By JOSH ETHRIDGE/For the Reporter

CLANTON — The Briarwood Christian Lions faced off against the American Christian Patriots in varsity baseball action March 22. The Lions had a hard time getting the bats going, as they fell to the Patriots 10-2.

In the top of the first inning Briarwood pitcher Richard Woods pitched a scoreless inning but it wasn’t without drama. The second batter of the game was hit by a pitch and was advanced to third on a line drive single. The runner on first stole a base but the inning ended with a third out popup to the second baseman.

The Lions had a promising start to the bottom of the first as the leadoff hitter, Brayden Housel, hit safely on a single up the middle. However, he was responsible for base running error as the right fielder threw him out at first following a pop fly. This left the bases empty as right fielder Thomas Hardin grounded out to end the inning.

Briarwood continued their pitching struggles in the second inning.  The Patriots started the inning with a line drive single followed up by a single grounder to left field. With runners at the corners a wild pitch by Woods allowed the first run of the day to be scored. American then laid down a bunt single to send a man to third base. The Patriots recorded two more hits in the inning and added three more to their runs total.

Down 4-0, the Lions were the victims of a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second.

American added to their run total again in the third inning as a result of a double and two fielders choice groundouts to get the runner home. The Patriot lead was pushed to 5-0.

The Lions were finally able to get on the board in the fourth inning. Philip Johnson took a two out walk and was the first base runner for Briarwood since the first inning. Thomas Hardin followed up the walk with a double to the corner of left field putting runners on the corners. Stuart Wilkins then hit a ground ball to third and the runner scored on a fielder’s choice after the third baseman threw the ball to first. As the ball was thrown to first Thomas Hardin took third and an off-target throw from the first baseman allowed him to score the second run of the day for the Lions.

After the fourth^, Briarwood continued to struggle at the mound and was not able to push another run across for the remainder of the contest.  The Patriots were able to go home with a 10-2 win.