The Ellwood Christian Academy Eagles jumped ahead early, but the Meadowview Christian School Trojans battled back to take an 18-8 victory in five innings at home Tuesday in the first game of a doubleheader.

Lebo Jones, head baseball coach of Meadowview Christian School (8-6), said his team got things together after a number of early errors.

“We persevered. We had a lot of errors in the early innings and they stayed in the game, “ Jones said. “In the last two or three innings, we hit the ball real well and started playing like we were supposed to. This was our first game back from spring break and we didn’t play quite as well as we usually do, but we played a lot better the last few innings.”

The Eagles took a 5-0 lead early, with runs scored by D.J. Edwards, Jaylen Furlow and Brandon Crum among others, as the Trojans walked in a some runners.

The Trojans responded with four runs in the bottom of the first and took a 7-5 lead in the bottom the second.

The Trojans pulled away in the bottom of the fourth inning when, leading 11-8, Joey Raybon hit a shot that allowed him to double and scored teammates Wes Gunter and Joel Taylor to push Meadowview’s lead to 13-8.

A walk with bases loaded and a fielding error allowed the Trojans to score two more and make it 15-8 in the bottom of the fourth.

The Trojans closed out their scoring when Devante Moorer hit a ball in the gap that rolled to the wall, scoring two runners and allowing Moorer to round the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

Ellwood head baseball coach John Harris said the Eagles “gave the game away” after having the lead.

Raybon and Moorer had three hits each for Meadowview, while Dylan Lawrence got the win from the mound.

Edwards had three hits, while Devonta Cleveland and Furlow were among those who had hits for the Eagles.

The Trojans defeated the Eagles 12-3 in the second game.

The Trojans will take the field again Saturday, April 7 at home in a doubleheader against Coosa Valley starting at 11 a.m.

The Eagles will travel to York to play the Sumter Academy Eagles Monday, April 9 at 3:30 p.m.