SUMMERSVILLE – Nicholas County has been one of the surprise teams in Class AA baseball in 2023. Although expected to be good, nobody may have thought the Grizzlies would be as good as they have been from the get-go. Head coach D.J. Martin’s squad sprinted out of the gate winning their first four games. Grizzly victims in that stretch were Oak Hill and perennial AA-power Independence. Their only blemish came on Monday against another Region III Class AA power, Shady Spring.
Greenbrier West has been a bit of a mixed bag to start the season. The Cavaliers defeated Class A opponents Richwood and Webster County easily but dropped a lackluster decision to Woodrow Wilson. The Cavaliers were looking to establish a little more consistency at the plate and play some solid defense in a matchup against a solid, quality opponent.
The Grizzlies started the game with talented freshman Lucas Milam on the bump. A young pitcher with a good fastball, Milam handled the Cavaliers in the top of the first inning. Braydon McClung lifted a fly ball to left field for the first out. David Lester then grounded out to Milam for out number two. Ethan Holliday reached base on a single to rightfield, but Milam struck out Dale Boone to escape the first inning unscathed.
The Grizzlies got things rolling quickly. Grayson Kesterson singled off Greenbrier West junior Hayden Ridgeway to put the leadoff on base. Caleb Burns hit a high fly ball to centerfield that Tanner Hagy settled under for the first out, holding Kesterson at first. Senior Alex Pritt got down in the count but fought off the early struggle to line a shot into right field. Kesterson was already moving on the pitch and came around to score from first, but the resilient Cavaliers made a play on Pritt at second for out number two. A West throwing error allowed Cole Brown to reach safely but Ridgeway induced a ground ball out to McClung to end the inning.
Milam kept things under control as he sat down the Cavaliers in order in the top of the second. Cole Vandall grounded out to the shortstop Brown followed by a Milam strikeout of pitching counterpart Ridgeway. Levi Ramsey launched a ball into right field for the third out.
The Grizzlies went on the offensive again in the bottom of the second. Andrew Triplett stroked a double to left field then reached third on a wild pitch. Caleb Jarvis earned a walk, putting runners at the corners. Coleton Hellems hit a pop fly to the right side of the infield that Vandall picked up to get Jarvis out with the fielder’s choice. Triplett was able to plate a run on a wild pitch. Hellems advanced to third on the pitch, but Milam ended up lining out to Lester and Kesterson flied out to McClung to end the inning with the Grizzlies leading 2-0.
The Cavaliers would gain some momentum in the third inning, but not without some adversity. Bradley Hodge drew a leadoff walk, but Milam recovered when Hagy bunted, and the ball ricocheted straight in the air for the first out. McClung then grounded into a fielder’s choice, nailing Hodge at second for two out. One of the stranger sequences of the game began to unfold at that point. With two out and one on, Milam lost control and hit Lester. Holliday stepped in with two on, and after McClung stole third, was also hit by Milam. Boone came to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to do some damage. The only damage came in the form of a third hit-batsman when Milam plunked Boone, scoring McClung and leaving the bases juiced. A rattled Milam grooved the next pitch and Vandall jumped on it, lacing a hard single to centerfield that scored Lester and Holliday. West had taken the lead 3-2 with runners still at the corners. Milam recovered, though, and struck out Ridgeway.
The Grizzlies battled right back. Burns drew a leadoff walk and Pritt reached on a Cavalier error. Boone provided some fireworks when he cut down Burns at third on a steal attempt for the first out. Brown hit a line drive single up the middle that advanced Pritt to third, giving Nicholas County runners at the corners. Levi Hellems then tied the game with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, and Triplett followed with a single to the left side that scored Brown and put the Grizzlies back out front 4-3. Jarvis singled on the next pitch, but Ridgeway struck out Coleton Hellems for the third out.
Milam regained most of his control in the top of the fourth inning. Ramsey lined out on the first pitch followed by a Hodge four-pitch walk. Milam recovered, though, and struck out Hagy before McClung flied out to left field.
Nicholas County would add an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth. Kesterson hit an one-out single to left and advanced to second with Burns at the plate. Burns would fly out to Ramsey, but Pritt did the damage again with an RBI-single to centerfield. Boone squashed the Grizzlies hopes for extra runs when he gunned down Pritt at second on a steal attempt for out number three. Nicholas led 5-3 after four.
Things looked a little more promising for the Cavaliers when the first two batters reached on walks. Although Milam got Boone to hit a sky-high fly ball that was ruled an infield fly for the first out, Grizzly skipper DJ Martin had seen all the Cavalier rallies he cared for in the third inning and made the switch to junior Cole Brown on the mound. Brown came in hot and struck out both Vandall and Ridgeway to end the threat.
Ridgeway did his best to answer the Grizzlies efforts on the mound, inducing a ground ball out from Brown. Levi Hellems hit a ball to the right side and reached on an error, but the next two batters hit pop fly outs, Triplett to McClung and Jarvis to Holliday.
The sixth inning saw both teams go scoreless. Brown was up to the challenge first, setting the Cavaliers down in order. Ridgeway had to work a little hard for his outs. An error and hit by pitch put two men on for Nicholas, but Kesterson lined into the glove of Braydon McClung who chased down Coleton Hellems to turn the double play. Burns flew out to Hagy for the third out.
The Cavaliers were right where they wanted to be in the lineup to fashion a comeback. McClung led off with a four-pitch walk, putting arguably one of the area’s best baserunners in business. The threat would be erased quickly, though, when Lester grounded into a fielder’s choice and McClung being thrown out at second. Holliday repeated the sequence and also grounded into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Boone stepped in to keep West’s chances alive. Holliday burst toward second with Boone batting lefty, shielding him from the view of the catcher. Kesterson rifled the ball to second and as the ball arrived, Holliday swung his body to the right and grabbed the bag with his left hand. Holliday would’ve been safe, but his momentum carried him past the bag and he was tagged out, ending the rally and the game.
Greenbrier West fell to 2-2 with the loss with a huge regional and Coalfield Conference matchup against Midland Trail on Thursday looming. Nicholas County escaped with a 5-3 home win, improving their record to 5-1 with a matchup at Fairmont Senior on Saturday ahead of them.
GW: 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 – 3 2 4
NC: 1 1 2 1 0 0 x – 5 8 0
GW: Ridgeway and Boone. NC: Milam, Brown and Kesterson. WP- Milam. LP- Ridgeway. GW: Holliday 1-2; Vandall 1-3, 2 RBI. NC: Kesterson 2-4; Triplett 2-3, 2B, RBI; Pritt 2-3, 2 RBI; Jarvis 1-3; Brown 1-3.
