FAIRLEA- The emotions of a senior night game in any sport tend to bring out the best in a team once the game gets underway.
At Spartan Yards on Monday night, April 22, that is exactly what happened with the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans softball squad.
Five seniors—Lily Carola, Alanis McClary, Kayla Bartley, Gracie Gumm, and Taylor Boswell– were all honored before their game with the Oak Hill Lady Red Devils. Each girl had written a long speech about their career memories and thanked the players, fans, and coaches, and McClary’s mom, Robin McClary, wrote a letter to her daughter that was read out loud on the PA system. Each player was joined by their family as the tears flowed and the crowd listened intently.
Then, the game started.
Carola and Bartley combined on a four-inning no hitter, McClary, Gumm, Boswell, and Bartley combined to go 10-for-13 at the plate, and the Spartans rolled to a 15-0 victory in a game that wasn’t THAT close.
Gumm hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first that scored McClary, and Bartley got a sac fly a couple batters later as the Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one.
When East (14-8) came back up in the second, Hailey Ervin led off with a base hit and Aly Martin followed suit and did the same. Martin would score on a passed by at home then Liz Wooding then ripped a 2-2 pitch for a hit that put her on base. A couple batters later, Boswell drove a 2-run double to left field for a 5-0 Spartan lead, but they were not finished just yet. Three more runs scored on Oak Hill and East took an 8-0 lead into the third.
A 2-run double from Gumm and a 2-run single from Bartley highlighted the third frame for the seniors. That made the score 12-0.
Just for good measure, and for one final senior night memory, Boswell homered to center that scored Gumm and the Spartans found it rather easy to seal the deal.
Boswell went 3-4 with that home run and a double. She also scored three runs and had four RBIs. McClary was a perfect 3-3 at the plate and scored three runs. Gumm went 2-3, scored four runs and drove in three more. Finally, Bartley was 2-3 with two runs and three RBIs. Ervin, a junior, went 2-2 to round out the offensive attack that finished with 14 hits.
Carola and Bartley each pitched two innings apiece. Carola struck out three and Bartley K’d five.
East will head right back onto their home field on Tuesday, April 23 for a battle with Independence. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30.
