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Briarwood started its home slate in emphatic fashion as it scored nine unanswered runs to beat Mars Hill Bible before plating 14 runs against Pelham. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

Briarwood started its home slate in emphatic fashion as it scored nine unanswered runs to beat Mars Hill Bible before plating 14 runs against Pelham. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions finally came home after playing their first five games on the road, and they put on a show for their home fans with big offensive showings against the Mars Hill Bible Panthers and Pelham Panthers.

Briarwood defeated Mars Hill 9-2 before a 14-4 win over Pelham in six innings on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Briarwood Christian School.

In the first game of the day against Mars Hill, the Lions fell into an early hole after giving up a one-out RBI double in the top of the first inning. Ivan Hand then struck out the remaining batters of the inning to give Briarwood a chance to respond.

While the Lions couldn’t capitalize on two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the first, their small-ball tactics after Wes Burgess’ lead-off double in the bottom of the third worked much better.

A Jamison Barnes sacrifice bunt and Charles Dedmon sacrifice fly moved Burgess two more bases back to home plate to tie the game up at 1-1.

However, Mars Hill stole the lead right back in the top of the third, using a walk and a single to score off a passed ball with one out.

Now trailing 2-1, Briarwood got right back in business with an infield error and a Seth Staggs double to put two in scoring position just like in the first inning.

Unlike the opening frame though, the Lions scored both runners as Parker Daniels ripped a single to left field to give the hosts a 3-2 lead.

Briarwood never looked back from there and added three more runs to the lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to another RBI single from Daniels, an error at first and a two-run single from Brayden Robertson to increase the lead to 9-2.

John Parker Sfakianos scored another run in the bottom of the fifth off a sacrifice fly before a passed ball and a Robertson RBI double in the home half of the sixth inning capped off the 9-2 win.

Hand secured eight strikeouts across the first three innings while allowing one earned run, two total runs, three hits and a walk. Colin Lusk came in and pitched four innings, giving up just one hit with two strikeouts to his name.

Daniels finished the game 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs. Robertson went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Burgess had a 2-for-4 game with two runs.

In the second game of the day against Pelham, both teams stranded a pair of base-runners in the first inning before Briarwood struck at the plate in the second. A walk and Paulsen single got the inning going before John Paul Harbor got hit by a pitch.

That loaded up the bases with no outs and led to an avalanche of Lions offense.

Brooks Allred started it out with an RBI single before Houston Hartsfield brought a run home off a fly out to right.

Staggs then stepped up to the plate and cleared the bases with a three-run shot to make the lead 5-0.

Briarwood wasn’t done filling the bases as Robertson got on with a single on the next pitch after the home run. Daniels made it three hits in three pitches with an RBI double to center that sent Robertson home from first for the 6-0 lead. The next two batters of the inning popped out, but the damage was done.

Pelham got on the board in the top of the third, using a trio of free base-runners to capitalize on a passed ball as Anderson came home to make it a 6-1 game ahead of the third out.

Briarwood got two of its first three batters of the third to reach base thanks to a walk and a hit by pitch, and Hartsfield took advantage with an RBI double. Two batters later, a sharp ground ball to first led to an error and two runs coming home as the lead grew to 9-1.

The next inning, a Burgess double and Robbie Paulsen walk led to three-straight scoring plays from the Lions. Harbor hit into a sacrifice fly to start it out before RBI doubles from Allred and Hartsfield put their team up 12-1.

Pelham briefly staved off the run rule in the fifth inning as it got three runs off a pair of errors following back-to-back one-out singles. However, the Panthers couldn’t score again in the sixth inning before Briarwood finished off the win.

The Lions started the sixth with back-to-back walks before Allred scored another run off an RBI single to make the lead nine. Hartsfield then reached off an error to put two on for Staggs, who shut it down with an RBI single to secure the 14-4 win in six innings.

Three’s were wild for Allred as he finished 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and three runs to lead the offense. Staggs finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run while Hartsfield had a 2-for-5 game with three RBI and a run.

Paulsen went 1-for-1 with two walks and crossed home plate four times. Daniels finished 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI double.

Sfakianos secured five strikeouts in relief against three unearned runs, two hits and a walk in 2.1 innings.

As for Pelham, Garin Fitts led the offense with two RBI.

Briarwood will take its 3-4 record into a Thursday, Feb. 27 road matchup against Etowah County looking to get back to .500. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

Pelham dropped to 5-2 after a 5-0 start to the season, and the Panthers will face Orange Beach on Saturday, March 1 at 11 a.m. in hopes of getting back on track.

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