Gallery by Heather Belcher
New Richmond – Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Wyoming East’s softball team had an opportunity to make a comeback with the tying run at the plate.
Almost poetically that opportunity was squandered as so many others were throughout the evening.
Greenbrier East pitcher Josi Ervin worked out of numerous jams throughout the evening, stranding seven runners and stifling Wyoming East’s bats in a 4-2 victory for the Spartans Tuesday in New Richmond.
A stark contrast from the 17-10 matchup between the two teams a month ago, the difference Tuesday mostly came down to timely hitting… or the lack thereof.
Greenbrier East stranded 11 runners across the first six innings to Wyoming East’s seven.
Though the visitors from Greenbrier County did a better job of stringing together hits early.
After Brooke Davis stroked a one-out double Olivia Plybon followed up with a two-out double three batters later to draw first blood in an inning that saw Wyoming East pitcher Olivia Hylton labor as she issued two walks on top of the two doubles.
“It was huge for us,” Greenbrier East coach Aaron Ambler said of the hot start. “It carried momentum all throughout the dugout and it gave us honestly some energy. It was a cold rainy night starting out so getting a few hits and starting out like that certainly helps. It keeps the whole bench in it and the whole team.”
Hylton wiggled out of the inning by stranding the bases loaded and immediately got to work at the plate.
The senior hurler launched her eighth home run of the season to open the bottom half of the frame and tie the score at 1-1, but an alarming trend ensued.
The next two batters – Paige Laxton and Kayley Bane – reached base though Bane’s came on a fielder’s choice that erased Laxton at second. Bane was then stranded on second after Ervin retired the next two batters.
For the Lady Warriors’ offense that was the story of the game as Bane, Hylton and Laxton combined to reach in nine of their 12 plate appearances but the rest lineup went 1-for-18 with eight strikeouts and only three batters reaching via a single, error and fielder’s choice.
“One, two and three got on base but four through nine didn’t,” Wyoming East coach Doc Warner said. “We didn’t get anything from four down. It’s like on defense where we change something and think it’s good but we can’t seem to fix it.”
The inability to find timely hits was felt particularly in the third and fifth innings when Wyoming East had two runners on in each of those frames but Ervin effectively diffused the threat each time with a strikeout.
“She pitched a good ballgame,” Ambler said of Ervin. “She’s been hitting her stride a little lately. She was a little under the weather last week. We were out of town in Morgantown and played three games up there and she had a stomach bug so it’s good to see her come back healthy. The ball had a little more pop on it and she’s hitting her spots so yeah, she looked good.”
The Spartans eventually took the lead for good in the third when Taylor Boswell hit a leadoff single and later scored when Ervin notched a single to bring the former home.
Matters worsened for the hosts in the fourth when Ella Asbury hit into and error at second base and reached, later scoring when No. 1 hitter Aubrey Glover stroked an RBI single. A fielder’s choice from Brooke Davis later erased Glover at second but Boswell smacked a triple to score Davis before a batter interference call ended the frame.
“We’ve tried to play good teams and I think it pays off when you see good pitching like we did tonight,” Ambler said. “They’re used to seeing that so I don’t think it’s surprise to them when they come to the plate.”
The Spartans threatened twice more with an error and three walks across the fifth and sixth innings but Hylton wiggled out of the jams to keep her team within striking distance and give them hope for a comeback that nearly materialized.
Pinch-hitting, Makayla King lined a single into right field to lead off the seventh but was replaced at first when Maddie Clark hit into a fielder’s choice. A hard single off the bat of Hylton moved Clark to third and she scored when Laxton hit a sac fly but Ervin secured the final out with a popup.
“We’ll take it,” Ambler smiled. “It was a good ball game and both teams played good games. It’s what you expect this time time of year with sectionals coming up.”
Wyoming East drops to 12-12 and will travel to Man on Wednesday while Greenbrier East improves to 9-8 and will host Oak Hill on Wednesday.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
GE: 101 200 0 – 4 7 2
WE: 100 000 1 – 2 6 3
Pitching and catching – GE: Josi Ervin and Olivia Plybon; WE: Olivia Hylton and Kayley Bane. WP: Ervin, LP: Hylton.
Hitting – Glover 2-4 (2B, RBI), Brooke Davis 1-3 (2B), Taylor Boswell 2-3 (3B, RBI), Olivia Plybon 1-3 (2B, RBI), Josi Ervin 1-2 (RBI); WE: Olivia Hylton 3-4 (HR, RBI), Paige Laxton 1-1 (RBI), Kayley Bane 1-4, Makayla King 1-1.
