By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
HOOVER – The Moody Blue Devils competed in the Perfect Game Hoover Bucs Classic at Hoover High School in the latter part of the Spring Break week, playing games Wednesday thru Saturday. While Moody won just 2 of the 5 games they played, the competition was really stiff and the Blue Devils fought through an 0-3 start to win the final 2 games of the event.
In game 1 on Wedenseday, Moody drew the host Hoover Bucs, who are ranked seventh in 7A in Alabama. Hoover got the win by a score of 10-7. The Blue Devils dug themselves a hole in the third, after two scoreless innings of play, allowing Hoover to jump all over them with 8 runs. Despite the 8-0 deficit, the Blue Devils would not go away. Hoover would make it 9-0 before Moody would get 2 runs in the sixth, yielding another run to Hoover to make it 10-2 heading into the seventh inning. Moody gave it all they had, putting up 5 runs in the final inning, but it would not be enough to overcome the deficit incurred in the third inning. Carson Mitchell and Mason Morris would lead at the plate for the Blue Devils with 2 RBI each while Brady Dodd and Thomas Taylor split time on the mound. Dodd allowed 8 runs on 7 hits and struck out 2 while Taylor allowed 2 runs on 2 hits.
Game 2 would be on Thursday against a mostly unknown team, as the Bingham Miners traveled from Utah to compete in the event and that is who Moody would play this time around. Bingham is ranked fourth in 6A in the state of Utah. This one would be back and forth most of the game. Bingham would strike first with a run in the first and then 3 in the second, but Moody would answer with 3 of their own in the second inning to make it 4-3 Miners. Slow and steady was the plan for Bingham though, as they put up another run in the third to go up 5-3. After a scoreless fourth, Bingham would put up 3 more runs in the fifth and another 2 in the sixth. Moody was scoreless in those innings. Now, down 10-3, Moody found itself in the bottom of the final inning with a big hole to dig out of. Once again, the Blue Devils would show grit and pride and would score 3 runs in the inning, coming up 4 runs short in the 10-6 loss to the Miners. Landon Cherry, Kolby Seymour and Johnny Earl would lead the Blue Devils with 2 hits each from the plate. On the mound, Bryant Harden would take the loss, pitching 5 innings and allowing 8 runs on 7 hits.
Friday brought another top 20 team in 7A in Alabama as Moody would take on Briarwood Christian to start the day. The Moody bats were consistent in this one, as they scored in each inning from the second to the sixth. This game required extra innings as it was tied at 6 runs each after regulation. After a scoreless eighth inning, Briarwood put 4 runs on the board in the ninth and Moody could not get anything going in the bottom of the inning, yielding to Briarwood by a score of 10-6. Bourne Grant had a good game, hitting the ball 4 out of the 5 trips to the plate and driving in 2 runs. On the mound, Colby Graves and Cherry (who took the loss) pitched most of the game with Graves giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and striking out one while Cherry gave up 4 runs on 2 hits and struck out 2.
Later in the day Friday, Moody took on Lincoln County, a team out of Tennessee, also ranked in the top 20 in their state. This time, the Blue Devils would get a different result though. After 3 scoreless innings, the Blue Devils would strike first in the fourth inning, getting a run on the board. Lincoln would answer in the fifth with 2 runs but Moody would tie it up in the sixth inning, making the seventh inning a crucial one. All Moody did was put up 4 runs while holding Lincoln to just 1 and the Blue Devils walked away with a 6-3 win, their first win of the event. Grant would drive in 3 RBI while Chase Marshall went the distance in the win, allowing just 2 hits and 3 runs while striking out 11 batters.
The final game of the event for Moody would be against an opponent closer to home in the Oak Mountain Eagles on Saturday. The fireworks started early as Oak Mountain outscored Moody 3-2 in the first inning. After a scoreless second and third, Moody would return the favor, outscoring the Eagles 3-2 and tying the game at 5 each. In the sixth inning, Moody would put 3 runs on the board to take the lead at 8-5 and they would never lose it. Oak Mountain would put up one more run in the seventh, but that would not be enough to beat the Blue Devils. 8-6 would be the final and Moody would end the event on a 2-game winning streak. Cherry and Grant would get 2 RBI each at the plate while Payton Isbell got the win from the mound, pitching all 7 innings. Isbell allowed 6 runs on 10 hits while striking out 6 in the winning effort.
“The whole tourney we played lights out,” said Moody coach Eamonn Kelly. “I know we only won 2, but we played some top teams. Two from another state. We saw a lot of great arms which will only prepare us for what’s ahead. The last two wins were huge for us. This week could have gone one of two ways. Get beat by some really good teams or go and compete and see what happens. We did the latter and picked up some quality wins and took some really good teams to the wire. I am really proud of how we competed and what we were able to accomplish being one of the smaller teams.”
The Blue Devils, now 13-10 overall, will look to keep that momentum going as they travel to Ramsay on Tuesday.