Gallery by Heather Belcher
Princeton and Central Greenbrier moved one step closer to the District 4 Little League Baseball championship title with wins Thursday night at Beckley Little league Park.
The Mercer County boys edged Western Greenbrier in the opening game before Central Greenbrier rode a dominant pitching performance to a win over Shady Spring.
Princeton and Central Greenbrier will now meet Saturday at 1 p.m. at Hollowell Field in Lewisburg, while Western Greenbrier and Shady Spring will play elimination games Friday night in Princeton under the double-elimination format.
In the opener Princeton rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a hard fought 4-3 decision over Western Greenbrier.
DeAundre Symns staked Princeton to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when he hit a triple and scored on a throwing error.
Lane Bevins answered in the bottom of the frame by ripping a two-run blast, giving Western Greenbrier its only lead of the night.
Princeton regained the upper hand in the fifth inning scoring three runs for a 4-2 advantage.
Kade Vipperman opened the at-bat with an infield single and scored on a double from Sam Lambert.
Taking third on the throw home, Lambert then scored on a single from Kaleb Roberts before Maxton Harvey added the eventual game-winning run on a two-out single.
Western Greenbrier made it interesting in the bottom of the sixth when Bevins ripped a solo shot with two outs for his second home run of the night, trimming the lead back to one run.
However, Elijah Thyng recorded the fourth strikeout over his three innings of work to seal the win for Princeton.
“This team has grit. We have been in two battles now. The first game against Beckley was back-and-forth, but these kids never quit,” Princeton head coach Jerod Vipperman said. “They step up to the occasion and are ready to go. We have a good coaching staff and I am super proud of those kids.”
After setting Shady Spring down in order to open game two, Central Greenbrier took the lead in the bottom of the first and cruised to a 10-0 win in four innings.
Acen Workman struck a two-out double scoring a pair of runs before he later scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead.
The early advantage was more than enough for Central Greenbrier starter Michael Boothe who held Shady Spring hit-less in the game, while striking out 11 batters.
Workman ended the night with two hits and drove in four runs to lead Central Greenbrier. Carter Huffman and John Thompson added one RBI each and Cole Seldomridge had a double.
Seven different players from Central Greenbrier had at least one hit in the win Thursday.
Saturday’s winner between Princeton and Central Greenbrier will advance to the championship round and will also be guaranteed a spot in the Little League baseball state tournament next month.
