South Charleston – Greenbrier West head coach Stephen Price was concerned about his team’s struggles hitting the ball after an opening 7-4 loss to Wahama in the state tournament.
The Cavaliers utilized a 90-minute break to refocus and remedy those concerns, notching 15 hits in an 8-3 victory over Trinity Wednesday in the Class A softball state tournament at Little Creek Park in South Charleston.
The victory keeps West’s title hopes alive, setting up a rematch with Wahama Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. back in South Charleston.
The Cavaliers nearly escaped Thursday with a sweep but couldn’t hold off the White Falcons in the opener.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the opening frame and leading 4-3 in the fifth inning, the Cavs yielded three runs in the top of the sixth and an insurance one in the seventh.
“We didn’t keep our foot on the gas,” Price said. “We get up 3-0 and I think honestly we hit cruise control and thought it was going to be an easy day. We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas and keep the approach we started with. We took some 2-0 cuts that were really bad and we have to understand every at bat matters. We had a bunch of (girls) who didn’t have their best game and we gave that game away.”
The victory against Trinity began in similar fashion.
Brilee Redden reached on an error to start and eventually scored on a Preslee Treadway RBI single but an out at the plate and a strikeout capped the frame before West could create more havoc.
The Warriors cashed in on the missed opportunities immediately when Josalyn Phillips doubled to score a pair for Trinity, an advantage that held shortly until Maddie Fields doubled in the tying run in the bottom of the third.
Kyndall Taylor, who earned the win in the circle, put West ahead for good later in the frame when she singled over the head of the first baseman to plate Fields.
Fields cushioned the advantage with a triple in the fourth, scoring Brilee Redden and Brooke Patterson.
Patterson added a run by herself in the sixth when her single down the first base line went into foul territory and was mishandled to the point she was able to round bases on the hit for a run.
Brooklyn Adkins and Kenna Fields did the final honors with an RBI single each later in the frame to cement the victory. The only delay was a temporary 10 minute one due to rain after the penultimate out of the game in the seventh.
“I don’t think I changed anything. I think we relaxed a little bit,” Price said. “We were nervous after looking back at the first game. I’m not going to make any excuses. We had a lot of nerves and we made a lot of stupid mistakes and didn’t throw strikes and you can’t do that when you get to any state tournament.”
After throwing ace Brilee Redden in the first game, Price made the decision to roll with Taylor against Trinity who he’s alternated in regularly throughout the season. The decision paid off as she held Trinity’s offense in check.
It also helped preserve Redden for Thursday in the event West is able to push for a title. The Cavs will need to win three games in order to win a state championship and a single pitcher can only pitch 14 innings per day, meaning both Taylor and Redden will play key roles in West’s championship aspirations.
“We talked about it last time,” Price said. “(Taylor) has come through consistently. She’s thrown strikes. What more can you ask of her? And our defense is usually pretty solid behind her and that’s why I really don’t – we come out and win the first tomorrow – I’d about bet Brilee Redden won’t have a bad outing again. She just don’t have them and I don’t worry because our top two pitchers – Kendall’s going to keep us in ball games.”
Maddie Fields finished 4-for-4 with 3 RBI, falling a home run short of the cycle against Trinity.
Redden had four hits across the two games while Treadway notched three.
