The Greenbrier East Spartans were victorious over Woodrow Wilson 4-1 on Friday, May 13, as East avoided the Jason Vorhees curse and won the Region 3, Section 2 championship.
Behind the pitching of Jacob Roshau and one big inning of scoring, the Spartans cruised right into a berth in the regionals.
“The key to success in regionals will be to play clean baseball,” East coach Cory Mann said.
And clean baseball is exactly what they played to clinch that spot.
Greenbrier East got things going in the second inning and actually scored all their runs in that frame. Ian Cline grounded out but got an RBI out of it. A costly error by Beckley shortstop Mikey Simms helped East put two more on the scoreboard, and that made it 3-0. Gavin Bennett then capped the inning and game scoring with an RBI base hit that brought Darris Boswell across the plate.
Roshau was the winning pitcher and was splendid. He lasted seven innings, scattered seven hits and one run while striking out nine.
Micah Clay took the loss for Woodrow Wilson.
He surrendered four runs on seven hits over seven innings, struck out six and walked one.
Bennett went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead Greenbrier East in hits.
Blake Stratton led Woodrow Wilson with two hits in three at bats.
Mann is thrilled how his team has responded, especially since losing early in the post season last year.
“Anytime you have a season end like the way ours did last year, you have the opportunity to learn. We teach our guys all the time that adversity they face are learning opportunities. They have done a great job all season learning from the adversity they have been through,” Mann said.
The Spartans are now riding high on momentum.
“If we can pound the strike zone and play good defense behind it, then we will have a good opportunity for success,” Mann said.
“This team has shown grit all year and accepted that challenge,” Mann concluded.
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