Lady Spartans Get By Woodrow, Advance to Sectional Final

FAIRLEA- Three games. Three wins. One run.

Those numbers are pretty mind blowing when you read them and understand what they mean.

The Greenbrier East Lady Spartans defeated the Woodrow Wilson Lady Flying Eagles 5-1 in the Region 3, Section 2 semifinals on Wednesday night, May 1 behind a strong pitching performance from Kayla Bartley and home runs from Taylor Boswell and Gracie Gumm. In was the third time the Spartans have beaten the Eagles this season and in those three games, Beckley has a total of just one run scored.

With the win, East has guaranteed themselves a spot in the sectional championship game this Friday night, May 3.

After a scoreless first inning, it was the Spartans that got on the board first against Beckley’s top pitcher Aubrey Smallwood. A Bartley walk and a Lily Carola single to center put two on with no one out. Two batters later, Gumm hit a ball off the end of the bat that rolled in foul territory but immediately came back within the lines as she went diving safe into first base and knocked the bag out of the ground. On the play, Bartley scored to make it 1-0. Then, later in the frame, freshman Reagan Cline bunt singled home Carola and the Spartans held a 2-0 advantage after two.

That score went to 3-1 in the third when Boswell led off with a towering home run on a 2-0 pitch off her travel ball teammate, Smallwood. At that point, the momentum and the aura in the air seemed to flip totally toward the Spartan dugout.

After both teams put zeroes on the scoreboard the next couple innings, Beckley finally cracked the run column on the scoreboard when Brooklynn Bird scored on a Taylor Scott sacrifice bunt to Bartley. Bird had singled earlier in the inning and was moved to third on a double from Kacie Fraley.

East (18-9) iced the game in the bottom half of the sixth and never let Woodrow one-up them all night. Gumm led off with a long ball over the left field fence and then Cline tripled off the right field wall. Cline would score on Alanis McClary’s sacrifice bunt to wrap up the final scoring for Greenbrier East.

Bartley sat the Woodrow hitters down harmlessly in the seventh to secure the championship game berth.

Cline, Carola, and Gumm had multiple hits. The former went 2-3 with a triple, a run, and an RBI. Carola was 2-3 with a run scored and Gumm was 2-3 with a HR, a run scored, and two RBIs.

Bartley pitched a complete game, allowed five hits, one run, and had 11 strikeouts.

Smallwood went 5.1 innings, gave up eight hits, five runs, and had nine strikeouts. She had a minor, nagging injury late in the game that bothered her follow through according to her remarks in the dugout.

East will get Thursday off and await the winner of these same Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles and the Princeton Tigers who play on Thursday, May 2. Whichever team is victorious there, will play at Spartan Yards this Friday and would have to beat the Spartans twice. East just needs to win on Friday to head to the Regionals and a rematch with Beckley is the most likely scenario although Princeton has shown some signs of improvement this season.

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