FAIRLEA and BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVDN) – The Greenbrier East Spartans were swept this past weekend in a three-game series with the 8th ranked Jefferson Cougars. Jefferson won the first game 10-0, the second 16-3 and the third 13-3.
However, rather than being down about losing six of their last seven games, the Spartans can take solace that their schedule the last couple weeks is preparing them for postseason play.
In game one, the Cougars jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning on a J.J. Polvinale groundout, a passed ball and an RBI single from Ryan Kelly.
And Jefferson continued to extend their lead throughout the game.
All night, the Cougars hit the ball where the Spartan defense was not — time after time, they found a gap or a hole somewhere.
Jefferson put the game on ice in the fifth. A.J. Spears singled home Landon Babbington, and Josh Cienfuegos poked an RBI base-hit to left.
East starter Gavin Bennett did not pitch badly; Jefferson just hit a little better. Bennett gave up 13 hits but just four earned runs and struck out three.
Caleb Fletcher was tough on the mound for the Cougars. He threw the complete game shutout and had nine strikeouts. He allowed just three Spartan hits from Ian Cline, Ashton Cochran and Bennett.
East tied the Cougars in hits in game two with eight, but seven walks by Spartan pitchers helped Jefferson at the plate, as then a timely hit would cripple the Spartans.
For example, in the second inning in a scoreless contest, two batters hit by a pitch, a Spartan error and a walk led to the Cougars picking up four early runs. An RBI triple from Jefferson’s Cole Lewis to right field was the only big play of the frame off pitcher Gabe Patton.
The Spartans (10-15) had a possible scoring inning taken away by Cougar shortstop Ryan Hefner, when he backhanded a hard ground ball and just beat Peyton DeHaven with a throw to the bag by a fraction of a step. Hefner’s mother, cousins, aunts and uncles are all from Ronceverte, so he had a big following in the crowd from what normally are Spartan fans, except on Friday night.
East trimmed the deficit to three runs in the bottom of the fourth, when they scored two on a pickoff attempt error on Cougars pitcher Jett Gross, and then Cochran hit a blooper to right that scored DeHaven. At that point, it was 6-3, Cougars.
However, Jefferson (16-4) scored 10 runs between the sixth and seventh innings to seal the deal in the nightcap.
Cochran was 3-4 with an RBI for East.
Fletcher went 2-4 for Jefferson, and Hefner had a double and four RBIs.
Patton was the losing pitcher and Gross was credited with the win.
The Cougars got off to another quick start in game three and jumped ahead 2-0 on a Riley Morgan two-run single. They extended that to 3-0 in the third on Cienfuegos’ RBI base-hit as well.
Henry Goodwin got a single in the bottom half which Clayton Morgan scored, and the Spartans cut it to 3-1.
But Jefferson proved why they are a top-10 team time and time again —they continued to answer. The Cougars scored one in the fourth, five in the fifth and two in the seventh to complete the sweep.
DeHaven was the big bat for the Spartans. He went 2-3 with a triple and two runs scored. Rylee Wilson was hit with the pitching loss after throwing three innings and walking six batters.
Lewis got the win for Jefferson.
Hefner led the Cougars at the plate again and went 2-5 with a triple, three runs scored and two RBIs.
The Spartans played Shady Spring on Tuesday, April 2. Please visit our website for the recap.
