FAIRLEA, WV- Eight days ago, the Greenbrier East Spartans and Riverside Warriors met on the baseball field and the game was a low-scoring pitchers lover’s dream game that ended 3-1. However, on Thursday, April 27 at Spartan Yards, it was the complete opposite.
East used a 10-run fifth inning to hold off Riverside 15-11 before the game was called after the top of the sixth inning when the rain started falling harder.
The win had a little meaning behind it as it was senior night. Darris Boswell, Clayton Morgan, Henry Goodwin and Robert Banton were honored before the game.
East’s Ian Cline led off the bottom of the first with a walk, but two consecutive outs made it seem as if Cline would be stranded at second base after a steal. Zion Detko had other plans, however, and singled to right field and Cline scored on the play for a 1-0 East lead.
Goodwin got the Warriors down in order and gave the Spartan bats another opportunity.
With two runners on, Ashton Cochran doubled and drove in Goodwin and Cline for a 3-0 East advantage. Cochran was thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a triple. Still, East held a 3-run lead.
Riverside broke onto the scoreboard in the third frame on an Eli Petry sacrifice fly that cut the Warrior deficit to 3-1 after three.
After that is when the game got interesting.
Goodwin scored on a passed ball at the plate in the bottom of the fourth, and during the same at-bat, Peyton DeHaven stole home, and the Spartans (12-15) took what seemed to be a commanding 5-1 lead at the time.
But the Warriors answered with five runs in the fifth capped by a 2-run single from Brock Jeffries, before Goodwin got a fly out to end the inning. After that frame, the Spartans found themselves down 6-5.
In one of the crazier stat lines you will see, East put up 10 runs in the fifth and only had three hits in the inning. They drew four walks, got hit by a pitch three times and reached on an error, but the three singles they did get were productive. Eli Green had a bunt hit that scored Morgan, Cochran’s scored Gabe Patton who was running for Green, and Goodwin sealed the deal with two RBIs on his.
The Warriors (7-9) put up five runs in the next half inning, but Patton got Thomas Hackney to groundout to end the game.
East had just six hits with Cochran leading the way. He went 2-3 with a run and three RBIs. Goodwin drove in two runs and scored two more himself.
Rylee Wilson was credited with the win on the mound even though he made it through just 0.2 innings and allowed three hits and three runs (two earned).
Petry took the loss for Riverside.
The Spartans will play St. Albans on Friday, April 28.
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