FAIRLEA, WV- The Greenbrier East Spartans picked up a much-needed victory on Tuesday night, April 25 when they defeated the Shady Spring Tigers 3-2 in 10 innings.
East’s Gavin Bennett, who also pitched, was the hero at the plate when he singled to left field and knocked in Zion Detko for the game winning run.
With the win, East (11-15) snapped a 4-game losing streak.
Things got going early for the Spartans when Ashton Cochran, who had doubled to get on base, stole third then came home on the catcher’s error. At that point, East held a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
Fast forward to the bottom half of the third, and the Spartans extended their lead to 2-0 when Clayton Morgan singled on a grounder to shortstop that scored Cochran. East then had the bases loaded, but Shady pitcher and first-team all-state basketball player Cam Manns, got Gabe Patton to ground out and end the frame, and after three, East led 2-0.
Shady (13-7) then answered rather quickly when Adam Richmond scored on a defensive interference infraction on the Spartans. Colten Tate then roped a 2-out single, but Ian Cline threw out the Tiger runner at the plate to keep the Spartan lead at 2-1.
The East bats went quiet for a couple innings, and the Tigers were able to get some momentum in the sixth inning. Tate drew a bases loaded walk from Spartan pitcher Darris Boswell, and the score was 2-2 at that moment. Luckily, Boswell was able to settle down and record the final out to stop the Shady threat right there.
Neither team really threatened the rest of the way until the tenth. Bennett’s game-winner came on a 0-2 pitch off Tyler Reed, who came on in relief for Manns in the seventh.
Cochran scored two runs for the Spartans, who only had four hits all game. The Tigers had only five hits as both pitching staffs were on their games from the get-go.
Bennett went 5.2 innings, scattered just four hits and two runs, and struck out seven. Boswell pitched 1.2 innings of shutout baseball and Patton did not allow a run in three innings either.
Manns was good for the Tigers as well. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowed just three hits, one run and struck out 11.
The Spartans will host Riverside this Thursday night, April 27. They will attempt to avenge a 3-1 loss to the Warriors just last week.
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