Lewisburg – The Central Greenbrier Little League Baseball All-Stars are no stranger to the W.Va. State Little League Tournament.
Now they are once again headed back to the big dance.
Saturday afternoon on Hollowell Field, Central Greenbrier punched its ticket with a 4-0 win over Princeton.
Central Greenbrier advances to the District 4 championship series where it will play the winner of the elimination game between Western Greenbrier and Princeton.
The elimination game will be played Monday at 6 p.m. at Beckley Little League Park. Adding more drama to the Monday showdown will be the fact that the winner will also secure a state tournament berth.
“There has been a lot of pressure on this team because they made such a run (last year). I think they were one of the teams that everybody was looking at this year,” Central Greenbrier head coach Cam Huffman said. “We played the first two games and won 25-0, so a lot of people came out to watch them today. They really responded. This is a special group.”
Central Greenbrier worked some two-out magic in the top of the first inning to give starting pitcher Carter Huffman all the runs he needed Saturday.
Michael Boothe singled on the first pitch he saw before Hendo Bostic was hit on the elbow by a pitch to put two runners aboard.
Needing to be removed temporarily from the game due the injury, Huffman came on to run for Bostic and his speed paid immediate dividends.
A sharp single by Acen Workman set the wheels in motion scoring both runner for the early lead.
“Going back to the game in Beckley Thursday night (against Shady Spring), we almost had our No. 11 hitter hit one out,” Huffman said. “That is what it is, they are a complete team top to bottom.”
Staked to the early lead, Huffman was masterful on the hill.
Allowing only two hits and surrendering just two walks, the hard throwing lefty held Princeton at bay all afternoon.
“I have to be a dad for a moment. I was really proud of Carter,” Huffman said about his son. “Everybody knows Michael Boothe and what he does for us, but we are deeper than that. I told them at the beginning of the tournament that we wanted to stay in that winner’s bracket. It makes a huge difference with the pitching. We have used basically two pitchers the whole tournament and they have stepped up.”
Princeton’s best threat came in the second inning on a one-out single from Josiah Tunstalle. Moving to second on the throw, the Princeton catcher then took third on a wild pitch.
Trying to score on a ground ball, Tunstalle was erased at the plate on a solid fielding effort from Huffman and a quick tag from Workman.
Taylor Thomas then hit a two out single for Princeton, but for the next four innings, the Mercer County lads could not find the barrel against Huffman.
Boothe ended the game with two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs, while Peyton Irvin added a double.
In the second game of the day, the mission was simple for Shady Spring and Western Greenbrier, win or go home.
Just like the counterparts on the eastern side of the county, Western started quick building a 5-0 lead after three innings on its way to a 7-2 win.
Western Greenbrier led 1-0 after the first inning thanks to an rbi-double from Lane Bevins and scored a pair of runs in each of the next two innings.
Kayden Hinkle singled home both runs in the second inning, before a single from Tayt Martin and a double from Bevins plated two more in the third.
Shady Spring made it interesting in the fourth scoring two runs off of a single from Trenton Blosser and double from Trent Whitlock, but could get no closer.
Western added two runs in the fifth for some breathing room and Hinkle kept the Shady Spring bats in check over the final two frames.
The big right-hander only allowed the two hits in the fourth inning and struck-out 11 for the complete game win.
The elimination game between Western Greenbrier and Princeton is expected to be an intense showdown. The two teams met Thursday night in Beckley with Princeton taking a hard-fought 4-3 decision.
Although Central Greenbrier now has its first goal in hand, according to its coach, they have more work to do.
“This group won the district title as 10-year old’s and we were runner up last year,” Huffman said. “I quoted (former West Virginia University Hall of Fame coach) Bob Huggins in the huddle telling them why settle for second when first is available. We want to win this district and go to the state tournament as champions.”
Central Greenbrier will meet the winner of Monday’s game Tuesday night in Beckley at 6 p.m.
