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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Briarwood remains undefeated on the season after the Lions improved to 6-0 with a win in a back-and-forth battle with the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies on Monday, Feb. 26 at Briarwood Christian School.

The victory came after Briarwood swept a two-game set with the Leeds Green Wave on Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24.

In their showdown with the Huskies, the Lions came from behind and held off their Class 7A opposition to secure the win.

Hewitt-Trussville struck first in the top of the first after earning back-to-back singles, the second of which was an RBI single to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies doubled that lead in the top of the second after a bases loaded error. Hewitt-Trussville then went up 3-0 with a one-out solo home run in the top of the third inning.

However, a pair of walks to start the home half of the inning gave Briarwood an opening to capitalize.

Will Clark hit an RBI single to get the Lions on the scoreboard, and after a hit by pitch, Houston Hartsfield crossed home plate on a groundout by Parker Daniels to cut the deficit to one run.

Briarwood earned three straight outs in the top of the fourth to keep Hewitt from scoring, and it tied up the game after a one-out wild pitch allowed Jackson Barnes to come home.

Clark then earned his second RBI single of the game to give the Lions a 4-3 lead.

However, the Huskies tied up the game again with an RBI sacrifice fly after the first two batters of the inning reached base.

Briarwood didn’t allow Hewitt to regain the lead and scored two more runs in the bottom of the frame.

Barnes hit a one-out RBI single to retake a one-run lead, and two batters later, Hartsfield made that advantage two runs with an RBI single.

However, the Huskies tied up the game again with a one-out RBI single, leaving the teams tied a 6-6 going into the bottom of the sixth.

With one out for Briarwood, a passed ball allowed Jake Souders to score the winning run. The Lions then shut down Hewitt in the top of the seventh to earn the 7-6 run.

Parker Sfakianos earned the win with two shutout innings against just two hits.

Before that, Briarwood earned a pair of wins over Leeds starting with an 11-0 win at Leeds High School.

The Lions jumped ahead in the Friday contest during the top of the second after a bases loaded hit by pitch. The Green Wave then walked the next batter, and two batters later, Souders scored a two-run single to give Briarwood a 4-0 lead after the second inning.

In the third inning, they took that lead to 7-0 after a Hartsfield RBI triple, a John Paul Harbor RBI single and an RBI groundout by Seth Staggs.

Hartsfield batted in another run in the top of the fourth thanks to a one-out RBI single to make the lead 8-0.

After three straight batters reached base in the top of the fifth off a walk, hit by pitch and a Clark single, Souders cleared the bases with an RBI triple to trigger the run rule and make the final score 11-0.

Souders also earned the win in a complete-game shutout across five innings. He racked up 11 strikeouts while allowing just two hits and one walk.

Briarwood also won the return matchup at home on Saturday, Feb. 24 against Leeds, this time by a score of 9-3.

The Lions scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first off a Clark RBI double and a groundout that allowed Souders to score.

The Green Wave tied up the game at 2-2 in the top of the second after they hit a two-run RBI double with one out. They later took the lead in the next inning off another one-out RBI double.

However, Briarwood quickly tied up the score once again after it hit three straight singles capped off by an RBI single by Daniels.

The next two innings came and went without a run as the game hung in the balance, but the Lions grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth and never looked back.

On the first pitch after a Leeds pitching change, Wes Burgess scored two runs on an RBI single with two outs to take a 5-3 lead.

Briarwood used that momentum to do damage in the sixth inning. A Hartsfield single, Souders double and Clark walk set up Daniels to earn another RBI single to increase the lead to three runs.

Souders then scored on an error during the next at bat, and two more errors led to the final two runs of the day by Clark and Hester to cap off the 9-3 win.

Souders led the way on offense with a 2-3 day with three runs and Hartsfield had two runs in the victory.

The Lions will hope to stay undefeated on Thursday, Feb. 29 as they take on Vestavia Hills at 4 p.m. at home.