The road to the Class AAA Region 3 softball tournament has not been a smooth one for Greenbrier East by any means.
However, the Spartans have found a way to successfully weather the storms including two nail-biting sectional road wins over Beckley.
Now East faces its biggest storm to date when it battles St. Albans in the best-of-3 regional championship series starting Tuesday.
“St. Albans will have two girls to throw at us that have been as good as anybody we have seen, without a doubt,” Greenbrier East head coach Aaron Ambler said. “We have to hit. I don’t see it being a 1-0 type ballgame. I think we will have to score some runs. Not to say small ball won’t be a part of it, but we will have to knock some runs in when we have some girls on base.”
One of the biggest obstacles that Greenbrier East has had to overcome is injuries to key players this year.
“We are still a little short-handed. Some girls that have been injured are still out. We won’t get anyone back that we haven’t had recently,” Ambler said. “We had some younger girls that played in the sectional that really came through. They will be the ones that will be there this week. We will suit them up and see what happens.”
“A lot of times it seems like the younger girls are anxious and eager to get in there and play. When they get the opportunity, a lot of times they come through for you.”
A pair of seniors have steadied the ship for East through its postseason ride.
Brooke Davis is hitting .371 and blasted the game-winning home run in the sectional championship against Beckley.
Fellow senior Aubrey Glover is hitting .348 and has been a stalwart in centerfield. Glover’s rocket to cut down a runner at the plate was a key factor in preserving the 1-0Â win over Beckley in the decisive win-or-go home battle.
“Aubrey Glover can cover a lot of ground in the outfield and she is a nightmare for opposing teams on the base paths,” Ambler said. “She can lay a bunt down, or smack one up the middle. When she gets on, she is pretty hard to stop.”
Josi Ervin was masterful in the three games against Beckley allowing only two runs. Ervin is hitting .339 and has a 1.85 ERA. She has struckout 113 batters in 102 innings.
“Josi Ervin has been consistent all year. She has done a good job hitting her spots and giving the defense a chance to make some plays. When our defense has had a chance, it has backed her up pretty well,” Ambler said.
While the Spartans have been able to make the adjustments on defense brought on by the injuries, hitting has still been a work in progress.
“Defensively we have made some adjustments and played pretty well, but we need to hit the ball better,” Ambler said. “Our batting line-up is a lot different than it was earlier in the year. We need to get the bat on the ball for us to be successful.
To remedy some of the issues offensively, Ambler has played small ball with his exceptional team speed.
“Some teams will crash both corners and others will leave the first baseman back and have the pitcher cover that side of the infield,” Ambler said. “Some will crash the third baseman so hard that you can almost push it past them. When we knew we would play more small ball, we worked on placing the ball where we wanted to.”
The Red Dragons are led by one of the top pitchers in the state in reigning Player of the Year Tayven Stephenson who has a 1.15 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 115 innings of work. Stephenson has only allowed 19 earned runs.
Sophomore Sydney Young is hitting .479 and has 20 extra base hits, as well as 33 RBI. Freshman Kyndall Harper has a .476 average and 23 extra base hits including a state-leading 12 home runs. Harper has knocked in 41 runs.
“These girls are not where they want to be yet, but they have already accomplished some things,” Ambler said. “Hopefully getting through the sectionals as banged up as were will give us some motivation going into the regional. We know we will have our hands full.”
Game one will be played in St. Albans at 6 p.m. Game two will move to Fairlea Wednesday with game three, if needed, back in St. Albans.
