LEWISBURG- After a 1-run, 4-3 loss to Princeton on Thursday, June 27, the Western Greenbrier 12-U all-stars have righted their ship and ripped off two consecutive victories over the last couple of days, an 8-7 win over Trap Hill and a 7-2 win over Shady.
The Trap Hill contest had all the drama that may have just built some confidence for the WG team.
Trailing 7-4 after four innings, Western Greenbrier settled down, focused, and let the chips fall where they may. And the chips fell exactly how they wanted.
After a strikeout to open the inning, Tayt Martin walked and then Kayden Hinkle sliced a double to center field. Lane Bevins followed with a 2-run double of his own, and Hunter Tincher singled which allowed a run to score on an error on the play. At that point, it was 7-all. Then, with two outs, Dawson Holliday singled home Tincher and Western Greenbrier took an improbable 8-7 lead.
After that, it was Western’s pitching and defense that rallied them for the victory. In the top of the sixth and still clinging to the one-run lead, Brady Thymius gave up a leadoff single, but then struck out the next two Trap Hill hitters. Eli Redden then came to the mound in relief of Thymius and walked the first hitter he faced and that put Trap Hill runners on first and second. The runners would eventually end up at second and third on a steal and a wild pitch but Redden struck out the Trap Hill batter looking for the final out of the game as Western Greenbrier survived and advanced.
The team carried that momentum into Saturday’s contest at Hollowell Park in Lewisburg against Shady.
Western went up 5-0 after the first three innings and never looked back. Lane Bevins was 2-2 with three RBIs and Caden Heimberger went 2-2 with a run and 2 RBIs. Also, a perfect hitting night from Martin (3-3, 2 runs, RBI) and Western Greenbrier cruised to the victory and avoided elimination from the tournament for the second straight game. Holliday and Redden each had two hits as well.
Hinkle was brilliant on the pitcher’s mound. He went a full six innings, allowed just two hits and two runs and struck out 11.
WG pounded out 14 hits and held Shady to just two.
A rematch with Princeton is on tap for Monday night at 6:00 PM in Beckley. The winner will qualify for the state tournament. Find results at WVDN.com and on our social media.
