The Athens softball team will face a very busy month of April, but they closed out March with a big home victory, taking down Clements 10-0 in five innings Monday evening.

The Golden Eagles scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take control and the pitching of Brenin Ezell did the rest.

“Brenin did a great job of keeping the ball down, and we made some plays behind her, which is good,” Athens coach Thad Prater said. “Overall, I felt we were pretty good.”

The Golden Eagles were playing their first game since returning from playing in the Gulf Coast Classic in Gulf Shores during spring break. Athens went 3-3 in that tournament and will now face a gauntlet in April as they close in on the Class 6A playoffs.

“Starting next week, we’ll play Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, then go play in a tournament. Then the next week we’ll play Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and go play in a tournament. April is a very busy month for us.”

Gracie Green had a two-run double, and Olivia Patton followed with a two-run single in the first inning to put Athens ahead, while Anna Carder drove in a run in the second inning with a single.

The Golden Eagles scored four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the big hit being a two-out, two-run single for Patton, who finished the game with four RBIs. Green also had a sacrifice fly to score a run in the inning.

Athens then finished the game in the bottom of the fifth, when Mary Greg Anderson scored on a wild pitch.

Anderson reached base all three of her at-bats, with a single and two walks, and scored three runs, while Olivia McCurry had three hits, including a double.

“We had some quality hits,” Prater said. “Olivia Patton came up big twice with two outs, and Gracie Green also did a good job of getting some RBIs. Olivia McCurry also came up big, and Mary Greg Anderson, our leadoff batter, does a good job getting on base. She had some stolen bases and made things happen.”

Janiah Anderson had two hits for Clements to lead the Colts’ offensive attack.