Gallery by Heather BelcherĀ
Fairlea – Over the nine years that Aaron Ambler has been the head softball coach at Greenbrier East, the Spartans have dominated the postseason in Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 play.
Friday night in Fairlea, Greenbrier East added another sectional title to the trophy case.
Guided by stellar efforts from a senior duo, along with an emerging freshman, the Spartans beat Princeton 4-1 for the sectional crown.
With the win East will play the Section 1 winner, either George Washington or St. Albans, the week of May 13.
“We knew they were going to play like crazy. (Princeton) took it to Woodrow (Wilson) last night,” Ambler said. “We knew they were coming in here with some momentum. They did and I give them credit. We probably helped them on a few plays, but they made us play and they made us go seven (innings). Hats off to them.”
The first two meetings between the schools in the regular season were shutout wins for the Spartans, both in five innings.
Friday night, Princeton starting pitcher Emma Johnson was healthy and was coming off a complete-game win over Woodrow Wilson Thursday night in Beckley.
“She has been injured a lot this year. She has had a bad knee and is just now getting over it,” Princeton head coach, and father, Craig Johnson said. “She really came on two weeks ago and started to get her velocity back up. The big thing with her is she has to hit her spots. When she hits her spots, she is tough to hit. She battled through tonight.”
Outside of Princeton, many felt like the championship battle would be between Woodrow Wilson and Greenbrier East. Either way, Ambler stated his team was ready to play.
“If we were betting, we would have thought we were going to play Woodrow, just based on what they had done with them,” Ambler said. “Woodrow had already got them, but we knew Princeton was a good ball club. I think we were ready to play tonight.”
The Tigers had the first scoring chance in their initial at-bat, but could grab the early lead.
Riley Riggs reached on a ground ball to open the game and went to second on a wild pitch.
Senior Lily Carola, however, ended the threat with two of her 11 strikeouts on the night.
“(Lily) is a good pitcher. She has good speed and good movement,” Johnson said. “(Kayla) Bartley is the same way. We knew what we were getting into, but my kids came in and battled.”
The Spartans took the lead in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly from Taylor Boswell that scored Alanis McClary.
Greenbrier East extended the lead in third inning when freshman left-fielder Reagan Cline led off with a single and stole second.
Back-to-back infield fly ball outs gave the Tigers a chance to escape the inning unscathed, but the visitor’s hopes were dashed on RBI-singles from Boswell and Carola for a 3-0 lead.
“When I got up to plate on every at-bat, I knew this game was on the line,” Boswell said. “I was ready and I knew I had to hit the ball to win the game.”
The first run of the season for the Tigers against the East came in the fourth inning when Zoey Agnew was hit by a pitch.
Agnew moved around to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a throwing error, attempting to throw her out at third base.
It was the only blemish on the night for Carola, who did not allow a hit and fanned 11 batters to secure the win.
“She did a great job. Her and Kayla have all year,” Ambler said. “People ask who is your No. 1. We don’t have a No. 1, we have had two No. 1’s. They both pretty much alternated back and forth all year. Both have done a great job. Lily pitched a whale of a game tonight.”
After losing star pitcher Josi Ervin to graduation, Carola knew she would be counted on heavily this season.
“I knew I had to step up being a senior and being one of the aces,” Carola said. “I think stepping up and being the leader that I have been has really helped.”
Carola’s dominance in the circle Friday took away what Princeton needed to do in order to succeed.
“We are not a team that is going to come out and put 10 runs up on a good team. We have to small ball it and gets runs here and there,” Johnson said. “It just didn’t happen tonight. We battled and I am proud of them. Greenbrier East is a good team. We played hard from the beginning to the end and I think it showed.”
The final run of the night came on an RBI-triple from Cline who collected three hits on the night hitting in the nine-hole.
“She came on big the other night against Woodrow and has caught fire lately. If you get her on, with her speed, she can scoot,” Ambler said. “The girls played a good ball game. We stranded a few runners and we could have had some timely hits, but we will take the win anytime.”