LEWISBURG (WVDN) – The Greenbrier East Spartans baseball team opened their 2022 campaign on Saturday, Mar. 19 at home with a doubleheader against Oak Hill and Ripley.
In the first game against the Red Devils, the Spartans suffered a surprising 14-0 loss, but rebounded nicely with a 7-6 win over the Vikings in the nightcap.
East watched the game slip away early and could not recover in a 14-0 loss to Oak Hill on Saturday. Oak Hill scored on a walk by Jayden McLain and a grand slam by Eli Strickland in the first inning that completely set the tone.
The Spartans struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time defensively.
Oak Hill got things started in the first inning when McLain drew a walk, scoring one run.
One bright spot for East was a single by Clayton Morgan in the third inning.
McLain was the winning pitcher for Oak Hill. He went six innings, allowed no runs on one hit, and struck out eight.
Gavin Bennett took the loss for Greenbrier East. The sophomore surrendered six runs on five hits over 2.1 innings. He struck out four hitters.
Oak Hill tallied 12 hits. Braxton Hall, Connor Roberts, Strickland, and Trent Rider each managed multiple hits for Oak Hill.
After jumping ahead 5-0 in the first against the Vikings, East lost the lead and trailed 6-5 before Ian Cline hit a game clinching RBI single, and they held on for an important victory.
Despite falling down by five runs in the first inning, Ripley tried to fight back. Ripley scored six runs in the failed comeback on a double by Alec Vance in the fourth, an error in the sixth, a single by Isaiah Casto in the sixth, and a sacrifice fly by Kaleb Swisher in the sixth.
Greenbrier East got on the board early in the first inning when Cline doubled on a 1-2 count and scored Darris Boswell.
Chris Heaster was credited with the victory for East after both starters for each team exited early. He surrendered zero runs on zero hits over one and one-third innings, striking out one and walking one. Gabe Patton threw one-third of an inning in relief out of the bullpen.
Jackson Curry took the loss for Ripley. The pitcher lasted one inning, allowed three hits and two runs.
Brett Haskins started the game for Ripley. Haskins allowed four hits and five runs over 0.1 innings. Jacob Roshau got the opening call for East. The left-hander allowed five hits and four runs over 5.1 innings and struck out a game-high 10 batters.
East totaled 12 hits in the game. Darris Boswell, Cline, and Gavin Bennett each had multiple hits for the Spartans. Boswell went 3-for-4 at the plate and led the team in hits.
The Spartans will play Princeton this Tuesday, Mar. 22 at home.
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