RICHWOOD (WVDN) – Pardon the locals if they wondered what blew through Pratt Park Wednesday night.
It was not some of the blustery weather southern West Virginia has experienced the past couple of weeks. It was a blue and gold squall line of Cavalier hitters that pounded Lumberjack pitching to the tune of fifteen hits. Brooke Patterson went 3-4 with 4 RBI, Michaela Alley 4-4 with 3 RBI, and Preslee Treadway went 2-2 and scored four runs in the 20-2 Cavalier route of Richwood.
The major damage inflicted by the Cavalier lineup occurred in the top of the first inning. Desteney Walker led off with a full count walk. A Brooke Nutter strikeout was only a blip on the Cavalier radar. Treadway and Braelee Brown drew back-to-back walks. Alley stepped in and singled, but not before a two-run error by Richwood catcher Kelsie Fields sent both Walker and Treadway home for a 2-0 lead. Patterson laid down an RBI bunt, scoring Kyndall Taylor. Karli Holliday belted the ball to centerfield and collected an RBI on Alley’s score. With Hannah Sweet at the plate, Patterson barreled home on a steal to boost the Cavalier lead to 5-0. Already facing a huge deficit, Richwood made a pitching change. Senior Lumberjack Ashton Morris stepped in the circle and surrendered an RBI single to Emma Ames.
Back to the top of the Cavalier order, Walker drew a base on balls followed by Nutter being hit by a pitch, scoring Sweet. Treadway collected her second walk of the inning, picking up an RBI on the Ames score. Richwood tallied their second out on a fly ball by Brown. Alley tacked on a couple of more Cavalier runs with a 2 RBI single that scored both Treadway and Nutter. Greenbrier West had a commanding 11-0 lead before the Lumberjacks had swung a bat.
Richwood battled back in the bottom half to put a run on the board. Hope Byrd led off with a single to left field and advanced to third on a Cavalier error. Katie Stanley grounded out to Alley allowing Byrd to score. The Lumberjacks went down with a couple of weak pop flies to the infield to trail 11-1 at the end of the first inning.
Sweet opened the second inning by drawing a full count walk. Ames flied out to right field allowing Sweet to settle in at third. Sweet would score on Walker’s drive to left field. After a Nutter strikeout, Walker would score on a wild pitch making it 13-1 West. Treadway singled for her first hit of the evening followed by a Brown RBI single to centerfield. Alley helped her cause with a line drive to the left side, advancing Brown to second. Patterson collected a pair of RBIs on a fly ball to right field but wa stagged out when she tried to stretch the hit into a triple. West was firmly in control at 16-1.
The Lumberjacks would their second and final run in the bottom of the second inning. Morris was hit by an Alley pitch, but Alley recovered to force a ground out by Walker and a fly out to Taylor at first base. Carley Johnston drove in the Morris run on a Cavalier fielding error to make the score 16-2 Greenbrier West.
The third inning was a quiet affair for both the Cavaliers and the Lumberjacks. Holliday, Ames, and Walker were all retired via the strikeout. The only positive for West was a one-out Sweet single. For Richwood, all three outs were groundouts. Stanley, Emily Browning, and Kiara Smith were retired. The Lumberjack highlight was a single by Caley Brown.
Maddie Fields put the sleepy third inning in the rear-view mirror when she blasted 1-2 pitch over the centerfield fence, staking West to a 17-2 advantage. Treadway followed with a sharp single to centerfield and advanced to third on a Taylor double to left. Alley singled Treadway home but was then thrown out on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Patterson. Taylor scored on Patterson’s contact. Stanley collected another strikeout for Richwood, sitting Holliday down on three pitches. With two outs, Sweet singled to the left side and scored Patterson for the 20-2 West lead.
Alley closed out the Cavalier effort with a strikeout and an assist on a comebacker. After Alley inadvertently hit Kelsie Fields with two outs, Maddie Fields settled under a Johnston fly ball to secure the victory.
Greenbrier West’s 15 hits were a season-high, and the twenty runs were also a high mark for 2022. The Cavaliers improved their record to 5-3 and head to Lindside Friday to face the 6-3 James Monroe Mavericks in a Region III matchup.
Greenbrier West 11 5 0 4 0 – 20 15 2
Richwood 1 1 0 0 0 – 2 2 4
Pitchers and catchers; GW – Michaela Alley and Preslee Treadway; RW – Ashton Morris, Katie Stanley and Kelsie Fields. WP – Alley. LP – Morris.
Hitting: GW – Michaela Alley 4-4 (3 RBI), Preslee Treadway 2-2 RBI, Maddie Fields 1-1 HR RBI, Braelee Brown 1-2 RBI, Kyndall Taylor 1-1, Brooke Patterson 3-4 (4 RBI), Hannah Sweet 2-2 RBI; RW – Hope Byrd 1-2, Caley Brown 1-1, Katie Stanley 0-0 RBI.
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