MAX Capital City Classic baseball game should be on every Alabama and Auburn fan's 'bucket list'

Capital City Classic is the Iron Bowl of college baseball.

One of the most unique sporting events in all of Alabama each year is the annual MAX Capital City Classic.

For those of you unfamiliar with this event, the Capital City Classic is a neutral site baseball game played between Alabama and Auburn in Montgomery. It’s basically the Iron Bowl of Alabama-Auburn baseball.

The 11^th annual Capital City Classic was played Tuesday of last week at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, and Alabama beat 12^th-ranked Auburn, 6-3. While the game doesn’t affect the SEC standings, it does affect each team’s overall record.

I’d never been to the Capital City Classic prior to this season, but I’ve always wanted to go because it’s such a unique event. On Tuesday of last week, I rode up to Montgomery to see this game for myself, and I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve been to many college baseball games over the years, but the atmosphere at the Capital City Classic is hard to beat.

As everyone reading this column knows, Alabama and Auburn are fierce rivals, and both teams want to win no matter what. Tuesday of last week’s game was nip and tuck, and you couldn’t have asked for a better game to watch. The game could have gone either way all the way up until the final out, and fans were on the edge of their seats right up to the end.

The hero of the game for Alabama was freshman first baseman Drew Williamson, the 19-year-old son of Ed and Leslie Williamson of Brewton. Drew played his high school baseball at T.R. Miller High School in Brewton, and he has wasted no time making his mark at Alabama. In the Capital City Classic, Drew was named the Game MVP after going four-for-four at the plate with a double and two runs scored.

Williamson’s outstanding performance came before a history-making crowd at Riverwalk Stadium. Opened in April 2004, this stadium - the home of minor league baseball’s Montgomery Biscuits – has a capacity of around 7,000, and Tuesday of last week’s Capital City Classic was witnessed by the largest crowd in stadium history. A record crowd of 7,896 fans were in attendance, according to an announcement made late in the game.

Tuesday of last week’s Alabama win was the Tide’s first in the neutral site game since 2014, and even though Auburn didn’t come out on top this year, Auburn fans should rest easy. They’ll get a chance for revenge later this season during a three-game series, May 3-5, in Auburn. Unlike the Capital City Classic, those games will count in the conference standings.

In the end, if you’re an Alabama or Auburn fan and have never been to see the Capital City Classic, I highly recommend that you take the time to do so. Riverwalk Stadium is a relatively short drive from Conecuh County, and you’ll find the atmosphere there as electric as just about any Alabama or Auburn football game you go to. It’s also good, clean fun in a family-friendly environment, and it’s held in one of the finest baseball stadiums in the Southeast.