Briarwood Christian dropped two games to rival Springville during the AHSAA Class 5A State Baseball Championship Series recently, ending its season with a crushing loss.
Briarwood won its first matchup with the Tigers 5-4, then fell 12-9 to send the teams to a third and deciding game, which Springville took 9-3.
The result was particularly heartbreaking because, after starting the season with a 0-11 record, the team turned it around and won 20 out of the next 25 games. But the winning was not to be continued, and Springville took the title during a game May 18 at Paterson Field in Montgomery to end the season. It was the first state title for Springville since 1992.
Briarwood, coached by Steve Renfroe, was runner-up, ending with a 20-16 record for the year, according to a statement from the AHSAA.
In the third game and final game of the series, Sam Hamner had two hits and an RBI for Briarwood. Starting pitcher Carson McKinney had one hit and an RBI and Blake McKenna drove in the other run with one hit.
Bryce Perrien allowed only one hit over the final four innings and struck out two for the Lions.
