Offensive start propels Lions’ strong season

In the season’s first eight days, the final days of February, the Briarwood Christian School baseball team played six games. 

The Lions won all six of them by what coach Steve Renfroe called “softball scores.” Briarwood’s aluminum bats came out of the gates scorching hot, leaving opposing coaches’ mouths agape and other area coaches counting their lucky stars that they are not in Class 5A with the Lions.

Briarwood scored at least 12 runs in all six of those games, including a 22-run outburst against Lakeside (Georgia) on Feb. 25. 

But that hasn’t been the most exciting part of the season so far for Renfroe. He’s been more impressed about the results that followed the team’s first loss — to Pelham on March 2.

In the seven games that followed, all Lion wins, the Briarwood pitching staff allowed a single run in four games and pitched a shutout in the other three.

“It has happened to us before early in the year. We strung a few (big offensive games) together and people go, ‘Wow,’” Renfroe said. “But we’ve played well on defense, which has gone unnoticed because we’ve scored a lot of runs.”

At press time, the first round of the Class 5A playoffs was set to begin, and how far Briarwood is able to advance this spring will not have much to do with the team’s 18-2 start to the year. While impressive, the Lions have to keep the momentum going.

“This is probably the most mature team we’ve had in a long time, and it’s the most experienced,” Renfroe said. “A lot of it is you’ve got a senior class that has been with us three years.”

In his roughly 40 years of coaching baseball at all levels, Renfroe has come to realize something.

“All these coach interviews, when they’re doing well and winning games, they sound the same: great leadership and great kids,” he said. “It’s true. We have a good chemistry, and there are some good players. They’ve come out and worked very hard.”

The way the Lions will keep that snowball rolling downhill comes down to their core plan behind everything. 

“We really focus on our approach to everything,” Renfroe said. 

The team in the other dugout is never the primary focus for Briarwood. The Lions have a game plan for each type of pitcher who toes the rubber, whether he is a flame-throwing right-hander or a soft-tossing lefty. A strong defensive performance coupled with a well-executed offensive approach gives the Lions a chance any day.

“If we get into the game, we’re in the third inning and we’re pitching well, I think we have a shot to be a good team,” Renfroe said.

Renfroe praised the likes of Kolby Kwarcinski and Carson Eddy for their willingness to change positions this season in order to get the Lions’ best team on the field as often as possible.

Will Baumbach has been a tremendous asset behind the plate to handle a strong pitching staff, led by Sam Strickland and Logan Whittlesey, all of whom have bolstered a lineup that has too many players to name who have had robust seasons.

Even a guy like Will Shepherd, who was determined to prove his worth to the team by claiming the team’s primary designated runner spot, is a key for Briarwood, as the team attempts to make some postseason noise.

“It’s becoming a team, and guys are fulfilling their roles,” Renfroe said.