Rebels rebound to win Area 5 tournament

VESTAVIA HILLS – An argument could be made that Class 7A, Area 5 was the toughest in all the state, much less in the highest classification.

Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Thompson and Tuscaloosa County each established a regular season slate that made it apparent that there would be no game to take for granted in the area tournament.

And once the dust settled, Vestavia and Tuscaloosa County were left standing.

The Rebels fought back from the loser’s bracket – after being sent there by Tuscaloosa County – and beat the Wildcats twice, to not just qualify for the Class 7A North Central Regional, but to earn the top seed from Area 5 by winning the area tournament.

Vestavia secured the right to host the tournament by way of winning a tiebreaker with Tuscaloosa County. Both teams finished 4-2 in the area and split their games against one another, but the Rebels had the higher winning percentage against the No. 3 seed, Thompson.

The top-seeded Rebels took on crosstown rival Hoover in the opening round of the area tournament, and knocked off the Bucs, 5-2, after overcoming a first-inning deficit.

The Rebels took the lead with a four-run third inning that featured an RBI single by Mary Claire Wilson and a sacrifice fly by Ashley Dieguez. Jessica Perley’s run-scoring hit in the sixth pushed the tally to its final margin.

Tuscaloosa County drilled Thompson, 14-3, to set up a winner’s bracket between the top two seeds.

Flipping the script from the Hoover game, Vestavia jumped on the board with a pair of runs in the first inning. But Tuscaloosa County notched five in the second to take a 5-2 lead, a margin that would hold until the sixth inning.

Dieguez wiped out the deficit with one swing, as she cleared the bases with a double in that sixth, and Dieguez actually came around to score on the play, as an error by the catcher set up the little league version of an “inside-the-park grand slam,” giving Vestavia the 6-5 edge.

The Rebels tacked on another run in the seventh, and took a 7-5 lead into the bottom half.

The Wildcats cut the margin to 7-6 on a wild pitch, and down to their last strike, found the strength of a two-run walk-off home run, stunning the home crowd and sending County to the 8-7 victory.

After finding themselves in the loser’s bracket, the Rebels refused to wilt, even with another matchup against Hoover looming.

In a do-or-die game against Hoover the following day, the Rebels once again overcame an early deficit and notched another win, this one by an 8-2 final. Hoover’s Abby Tissier gave the Bucs a 1-0 lead in the third with a soft single to left. Dieguez answered the bell the following inning, belting a home run to tie the game at 1-1.

Later in the inning, Merritt Cahoon drove in three of her four runs on the game with a line drive to center field that cleared the bases and put the Rebels up 4-1. Wilson’s two-run double lengthened the gap to 6-1 in the sixth, followed by another RBI from Dieguez to make it 7-1. The Rebels cruised from there.

With their regional berth secured with the second win over Hoover, Vestavia had only to worry about beating Tuscaloosa County twice to win the area tournament. In the nightcap, the Rebels won a wild affair, 17-13. Dieguez went 4-for-4 with a homer and a double and six RBIs in the contest, as the Rebels scored in all but one inning.

RaeAnn King drove in a pair of runs with her two-hit performance as well.

The following day, the two teams faced off once again, for the third time in the tournament. On the strength of a pair of Cahoon homers and three RBIs from Savannah Hayes, the Rebels took a 9-3 win and won the area crown.

Perley and Sarah Cain each tacked on a pair of RBIs in the finale.

“After the heart breaking defeat, the girls knew that nothing would be handed to them,” Vestavia coach Lissa Walker said. “They had to take what they wanted, and the area championship was what they wanted.”

With the title, the Rebels will join Tuscaloosa County, Oak Mountain and Spain Park in the North Central Regional, set to begin Thursday at Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa.

Vestavia is set to begin play at 7:30 p.m. against Oak Mountain, the runner-up in the Area 6 tournament. With a similar setup last year at regionals, games were delayed several hours due to a variety of issues.

Vestavia Voice sports editor Kyle Parmley will be in Tuscaloosa covering the North Central Regional. Check back with vestaviavoice.com and follow Kyle on Twitter, @KyleParmley, for updates.