OAK HILL- Despite opening up with a 3-0 lead in the second round of the state tournament in Oak Hill, The Central Greenbrier 11U all-stars led the lead slip away as Huntington escaped with a close 4-3 win on Tuesday night.
As stated above, Central Greenbrier got off to a fast start right out of the gate in the first inning.
Ryder Ward drew a one-out walk and then Garrett Wallington followed with a single. Mason Linsenmeyer also singled which set up a 2-out opportunity for Evan Cleghon. After a strike swinging, Cleghon took pitch number two and laced a 2-run single to right field to put CG up 1-0 after one inning of play.
Noah Thornton kept the Huntington offense at bay through the first couple innings and in the bottom of the third frame, Central Greenbrier added another run when Wallington doubled to center and Simmons came around to score from second base. At that point, CG led 3-0.
With the score 3-1 in the fourth, Huntington’s Nick L doubled home a run, and Huntington cut the CG lead to 3-2.
Huntington then tied the game in the fifth frame and in the top of the sixth, broke that tie and turned it into a lead of 4-3 after an RBI double from Dom A.
Central put a couple runners on in their final at-bat but unfortunately couldn’t capitalize and Huntington moved on to the next round as Central Greenbrier’s run in the states was halted for the final time.
CG finished with 11 hits in the game. Wallington had three of them (3-3, run, RBI) and Simmons (2-3, run) and Linsenmeyer 2-3, run) each had two. Cleghon’s two RBIs led the team.
The CG all-stars finished with a total record of 2-4.
