CHARMCO- The 2024 Greenbrier West Lady Cavaliers enjoyed some expected success, but ultimately felt rather let down at the conclusion of the season as they failed to reach the state tournament after falling to Midland Trail in the sectional finals.
Still, even without that coveted tournament appearance, the Cavs cannot hang their heads too low and created enough positive momentum to label 2024 another step in the right direction.
Hannah Sweet led the team in hitting with a .438 batting average. She played in only 18 games due to an injury suffered in early April, but still finished with 11 RBIs and 15 runs scored.
Outfielder Maddie Fields put together another strong campaign. Her .360 average was second on the team—with at least 45 total at-bats—and her OPS of 1.095 ranked second. She also had eight doubles, five triples, a homerun, and a team-leading 30 RBIs, and was second with 32 runs scored.
The other .300 hitters were Ava Price (.353 in 21 plate appearances), Brilee Redden (.350), Brooklyn Adkins (.338), Preslee Treadway (.324), Brooke Patterson (.323), and Julia Herndon (.312). Redden led the team in total hits with 28, doubles with 10, and tied for the team lead with three triples. The super sophomore also had two homeruns, scored 35 runs, and drove in 17.
Treadway led the team in homers (5) and RBIs (29). Interestingly, all the junior shortstop’s round-trippers came in just two games when she had three against Princeton and two versus Webster County. She led the team in OPS at 1.110.
Adkins, Patterson, and Herndon all stepped up this season as well. Adkins scored 24 runs and knocked in 18 in her breakout campaign. Patterson was consistent and drove in 24 runs and had 11 RBIs. She also won the WVDN Diamond player of the week award twice. Herndon, a senior catcher, did many things that didn’t show up in the box score, but still jumped out with her numbers. She had five doubles, two triples, 25 runs scored, and 17 RBIs.
Other players that contributed were Kenna Fields (13 runs), Kyndall Taylor (18 RBIs, 10 runs), Kaelyn Bevins, Lacey Walker, Diana Porter (19 runs), Jenna Hunter, and Keylee Clere.
On the mound, Redden once again had a great year that followed her freshman season success, but this year had some help from Taylor. Redden went 8-8 and pitched 92 innings. She gave up only 57 hits and had 145 strikeouts that brought her career total to 320. Her ERA was 1.82. Taylor tossed 50 innings and her record was 9-1. She scattered 30 hits and had an ERA under 1.00 at 0.94.
West finished 18-9 on the season, and last week was hit with the news that their head coach Tony Hinkle is stepping down after a long, successful 8-year tenure leading the Lady Cavs. Hinkle cited spending more time with family and for someone younger to take over and continue to build the program as his reasons for leaving.
As far as players, only Herndon and Sweet have exhausted their eligibility and will graduate this weekend. Although both huge losses, the Lady Cavs will return a lot of production for the new coaching staff that will be finalized in the future.
**Stats courtesy of GameChanger.
