GAME ONE VS MUSSELMAN:
FAIRLEA- The winter coats, sweatshirts and blankets were out in Fairlea on a cold, windy Saturday in April (6th) when the Greenbrier East Spartans baseball team hosted a double-header against the Musselman Applemen and the Hurricane Redskins.
In game one, East came up just short in a 7-5 defeat, but game two was unlike any other we have seen in the last several years. The Spartans picked up a high octane, powerful offensive 12-11 win in 10 innings of play.
There was a consistent factor in both games for East and that was the play of senior Gavin Bennett. Against Musselman, Bennett went 2-4 and drove in 4 runs, and in the nightcap, he was a scorching 5-5 at the plate with a home run, 4 RBIs and three runs scored, including the game-winning run in extras.
Most of the offense against the Applemen came in the first three innings and that was true for both teams.
Musselman took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Kyle Lore scored when East catcher Nelson Lynch threw a runner out at second base.
However, the Spartans answered immediately in the bottom half on a sac fly from Brandon Upton and an RBI single from Bennett. After one full frame, the Spartans led 2-1.
The back-and-forth continued into the second as the Applemen regained the lead 3-2. Colin Aulisio singled home a run and he later scored on a sacrifice bunt play.
East went scoreless in the bottom half of the inning and Musselman came back up in the third and looked to put East in danger. The Applemen scored two runs on a Spartan fielding error and took what seemed like a commanding 5-2 lead at that point.
But the Spartans have been resilient if anything this season. With the bases loaded and one out, Bennett ripped a 3-run double to center field and knotted the score at 5-all. Bennett was left stranded at second base as the frame came to a close.
In the top of the fifth, Musselman made their final move. Ethan Hinchman’s RBI single gave the road team a 6-5 lead and they added another insurance run that would eventually end the contest.
Gabe Patton got the start on the mound for the Spartans and pitched five innings and had 4 strikeouts. He allowed 7 runs, but just three of them were earned.
GAME TWO VS HURRICANE:
Game two was a totally different animal and as entertaining as a baseball game could be.
After falling behind 4-0 in the top of the first, the Spartans came to bat in the bottom and clawed right back in it. Patton doubled and scored Lynch and Peyton DeHaven, then Zion Detko cracked a line drive base hit that scored Bennett and at after one, Hurricane led just 4-3.
East then fell behind 7-3 in the third, but much like the first, dug down deep and battled back in the bottom of the frame. DeHaven singled, Ashton Cochran was hit by a pitch, and Patton reached on a dropped third strike on which DeHaven scored to make it 7-4. That is when Bennett stepped up and blasted a 3-run homer to left field and just like that, the score was tied at 7-all. Detko would give East the 8-7 lead on another dropped third strike play.
Thomas Baxter’s RBI single allowed the Redskins to tie the game at 8-8 after four innings, but once again the Spartans could not help but score. This time it was Patton on a single that scored Cochran and the Spartans led 9-8.
The eighth inning began with the score locked at 9-all and it was not until the 10th that the action got going again. Hurricane took an 11-9 lead on an RBI groundout from Blake Bradley and a sac fly from Bryson Shirkey.
And yet again, and for the final time in this one, East came roaring back and then some. DeHaven started things off by taking one for the team and was hit by the pitch. Two batters later, Patton singled and Bennett followed with a crucial 2-run double that tied the game back up at 11-11. After an intentional walk to Detko, Upton blooped out to third baseman Ryan Bowman. Bowman tried to throw to first and double up Detko, but the throw was wild, and Bennett came all the way from second to score the game winner. His teammates tackled him behind home plate in celebration.
On top of Bennett’s big day, Detko went 3-4 with a run and RBI. Patton was 3-5 with 2 runs and 3 RBIS. Cochran was 2-5 with 2 runs, and DeHaven went 1-4 and scored 3 runs. The Spartans pounded out 17 hits as a team to Hurricane’s 12.
The unsung hero of the game was pitcher Layne Lambert. He came on in relief of starter Eli Green and held the Redskins to just three hits in 4.1 innings of work. He had 5 strikeouts and allowed two unearned runs and picked up the win.
East’s record is now 4-10 and they host the Princeton Tigers this Tuesday, April 10 around 7:00 PM.
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