Sarah Finnegan
Briarwood Baseball Playoffs Round 1
Wesley Helms (18) attempts to tag out a Beauregard player during a Class 5A first round playoff game between Beauregard and Briarwood on Friday, April 20, 2018, at Jay D. Kynerd Field in Birmingham.
CALERA — Down by six runs in its half of the seventh inning, Briarwood Christian School’s baseball team needed a miracle to come back against host Calera.
They would have gotten one, if it hadn’t been for Tyler O’Clair.
After his Eagles gave up four runs on seven straight Lions singles or walks, the Eagles’ third baseman made not one, but two big plays to lock up a 10-9 victory in the third and deciding game of the Class 5A second round playoff series Saturday.
The first of those plays, where O’Clair knocked down a sharp grounder to force out Briarwood catcher Parker Scott, evoked memories of a legend for Lions coach Steve Renfroe.
“I told my guys, ‘That was a Brooks Robinson play.’ Then I asked them, ‘You know who he is? Hall of Famer? Finally, one of them said yes,” Renfroe chuckled.
O’Clair’s efforts restored regular heartbeats to the hometown fans, after Calera seemed as if it would glide to an easy victory. Up 10-4 after six innings, Eagles coach Gordon Simpson gave starting pitcher Graham Blankenship a rest and brought in shortstop Austin McKinney for relief.
That move went bad quickly, as the first five Lions batters reached first base, with two scoring. Simpson pulled McKinney and moved Kevin Dowdell in from center field to the mound. Dowdell gave up another single and a walk that plated two more runs, and with the bases still loaded and no one out, Briarwood was suddenly back in the game.
Dowdell struck out Eli Steadman for the first out, then got Lions left fielder Bryce Perrien and designated hitter Christian Fergason to each ground sharply to third, where O’Clair did the rest.
Briarwood held the early 4-2 advantage with a big inning in the second, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back doubles from Parker Scott, Wesley Helms and Steadman. The latter two doubles scored a run each. Sam Hammer’s fielder’s choice brought in another and a sacrifice fly by Carson Eddy scored the fourth.
But Calera came back in the fourth inning even bigger, scoring six times to take an 8-4 advantage. That inning was extended thanks to a ball that Lions infielders lost in the sun, falling untouched to the dirt.
“The sun gave us problems,” Renfroe said. “We should have been out of the inning. But that’s happened to a lot of people in baseball.”
Eddy was 3-for-3 for the Lions at the plate. Helms and Hudson Hartsfield had two hits each. Andrew Ponder, who relieved starting pitcher Noah Whatley after just one inning, was tagged with the loss in 2 2/3 innings of work after he allowed five earned runs.
Calera (25-7) moves on to the third playoff round to face St. Paul’s. Briarwood ends the season with a 23-6 record.
Oak Mountain eliminated in Game 3
At Bob Jones, the Oak Mountain High School baseball team scored three times in the second inning and twice in the fourth. But the host Patriots broke the game wide open in the bottom of the fourth with eight runs, and held Oak Mountain scoreless the rest of the way to clinch the Class 7A first-round playoff series.
Daniel Ray’s double in the fourth put two runs across for Bob Jones and gave his team the lead for good. Mitchell Daly then stole home for the seventh run, and Colten Carver’s single finished the scoring by bringing home Ray.
Caleb Kennedy brought home the Eagles’ first run on a ground out to shortstop that drove in Andrew Heiberger. Hunter Hall then scored from third on a passed ball, and Dylan Fraser batted home Luke Percer on a fielder’s choice.
In the fourth, Oak Mountain added two runs on an RBI double by Kennedy and a sac fly from Caleb Ragland.
The Pats added three runs in the fifth on an error, a Ryan Crawford double and a Daly base hit, and tacked on another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly.
Percer was 2-for-3 for the Eagles with two runs scored.
Bob Jones reliever Austin East got the win in 5 2/3 innings’ work, striking out four and giving up two earned runs. Jackson Kimbrell took the loss for the Eagles, with eight runs allowed (five earned) on six hits. He struck out seven but yielded five walks.
Bob Jones (34-11) advances to face Huntsville in the second round. Oak Mountain’s season ends with a 27-11 record.
