LINDSIDE- It didn’t take the #7 Greenbrier East Spartans long to get on the scoreboard against the James Monroe Mavericks on Monday night in Lindside.
And once they were on it, it didn’t take long to finish the game either.
The Spartans crossed the county border and defeated the Mavericks 14-4 in just five innings in the first game of a 7-game road trip that includes two double-headers along the way.
Zion Detko led off the game with a walk for the Spartans against Mavs pitcher Kadyn Hines. Hines then struck out the next two hitters, but things changed when Brady May came to the plate. The Spartan catcher took a 3-1 pitch and turned it into a 2-run homerun to center field and East jumped ahead quickly, 2-0.
Detko got the start on the hill for East and got out of a mini jam at first when May picked off Peyton Gardinier at first base to end the inning.
East (10-4) used some unusual circumstances to take control of the game in the second inning. They got two walks, were hit by pitches twice, and capitalized on an error to put runs on the board. An RBI single from Ashton Cochran capped the inning and East went up 7-0 on a 6-run sixth and needed just one hit to do it.
East added three more runs in the third frame, again, on just one hit, a single from Wyatt Thorton and after the top half of the third, the Spartans led 10-0.
However, the Mavericks (8-7) resilient, never-say-die approach was admirable.
Tanner Johnson led off the bottom of the inning with a single, then consecutive walks drawn by Carson Coen and Brodie Zickefoose loaded the bases for the Mavericks. Gavin Brewster then came to the pitcher’s mound in place of Detko and Gardinier immediately hit a 2-run single to cut the Spartans lead to 10-2. Cameron Crislip followed with a run scoring base hit and James Monroe would add one more run a couple batters later, and after three full innings, the Spartan lead was 10-4.
But the Spartans used the top of the fifth to seal the ballgame.
After Sam Roshau grounded out, Braden Teaney, Thorton, Joe Baker, and Brewster all singled consecutively, and Brewster’s hit scored Teaney for an 11-4 East lead. Sonny Herbert drove in Thorton on an RBI groundout, and Clay Patton got in on the action for Greenbrier East with a 2-run single.
Brewster then struck out two of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the fifth to end the game quietly.
Thorton led the Spartans on offense and went 2-2 with three runs scored. Baker also scored three runs and had a hit. May was 1-1 with a HR and two RBIs, and Patton’s 2-run single also led the Spartans attack.
Brewster was credited with the win after three innings, five hits, one run, and six strikeouts.
East travels to St. Albans on Tuesday, April 15 to battle the Red Dragons. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM.
