PRINCETON- In a pitcher’s duel for the ages, at the end someone had to lose.
Unfortunately for Lady Cavalier fans, that team was Greenbrier West.
Despite a huge game from senior Brilee Redden, the Cavs suffered a 2-1 defeat to the Pikeview Lady Panthers in a game that felt like a regional or state battle until literally, the final at-bat.
After five scoreless innings from Redden and Pikeview pitcher Shelby Maddox, Redden helped her own cause in the sixth frame when she blasted a solo homer over the left field fence that gave Greenbrier West a 1-0 lead.
But in the bottom half of the seventh, the Panthers came through.
After one quick out, Emma Weiss doubled, then Zoey Tupper bunted her over to third, but the Panthers then had two outs. But an error on the Lady Cav defense allowed Weiss to score and tie the game at 1-1. Following that sequence, Lauren Lambert stepped in and ripped the first pitch she saw to left field for a walk off, game-winning double and Pikeview narrowly escaped.
Pikeview moved to 17-5 on the season while West fell to 12-7.
Redden was 2-3 at the dish with a double, a homerun, a run scored, and an RBI. Ellie Deitz and Gracie Rhodes each had one hit as the Cavs totaled just four on the night. In the pitcher’s circle, Redden went 6.2 innings, allowed 5 hits, 2 runs (0 earned) and had 9 strikeouts.
Maddox was equally impressive for Pikeview in the circle. She had a complete game, four-hit, 15 strikeout performance in the victory.
