FAIRLEA- The (3) Greenbrier East Lady Spartans held on late to secure an 8-6 regional first round victory over the (6) Nicholas County Lady Grizzlies on a gorgeous night for softball at Lady Spartan Field in Fairlea.
East relief pitcher Maddie Wellman got Nicholas’ Alenah Adkins to ground out to end the game runners on first and second base.
Kennah Collins started the game in the circle for the Spartans and was solid (3 innings, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 strikeouts, 4 walks), but it was her bat at the plate that did the talking in this one. The junior went 3-3, scored two runs, and knocked in two more on a laser single that almost took the pitcher’s head off.
After letting Nicholas County tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the second, Collins knocked in er two in the second and those were important because the Grizzlies never tied or led again.
They did pull within 7-6 in the fifth in which head coach Aaron Ambler came out on the field and yelled, “what are you doing? You’re giving it away.” His team got the message and got a quick out to end the frame, got an insurance run on Campbell Bundy’s single, and closed it all out in the seventh.
Wellman pitched four shutout innings and was a big reason the Spartans were able to hang on.
Reagan Cline and Lacy Patriacca each had one hit and scored two runs apiece. Haylee Heaster went 1-3 with a run driven in and Bundy had her RBI as well.
East (15-11) will return to the diamond for a regular season finale rematch with (2) Pikeview on Wednesday night, May 13. The Spartans defeated Pikeview last week 3-0 behind a dazzling pitching performance from freshman Chloey Wykle. All bets on Draft Kings are that Wykle takes the mound again in round two which will be played in Mercer County at 6:30 PM.
