FAIRLEA, WV- The Greenbrier East Spartans are getting hot at just the right time after they picked up their sixth win in the last seven games after defeating the Oak Hill Red Devils 12-0 on Wednesday, May 10 in the Region 3, Section 2 semifinal game.
With the victory, East (16-16) moves to the sectional championship game this Friday night, May 12 and would have to lose two times to be eliminated. One win gets the Spartans into the regional championship series.
After a quick 1-2-3 inning from Spartan pitcher Gavin Bennett, East came to the plate and kept their momentum going from the night prior. Ashton Cochran singled to center, Darris Boswell followed with one of his own and Zion Detko reached base on an error. The next batter, senior Henry Goodwin smacked a 2-run double that squeezed just into foul territory and scored Cochran and Boswell. Clayton Morgan’s RBI groundout made it 3-0, Spartans after one frame.
“We have been well disciplined at the plate and have been able to get pitches to hit,” East coach Cory Mann said after the game.
Bennett retired Oak Hill in order again in the second and looked good all night on the mound.
The bottom of third came, and the Spartans pounced on their prey again. A walk to Cochran and another base hit from Boswell set up Detko’s RBI single. Boswell and Detko would then both score on passed balls and those are typically the deflating moment for a baseball team. After three innings, the Spartans led 6-0.
Gabe Patton doubled off the top of the wall to start the fourth then Peyton DeHaven laid down a perfect bunt to get Patton to second and then third on the same play. Patton then scored on an interference play and the Spartans went up 9-0 at that point and was capped by Detko’s 2-run single. That hit ended all speculation of a Red Devil comeback. However, just to be sure, East added three more after an Oak Hill pitching change. Morgan added an RBI single, and Bennett got a 2-run single.
Speaking of Bennett, he pitched four innings, gave up just two hits and had five strikeouts.
Boswell (2-3, 2 runs) and Detko (2-3, 3 runs, 3 RBIs) led the offensive attack that racked up nine hits on the evening. Cochran scored three runs, and Goodwin, Morgan, and Bennett each had two RBIs.
East has outscored their opponents in the first two games, 22-0.
“I believe the schedule we have played has prepared us for the postseason,” Mann said.
The Spartans will relax on Thursday and wait for the winner of Oak Hill and Princeton, who play Thursday. East will face one of them on Friday in game one, and hopefully for Spartan fans, the only game in the sectional final.
