Gallery by Heather Belcher
New Richmond – The first five batters Greenbrier East pitcher Lilly Carola faced Thursday made life miserable for her, helping host Wyoming East jump out to a 4-0 lead.
She spent the next five innings returning the favor.
Carola rebounded from a rough start to retire 19 straight batters, allowing her team time to climb out of an early 4-0 hole and secure a 13-6 victory against the Lady Warriors in New Richmond.
With the Lady Spartans resting their ace Josi Ervin, Carola was given the ball and ultimately made the most of it, displaying her moxie.
“Rough first inning but this was the first time she’s pitched in close to a week,” Greenbrier East head coach Aaron Ambler said of Carola. “She needed to work tonight and maybe a little rusty early but definitely settled down and pitched a good ballgame.”
It didn’t hurt Carola that her offense helped take the pressure off of her and Wyoming East was willing to comply. While the Spartans pounded out 12 hits, they also capitalized on 10 walks and seven Wyoming East errors to chip away at the lead. Those miscues all came in bushels for the hosts.
Their first four errors came in the the third inning, allowing Greenbrier East to plate three runs and their final three came in the final frame, aiding a seven-run outburst that ultimately made the difference.
“Some of them weren’t hard plays,” Wyoming East head coach Doc Warner said. “We had a ball dropped in the outfield then we had one dropped at second base. But that’s the way we do. If we make an error we make two or three in a row. Normally it’s on a bunt but they didn’t bunt.”
The host’s prospects looked bright early as freshman pitcher Paytin Brehm worked out of a bases-loaded jam to hold the Spartans scoreless.
Her offense got to work immediately in the bottom of the first when Emma Simpson walked and Kayley Bane reached on a single. Brehm’s older sister Savannah supported her younger sibling’s cause with a three-run blast that put the Lady Warriors up 3-0. Andrea Laxton and Alivia Monroe followed suit with a single and a walk, respectively. Laxton came around to score when a throw down to third base by the catcher went into the outfield, making it a 4-0 game.
Wyoming East off to a quick start. Savannah Brehm with a 3-run blast. WE up 3-0 with no outs.#wvprepsb pic.twitter.com/KoBJlWkzJr
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) March 30, 2023
That was the last bit of success East found on offense until the final inning.
For the visitors it took three innings, but they finally capitalized on their opportunities. On a night where they stranded 11 base runners, they pulled enough meat off the bone for it to not make a difference.
Josi Ervin got things rolling in the top of the third, drawing the second of her four walks on the night but was eventually called out at third on a forceout.
Taylor Boswell and Lindsay Black followed with back-to back singles and Carola drew a free pass to load the bases for Olivia Plybon. Plybon flew out to right, but the ball was dropped scoring Boswell. Back-to-back errors on grounders at third and second base plated Black and Carola before a tag attempt on a flyout quelled the surge momentarily.
The momentum carried into the top of the fourth where the Spartans, trailing 4-3, took the advantage for good when Alanis McClary, Ervin and Boswell drew three consecutive walks with the former two scoring on RBIs from Black and Carola.
Boswell added an insurance run in the fifth with an RBI double and capped her night with a three-run homer in the seventh, registering a 4-for-4 showing with a pair of extra base hits and four RBIs.
M5
Greenbrier East 6, Wyoming East 4Boswell with this RBI double that pads GE’s lead.#wvprepsb pic.twitter.com/E2JwXdm9S6
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) March 30, 2023
“She had a little bit that was rising at me,” Boswell said. “But I knew she was a little bit slower so I was standing in front of the box and I could read it off her hip so I was just waiting for that inside pitch to drive it every time.’
Boswell’s blast opened the floodgates in the seventh as the Spartans sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring seven runs on five hits and three Wyoming East errors.
“Their pitcher is long,” Ambler said. “She’s got little bit different motion so I think it took us one time through to get used to that – picking the ball up off her hip. After that we started squaring a few up.”
The hosts snapped Carola’s streak at 19 in the bottom of the frame when Haley Adkins reached on a double and Chloe Prichard and Emma Simpson drove in a pair of late runs but a 13-4 proved too much to overcome.
“We hit shots, but right to them a few times,” Warner said. “That’s a good team though. They beat GW, they’re good. We aint bad, it just comes down to throwing strikes. With our hitting it gets in their head. When one kid does something good it gets them going but of somebody makes an out, the next does the same thing. We just had two bad innings, real bad.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
