Athens Bible's Clayton Hamm slides safely into third base on a steal attempt during the Trojans' 10-0 victory over Hackleburg in the first game of the Class 1A playoffs Monday afternoon.

Athens Bible had to wait three days to get their Class 1A first-round playoff series started, but once the Trojans finally did, they wasted no time in showing their prowess.

ABS outscored Hackleburg 26-0 in two games in a dominating sweep Monday afternoon. Gage Johns pitched a one-hit shutout in the first game as Athens Bible took a 10-0 victory, and Matthew Usery was just as good in the second game, tossing a two-hit shutout with 12 strikouts as the Trojans won 16-0.

The first game was scoreless for the first two innings before Athens Bible scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to break the game open.

The series was supposed to begin Friday, but was rescheduled to Saturday due to a full day of rain. The Friday downpour then saturated Athens Bible’s field, making it impossible to play Saturday despite sunny weather. Fortunately, Monday’s weather was perfect, with moderate temperatures and bright sunshine.

“Even though many of our guys have been here before, there’s a little bit of first-game jitters,” Athens Bible coach Bill Murrell said. “Especially with it being delayed twice. It’s tough (to have to wait three days to play), but with this kind of weather, it’s worth the wait.”

Johns was dominant for most of the game, allowing just one hit and striking out eight. He did walk three batters and hit another, but he was able to pitch out of potential trouble in the third and fifth innings, stranding two runners on base in each inning.

“Gage did work out of a couple of jams,” Murrell said. “When he keeps focused, he can get in a groove for a little while. He’s a strike-thrower, and the boys have confidence in him. He just says ‘Get me a few runs,’ and it happened today.”

After a quiet two innings, Athens Bible’s bats broke open in the bottom of the third. Luke Metcalf and Clayton Hamm had back-to-back RBI singles to start the inning, before Lee Moyers drove in another run with a single. Chris Waddell then singled home the fourth run before Henderson May grounded out to drive home the inning’s final run.

ABS continued scoring in the fourth, as back-to-back two-out doubles by Cade Abernathy and Matthew Usery each drove in a run.

The Trojans then ended the game in the bottom of the fifth with three runs, with two of them scoring on May’s first career home run. The final run of the game scored on a sacrifice bunt by Hamm.

Metcalf, Waddell and Hayden Pierce each had two hits for ABS, with one of Pierce’s his being a double. May led the team with three RBIs, while Hamm drove in two runs.

ABS kept the bats going in the second game, scoring runs in every inning, including six runs in the second inning and five in the fourth.

Johns, Abernathy and Usery each had three hits for the Trojans, with Abernathy driving in three runs and Johns and Usery driving in two runs each. Metcalf also had a double and a triple for Athens Bible in the victory.

Athens Bible will travel to play Donoho in the second round, with the series set to begin Friday at 5 p.m.