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Photo by Kyle Parmley
Mountain Brook Baseball
Mountain Brook's Ty Shotts (20) throws a pitch during a Class 6A quarterfinal game between Mountain Brook and Oxford on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Bud McCarty Field in Oxford. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
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Mountain Brook's Ty Shotts (20) pumps his fist during a Class 6A quarterfinal game between Mountain Brook and Oxford on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Bud McCarty Field in Oxford. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
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Mountain Brook head coach Lee Gann and players celebrate during a Class 6A quarterfinal game between Mountain Brook and Oxford on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Bud McCarty Field in Oxford. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
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Mountain Brook's Benjamin Payne (33) bunts during a Class 6A quarterfinal game between Mountain Brook and Oxford on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Bud McCarty Field in Oxford. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
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Mountain Brook's Sam Estes (25) and Bodi Brumfield (24) talk during a Class 6A quarterfinal game between Mountain Brook and Oxford on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Bud McCarty Field in Oxford. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
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Mountain Brook's James Graphos (15) fields a ground ball during a Class 6A quarterfinal game between Mountain Brook and Oxford on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Bud McCarty Field in Oxford. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
OXFORD – The series could hardly be any tighter.
The decisive third game of the Class 6A quarterfinal series between Mountain Brook and Oxford high schools went five extra innings Friday night, with Oxford prevailing 5-4 in 12 innings to advance to the semifinals.
Down to their final out in the seventh inning, the Spartans tied the game and forced extra innings, as Sam Estes grounded a single up the middle to score John Robicheaux and knot the game at 3-3.
The two teams exchanged zeroes on the scoreboard over the next four innings, before Mountain Brook’s Caleb Barnett continued his great series by hitting a solo home run to right center field to push the Spartans ahead 4-3.
Oxford was down to its final out in the bottom half of the 12th, before Rocco Maniscalco’s single up the middle tied the game at 4-4. Two batters later, Judd Syer chopped a grounder to the left side that was perfectly placed, allowing the game-winning run to score and send the Yellow Jackets, the reigning 6A champions, to the next round
John Littleton started the game on the mound for the Spartans, but piled up 62 pitches in two-plus innings of work. Ty Shotts entered the game in the third inning and threw eight strong innings, allowing just three runs (two earned) to go with nine strikeouts.
“Ty has had unbelievable performances in the postseason and today was no different,” Mountain Brook head coach Lee Gann said. “He’s one of the best competitors we’ve had around here in a long time. He gets every bit out of his body and gave us more than we could imagine. I’m so proud of him and the success he’s had this postseason, and really his whole career here.
The two teams split a pair of hard-fought games Thursday, depleting both pitching staffs.
“They had the same deal, got out of here late last night after two long games,” Gann said. “You had two teams that were competing and battling in a classic 6A matchup and it’s unfortunate someone was going to have to lose that game.”
For the third game in a row, Mountain Brook jumped ahead, scoring a pair of runs in the third inning. Bennett Love hit a sacrifice fly and was immediately followed by Estes’ run-scoring single. Oxford got a run back in the fourth and took the lead with two runs in the fifth.
A single and a walk led to Estes’ game-tying hit in the seventh.
Mountain Brook, making its first quarterfinal appearance since 2014, finished the season with a 30-8 record.
“We’ve had a bunch of groups since I’ve been at Mountain Brook that we always remember, and they are certainly going to be held in high esteem with me and all of our coaches,” Gann said. “They mean a lot more than just as players and a senior group. These are fantastic young men who are going to be successful in whatever they choose to do in life.”
