Briarwood handles Chelsea
Published 10:34 am Friday, February 26, 2016
By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor
CHELSEA – Briarwood moved to 4-2 on the young 2016 baseball season with an easy, 11-0 win at Chelsea on Feb. 25. The Hornets, coming off their first win of the season on Saturday against Montevallo, have struggled out of the gate, giving up at least six runs in five of their first six games.
After a scoreless first inning, Briarwood jumped on the board in the top of the second. Carter Bankston and Graham Core grounded out to start the inning for Briarwood, but Michael Hiers and Hudson Hartsfield both drew two-out walks, and Carson Eddy reached base safely on a Chelsea error to load the bases. With an 0-2 count, Jake Morris hit a booming ball to right field, which was good for a triple, scoring all three base runners and giving the Lions a 3-0 lead they never relinquished.
Briarwood only scored one more run before the seventh inning, when Kolby Kwarcinski scored from third in the top of the third inning via a Hiers ground ball. But in the seventh inning the Lions’ bats exploded to score seven addition runs, giving them the 11-0 win.
Logan Whittlesey threw a complete, seven-inning game for Briarwood, allowing just one hit on 75 pitches while striking out eight while also forcing eight Chelsea batters to ground out. Whittlesey also threw 56 strikes on the day, good for 75 percent of his overall pitch count.
The lone hit for Chelsea came from Joel Cheatwood, who finished 1-for-3 on the day. Jake Harkins worked four innings on the mound for the Hornets, throwing 87 pitches, giving up two hits and four runs, although none of them were earned, while striking and walking five. Tristan Sulser took over in the fifth inning and finished the game, throwing 65 pitches, giving up seven hits and seven earned runs while striking out one.
As of Feb. 26, Briarwood was 4-2 while Chelsea was 1-5.
Stats via Gamechanger.com.