By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

Briarwood and Homewood are both going to the playoffs by default. The Lions and the Patriots are the only two schools that have a baseball program in 6A Area 9, as Woodlawn, the third team in the area, does not play baseball. The two teams have played twice this week in an effort to determine which team will win the area and which will represent the area as the runner-up, however they have split the first two, which has forced a deciding game three, taking place tonight.

Briarwood beat Homewood 6-1 on April 12 at home before the Patriots beat the Lions 5-3 on April 14. After the April 14 game, a coin toss was held to determine which team would host the third game. Briarwood won the coin toss, choosing to host the third game, and will be the away team on the scoreboard.

 

Game 1. April 12, Briarwood Christian School

Briarwood 6 – Homewood 1

Homewood scored its only run of the game in the top of the second inning, taking a momentary 1-0 lead before Briarwood came alive from the plate. The Lions tied the game in the bottom of the second when Sam Strickland blasted a leadoff home run over the center field fence, and took the lead for good in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs in the inning. Cole Steadman hit a double in the bottom of the sixth, scoring Will Shepherd, and Luis Fuentes brought Steadman home two batters later with a single, giving the Lions even more breathing room with a 6-1 lead, eventually winning by that margin.

Logan Whittlesey pitched 6.1 commanding innings, giving up five hits and one run while striking out five as well before Trey Mitchell finished the final 0.2 innings.

 

Game 2. April 14, Homewood High School

Homewood 5 – Briarwood 3

Briarwood took a 3-1 lead over Homewood with two outs in the top of the fourth when Strickland slapped a single to left field, scoring both Kolby Kwarcinski and Carson Eddy. That lead held until the bottom of the fifth, when the Patriots pushed two runs across the plate to tie the game at 3-3. Two more runs from Homewood in the bottom of the sixth gave the Patriots a 5-3 advantage, and Briarwood failed to score in the top of the seventh, giving Homewood the win and forcing the series-clinching third game tonight.

 

Briarwood will host the third game tonight after winning the coin toss after last night’s game; however, Homewood will be the home team on the score board.