Fairlea – Greenbrier East has been the standard in Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 softball for several years.
Friday night the Spartans added another sectional title to the trophy case with an 8-0 win over longtime rival Beckley.
“Any time you win the section it is a special moment. We will enjoy this tonight and then get ready to go for the region (tournament),” Greenbrier East head coach Aaron Ambler said.
Heading into the championship clash, the home team held all the cards thanks to beating the Flying Eagles 5-1 Wednesday.
Beckley was forced to work its way back to the championship game with a win against Princeton Thursday.
While the visitors from Raleigh County took care of business against the Tigers, it meant Beckley ace Aubrey Smallwood had to pitch Friday for the fourth night in a row.
“It worked in our favor winning the first two games because (Greenbrier East ace) Josi (Ervin) got a day off,” Ambler said. “We were able to pitch Lily (Carola) the first night, so they were both well rested and either one could have gone tonight.”
Ervin was strong from the opening pitch. Working around a pair of errors early, the senior standout did not allow a hit until Natalia Meade led off with a single in the fourth inning.
Over five frames, Ervin allowed just two hits and struckout nine to get the win.
“This win is huge. Woodrow is our rival, so it always feels good to beat Woodrow, but I have to give it to them,” Ervin said. “Aubrey is good and she has a bright future, but we were able to hit the ball really good and we played good defense. It all just came together tonight.”
The Spartans threatened in the first two innings getting a runner to third base, but could not score.
That all changed in the fourth inning when Greenbrier East ran four players across the dish for all the runs Ervin needed on the night.
A walk, a stolen base and a passed ball stung Beckley when Lindsey Black drilled a hot shot back at Smallwood for an infield single, scoring the first run of the game.
Taylor Boswell ripped a double to score Black who had swiped second base. Boswell ran right through the throw coming into to second, sliding safely into third base.
An error on Carola’s infield pop up scored Bowell and gave East an extra base runner. Carola then stole second and Alanis McClary made the error hurt with a RBI-single for the 4-0 lead.
The Spartans were aggressive all night stealing 11 bases to keep the heat on the Flying Eagles.
“We hit the ball (Wednesday), but we had too many strikeouts. We wanted to make sure that we were putting the ball in play, making them play defense and put some pressure on the catcher,” Ambler said. “It was big today to get two or three up, then add another one and two more just to keep the pressure on them.”
According to Ervin, success on the base paths took some time this year.
“We have been working on base running a lot because we really struggled with it early in the season,” Ervin said. “I think by practicing it, we have been a lot better and we feel more confident with our speed and just our ability to steal bases.”
Ervin added to the run total in the fourth with a sacrifice fly before the Spartans closed the game out with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Boswell walked, stole second and moved to third on a fielder’s choice ground ball. An errant throw attempting to erase Boswell allowed her to race home for a 6-0 lead.
A double from Olivia Plybon scored McClary who had walked ahead her. Plybon scored the game winner when a grounder from Jenna Groves could not be handled on the infield.
“This is a first in the last several years and maybe the whole time I have been here. We are capable of hitting the ball 1-thru-9 in the line-up and hitting it hard,” Ambler said.
The senior hurler agreed with her coach.
“We are all hitting the ball really well this year. It is definitely stress-relief for me being on the mound when we do get those runs,” Ervin said, smiling.
Beckley head coach Tony Maiolo knew this would be somewhat of a rebuilding year for his young team, but was proud of the progress his girls made throughout the year.
“Aubrey reminded them after the game that this team has made some really big noise against some really good teams this year. Greenbrier East is a really good team and I feel like they have a shot at doing something,” Maiolo said. “I am proud of Aubrey coming through these four games. It was incredible. She had over 300 strikeouts this year and over 500 for her career. No one likes to loose, but I am very proud of all of them. We will get back here. They all want to come back even harder.”
Greenbrier East will now wait to see who its next opponent will be in the regional round which starts Monday, May 15.
Ervin is no stranger to the regional round, but the championship has eluded her and the Spartans. She hopes to change that this year.
“I think it will take us hitting the ball, Lily and me throwing the ball really well and our defense coming in big,” Ervin said.
The regional tournament is double elimination with game one being played in Fairlea. Game two will be played at the Section 1 winner and if a third game is needed, that game will be played back in Fairlea.
“It is going to be some time before we play. Some of the sections weren’t starting until tonight, so we are one of the first to get finished,” Ambler said. “We will find some games over the next week and we will stay sharp.”
