The Greenbrier East Spartans baseball team got off to fast start this past season, continued their great play through the middle portion of the year, then faltered down the stretch with two shocking losses to Oak Hill in the sectional championship series that sent them home way earlier than expected.
They finished 18-6, but cannot help but feel they left a lot of baseball unfinished.
East had big wins over George Washington (twice), Capital and Ripley. They also outscored rivals Beckley, 27-13 and Princeton 32-0.
Darris Boswell led the Spartans at the plate with a .438 batting average. He also had 18 RBI’s and scored a team-leading 38 runs. Boswell should return next season as one of the leaders on the team.
Jordan Mize was second on the team with an average of .382. The Glenville State signee scored 25 runs, knocked in 20 moreand led the team with eight doubles. He will begin his career with the Pioneers next Spring.
Logan Carr and Chris Heaster also provided the Spartans with plenty of offense with high batting averages of .366 and .354, respectively.
Carr was second on the team in total hits with 30 and he also drove in 20 runs. Heaster drove in 14 runs and was second on the team with seven doubles.
Noah Hanna, who signed with Allegany College of Maryland, hit .338. He tied for the team lead with 24 RBI’s, scored 20 runs and tied with Mize for the team lead in doubles with eight.
Zac Trump (.296) and Tanner Skidmore (.254) also produced in a big way for East. The duo will continue their careers together next year at Mid Atlantic Christian. Trump scored 21 runs on the season and had 14 RBI’s. Skidmore tied for the team lead in RBI’s with 24 and also came across home plate 14 times.
Not to be forgotten was Isiah Brooks. The prototype leadoff man, Brooks scored a team leading 28 runs and hit .303 at the plate.
On the pitcher’s mound, East looked to Caleb Thomas (38.2 innings pitched), Jacob Graham (33), Daniel Wygal (29), Carr(27.2) and Jacob Roshau (22.1).
Thomas finished 5-1 with an impressive .90 ERA. He struck out 54 hitters and allowed batters to hit just .184 against him. He will continue his playing career at Bluefield State next season.
Graham finished 3-1, Wygal 3-0, Carr 2-0 and Roshau went 3-1 with two saves.
Graham gave up 31 hits and struck out 32. His ERA was 3.6.
Wygal had 24 strikeouts and posted a 1.69 ERA. Carr’s ERA was 3.79 to go along with 26 strikeouts, and Roshau struck out 26 as well, and had an ERA of 4.07.
Coach Cory Mann’s squad will return to the diamond next Spring of 2022.
He knows his players were thankful just to play this year even though it did not end as they hoped.
Back in mid-May, Mann said,” Our guys know what it feels like to have a season end abruptly since last year was canceled and truly came out this year excited for the opportunity to be on the baseball field that day.”
“Our veterans took the younger guys under their wings and helped them be able to step up in key situations,” Mann concluded.
Five of East’s graduating seniors signed to play baseball in college.
