Spartans Take Down Princeton in Opening Round of Sectionals

FAIRLEA- Typically, a team that finishes the regular season just 9-18 does not secure a no. 1 seed in its postseason sectional tournament.

But in the case of the Greenbrier East Spartans baseball team, they won the conference games they needed to and fell into that no. 1 slot, and on Tuesday night, May 8, they faced off against the fourth seeded Princeton Tigers and continued those winning ways.

East used a 4-run third inning to erase a 1-0 deficit and cruise to a 7-1 victory at Spartan Yards in Fairlea in the opening round of the Region 3, Section 2 sectional tourney.

Following a scoreless first inning, Princeton got on the board first in the second and did so with two outs. After Gavin Bennett allowed a single to Zack Jenkins, he struck out the next two Tigers. He walked Corley Dennison and then Braydon Dalton ripped a double to right field that brought Jenkins home and the Tigers took a 1-0 lead.

The Spartans did not immediately answer and went scoreless in their next at-bat, but seemed to get the momentum boost they needed when Gavin Bennett struck out the side in the Princeton half of the third.

That is when the offense held up their end of the bargain as well.

Gabe Patton singled to lead off the bottom of the third. Zion Detko drew a walk and Peyton DeHaven singled to load the bases. Senior Ashton Cochran would clear the basepaths quickly when he tripled to left field and gave the Spartans a 3-1 lead. Bennett’s RBI groundout completed the frames scoring as East took a 4-1 advantage after three.

East extended that lead to 5-1 in the fourth on a Detko RBI double that drove in Gavin Erskine. That score remained until the fifth.

Speaking of the fifth inning, the Spartans (10-18) added their two bonus insurance runs there. Brandon Upton singled on a grounder to third base and that was followed by Eli Green’s RBI triple that upped the score to 6-1. The Spartans capped the game’s scoring on Erskine’s RBI double that scored Green.

The Tigers put two guys on base in the seventh, but Layne Lambert, who had replaced Bennett earlier in the game, got out of it unscathed for a Spartan victory.

Cochran was on point all night at the plate and finished 2-4 with a triple, a run, and three RBIs. Upton also had two hits in three at-bats. Eight of the nine Spartans that batted all had at least one hit. The team totaled 10 hits on the night.

Bennett was superb on the mound. He went 5.1 innings, scattered five hits and one run, and had seven strikeouts.

Jenkins (2-3, run) led Princeton at the plate and scored his team’s only run.

East returns to action on Wednesday night, May 8 and will host Oak Hill at Spartan Yards at 6:30 PM. The winner will guarantee themselves a spot in the sectional championship game on Friday.

Gavin Bennett (L) talks with Layne Lambert on the mound (Photo: Nikki Bennett) Eli Green winds up to make a throw to first base (Photo: Nikki Bennett)

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