By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Reporter

VESTAVIA – On March 17, Briarwood its their eighth-straight game on the baseball diamond against Vestavia Hills to advance their overall record to 12-2. Carson Cupo stepped on to the mound for the Lions and never relinquished his post, pitching a seven-inning gem where he threw 98 pitches, gave up zero runs on four hits and struck out six. With Cupo in the zone, the Rebel bats never truly threatened, advancing a base runner to third base only twice in the contest.

Briarwood struck first in the top of the first inning when Harrison Cain singled to right field and brought home Jake Morris, who had been perched on second base, to give the Lions the early 1-0 lead. They added another run in the third inning when an error by the Vestavia Hills third basemen resulted in Pierce Merry crossing the plate. Successive runs in the fourth and fifth inning brought the Briarwood run total to four, which was more than enough with Cupo on the mound, who held the Rebels scoreless on the afternoon, and Briarwood coasted to a 4-0 win.

The Lions, currently ranked seventh in class 6A by the ASWA, have not lost since March 6, when they dropped the second game of a doubleheader to Chelsea by one run by a final of 4-3. Since then, the Lions have been on a tear and have beaten opponents by an average of 7.7 runs per game over their last eight games, outscoring opponents 78 runs to 17 over the span.

Cain led the way for Briarwood in its most recent victory over Vestavia Hills, going 2-4 from the plate with a double and one RBI. Morris, Merry, Cupo, Will Baumbach, Luis Fuentes and Carter Bankston rounded out the batters who registered hits for the Lions on the day.

Carter Jacobs and Jonathan Stockton took the mound for Vestavia on the day, Jacobs pitched six innings and Stockton closed the game out in the seventh.