FAIRLEA, WV- The Greenbrier East Lady Spartans won their eighth straight game on Friday, April 14 with a 10-0 victory over the Covington (VA) Lady Cougars.
It was the second shutout by the Spartans this week after they defeated Beckley 13-0 on Tuesday.
Covington (6-4) had six errors which helped the Spartans pull away, but the bats were clicking for East as well.
The Spartans (12-2) got going early in the first inning when Lindsey Black hit a one-out double. Taylor Boswell then followed with a two-bagger of her own and East took a 1-0 lead. The very next batter, Lily Carola, took a 1-0 pitch from Kayla Bartley and put it over the center field fence for a 2-run home run, and East held a 3-0 lead after one.
Over the next two innings, Spartan pitcher Josi Ervin got six quick outs with five of them coming via the strikeout, and shortly thereafter is when East put the game away.
The bottom of the third provided a scary moment when Boswell hit a line drive right back at Bartley. Boswell reached base with a single, but coaches from both teams consoled the Covington junior pitcher for about six or seven minutes, before she was eventually removed the game for Serenity Campbell. Bartley walked off the field under her own power and stayed in the game as a hitter. Boswell also ran over to her to make sure she was ok as sportsmanship was not absent in the moment.
Boswell ended up scoring on an error and Alanis McClary scored on a wild pitch as the Spartans took a 5-0 lead into the fourth.
After another scoreless inning tossed by Ervin, the Spartan bats put the finishing touches on the game in the bottom of the fourth frame.
Hailey Ervin led off with a hard single, Josi Ervin laid down one of the best bunts one has ever seen, and Black also got a base hit that scored Ha. Ervin and Jo. Ervin scored on an error on the same play as well. At that time, the score was 7-0. The scoring was capped on Olivia Plybon’s 2-run single and the Spartans celebrated the victory.
Black (3-3, 2 runs, RBI) led East with three hits. Plybon (2-2, 2 RBI’s) and Boswell (2-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI) each had two hits.
Jo. Ervin pitched five innings, allowed just one hit to Addison Morris and struck out 10.
Bartley pitched 2.2 innings, gave up six hits and four runs (three earned). She struck out three.
The Lady Spartans will host Nicholas County Saturday, April 15 at noon.
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