes. Diddell earned the save, striking out four over 2 1/3 innings.
“Everybody brought something to the table today from an offensive standpoint and defensive standpoint,” Gann said. “I'm proud of all of our guys. It was a long weekend, three games in just a 24-hour period, but I think our guys handled it really, really well.”
Mountain Brook now turns its attention to the second round of the playoffs. The Spartans will travel to Mortimer Jordan this weekend. A doubleheader is set to begin Friday at 4 p.m., with a third game at 1 p.m. Saturday if necessary.
“We know we're gonna have a dogfight in front of us once again,” said Gann. “We just got to come out here and continue to get better. Continue to focus on what we need to focus on and just get ourselves healthy and ready to go again next week.”
