No. 2 Mountain Brook rallies twice; sweeps 6A first-round doubleheader against No. 4 Oxford

Mountain Brook’s Caleb Barnett and Hunter Davis hammered 2-run homers in consecutive innings and Bryant Diddell issued nine strikeouts as the second-ranked Spartans posted a doubleheader sweep over No. 4 Oxford in Friday’s Class 6A first-round playoff series.

The Spartans (26-8) won the series by scores of 10-7 and 12-6.

“I think our guys played with a lot of energy and the biggest thing we did was make sure they understood that after that first game, that game was over,” Mountain Brook coach Lee Gann said. “We had to refocus, 30 minutes later we started another one, and our guys did a fantastic job of doing exactly that.

“Our guys are resilient, they play hard and they love and care about each other. They want to be the very best version of themselves, but they also want their teammates to do the same.”

Mountain Brook grabbed an early 1-0 lead as Boyd Cooper scored Barnett on a 2-out triple in the top half of the first inning. The Yellow Jackets responded with 4 runs on a single from Hudson Gilman, a 2-run triple from Reid Maniscalco and an RBI double from Canaan Whitman.

The Spartans countered with a 3-run second to tie the game and sat Oxford down in order in the bottom half of the inning. Luke Houser brought the first run home on a double, followed by an RBI groundout by Paul Barnett and an RBI single from Caleb Barnett.

Mountain Brook jumped ahead by a run in the third as Will Weaver scored on an error, but the Yellow Jackets retook the lead on an RBI single from Whitman, who was caught stealing for a third out, but allowed Charlie Maniscalco to score on the throw to second base.

Paul Barnett led off the fourth with a walk and Caleb Barnett sent him home on a moon-shot out of the park. Weaver added a 2-run double later in the inning to give the Spartans a 3-run advantage, and Davis belted a 2-run homer to put the Spartans ahead 11-6 in the fifth inning.

Mountain Brook allowed a single base-runner in the final three innings, and Paul Barnett placed the exclamation point on the series win with an inside-the-park home run in the seventh. He blasted a 2-2 pitch into left field, where it hung longer than expected and was eventually lost by the Oxford outfield.

“That was cheap and he knows it,” Caleb Barnett said. “But, we’ll take it. That was fun.”

Reid Maniscalco took the loss in the nightcap, while Diddell allowed 6 runs off 7 hits and struck out 9 batters to earn the victory.

“I gave up a couple of runs and knew the strike zone was tight,” Diddell said. “I tried to get outs by contact and rolled with that. It was my mindset the whole time; throw strikes and compete.”

Barnett opened Game 1 on the mound, but Leython-George Williams earned the win for the Spartans while Colton Parten was tagged with the loss.

Oxford (23-11) broke a second-inning stalemate in the third as Marcus Lawler drove in a run on a single, followed by a walk that scored Ayden Noyola. Reid Maniscalco gave the Yellow Jackets a 5-0 lead on a 3-run double, scoring Rocco Maniscalco, Richardson and Lawler.

Becker Mayor cut into the lead in the fifth on a 2-run double, scoring Noah Crosby and Will Weaver, and Sam Estes kicked off a sixth-inning rally on a 2-run triple, followed by an RBI double from Weaver to tie the game at 5 runs apiece.

“It was 0-2, the at-bat before he threw me a curve ball and I just missed it,” Estes said. “I expected it and drove it down the line. I actually think I was getting held up going to the third, but blew through that stop sign. That got the team going and we scored 8 runs.”

The Spartans added a run off a fielder’s choice and Paul Barnett scored two runners on a double and crossed the plate himself on an error. Boyd Cooper scored the final run on an RBI single to give Mountain Brook a 10-5 lead at the start of the final inning.

Oxford added a pair of runs on a single from Hudson Gilman and an RBI groundout by Canaan Whitman.

Star of the Game: Caleb Barnett. The Alabama signee went 3-for-6 for 4 RBIs in the series, including a 2-run blast over the wall in Game 2. He allowed 5 runs off 3 hits and issued 8 strikeouts in 5 innings of work in the opener.

“This is a really good team, a really good program, and we’ve lost to them two years in a row, so it feels good to get these two. It was, honestly, a team effort. Almost 20 hits total, that’s freaking awesome. Love to see it. No credit to any one player,” he said.

Stat sheet: Mountain Brook – Paul Barnett was 3-of-8 with 3 RBIs, including an inside-the-park home run in the final inning of Game 2. Cooper was 3-of-9 with 2 RBIs, followed by Weaver, who was 3-of-6 with 3 RBIs. Estes, along with Becker Mayor and Henry Gimenez, combined for 5 RBIs. Oxford – Reid Maniscalco finished 2-of-6 with 5 RBIs, including a 2-run triple, and Gilman and Whitman each had a pair of RBIs.

Coachspeak: “Coach (Travis) Janssen, he’s one of the best coaches in the state of Alabama, in my opinion. I think the world of him and have a lot of respect for him and his program. They do great things over there and Oxford is a household name in high school baseball. It was a tough first-round matchup between two really good programs. They’re a fantastic team, it’s just one of those deals where it’s bad that someone has to lose.” — Mountain Brook’s Lee Gann

What’s next: Mountain Brook advances to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs and will host Buckhorn.