By: Grace Grosenbach

Friday evening, the Bulldog baseball team hosted the first round of the playoffs and came out with double wins against the Victory Christian Lions.

In the first game, junior pitcher Nathan Renfroe led the Bulldogs’ defense to hold Victory Christian for a 10-0 final score. Renfroe also played a role in the team’s offense. In the bottom of the first with bases loaded, Renfroe hit to send in sophomore Greyson Layton, bringing the score to 1-0. The Bulldogs scored a total of five runs in the bottom of the first.

Senior centerfielder Tommy Spivey ran in on a hit by sophomore Parker Odom to keep the momentum going in the bottom of the second. Spivey says that the team’s approach at the plate was a definite strength. “We got the bats moving pretty fast in the first game, and thankfully, we kept that up throughout the game,” Spivey said.

After the bottom of the third inning, the Bulldogs sat at a score of 8-0, but continued to shut down Victory Christian’s offense. Hoping for a run rule, the pressure was building for the team as the bottom of the fifth inning began. Senior shortstop Jacob Free sent in Spivey with a double for the ninth run. The game finished as Odom hit in Free for the tenth run of the game.

The Bulldogs managed to triumph over the Lions yet again with a score of 4-1 in the second game. Offense for the Bulldogs kicked off with a triple from Mack Wise to send in two runs. However, Victory Christian scored for the first time that day in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game. Wise hit yet another triple in the third inning to bring the score to 3-1.

Spivey says that Brantley’s defense carried them to the win in the second game. “We didn’t hit as well in the second game as we did in the first, so I think we really relied on our defense,” he said. Sophomore Jake Kilcrease took the pitcher’s mound in the second game until Free began pitching in the sixth inning. The Bulldogs managed to hold the Lions to one run and scored again in the top of the sixth inning.

Brantley will travel to Maplesville on Friday, April 28 to play at 4:30 p.m.

The Brantley Bulldog softball team competed in Andalusia’s “Bringing The Heat” Tournament this past weekend, and finished second overall. Friday night, the girls won games against both Trinity and Opp. In the Opp game, junior Lainey Wells had three hits and an RBI while Anna Kimbro and Olivia Jones also had three hits. Junior Leanna Johnson pitched a no-hitter to add to her total this season.

The Bulldogs began playing Saturday morning at 11 a.m. against the Goshen Eagles. Brantley beat both Goshen and Andalusia before facing Geneva. Johnson struck out five of Geneva’s batters and senior Alex Wilcox had two hits and an RBI to help the Bulldogs win 3-2. Brantley played in the tournament championship at 8 p.m. Saturday night against Baker. However, the Bulldogs couldn’t hold the 7A team, and finished second in the tournament after losing 2-1. The Brantley softball record currently sits at 43-3 and the team will play in the Area Tournament next Tuesday.