FAIRLEA- It was all Spartans on Monday night, March 24 when Greenbrier East defeated Nicholas County 11-1 on a crisp, windy evening at Spartan Yards.
East used great balance at the plate with 14 hits and Layne Lambert was virtually unhittable on the mound as East cruised to the six-inning victory.
A triple from Graham Brewster got things going in the opening frame and he would score on an error by Grizzlies centerfielder Braden Brown and the Spartans (4-1) took a 1-0 lead after one.
The Grizzlies tied it up in the second off Lambert, but after that inning, Lambert was untouchable the rest of the way.
On offense in the bottom half of the second, East’s Joe Baker lined a hard shot over the left field fence for a solo home run. He was mobbed by his teammates–who may have been more excited than Baker was–at home plate as the Spartans built a 2-1 lead.
From that point on, it was all Spartans.
East scored nine runs over the last three innings fueled by RBI singles from Zion Detko (fourth inning), Lambert (fifth), Sam Roshau (fifth) and Brayden Bascombe (fifth), a run scoring double from Brady May, and a game-sealing hit from Lambert again.
Speaking of Lambert, he was special all over the field in this one. He was 2-4 at the plate with a run scored and two knocked in. On the pitching hill, he threw a complete game, four-hitter, gave up just one run, and struck out 12 hitters. May was 2-3 with an RBI, Roshau was 2-3 with a run and an RBI, and Nelson Lynch also collected two hits.
The Grizzlies (3-1) had scored at least 10 runs in each of their first three games before Monday night.
East knocked Nicholas County starter Coleton Hellems around for five hits and five earned runs. They hit their reliever, Brown, even harder. Brown gave up nine hits in just two innings to go along with five runs.
Greenbrier East will now hit the road for their next six games. Their first test is this Thursday, March 27, at Shady Spring.
