By Mark Robinson
The Greenbrier East baseball team defeated the Princeton Tigers Monday evening, knocking in 13 runs on the way to a 13-3 victory. Daylon Colley pitched, and a number of Spartan bats did good work.
Princeton left one man on base in the top of the first inning. East, in the bottom of the inning, led off with Colby Johnson hitting a ball hard down the third base line for a double. Jonathan Carr got a single, advancing Johnson to third. Daylon Colley struck out, then Frank Ford hit a ball into the outfield that brought Johnson and Carr home. The inning ended with a double play by the Tigers, second base to first base. Score, 2-0.
In the top of the second inning, one runner was left on base for Princeton. Greenbrier East had three up, three down.
In the third inning, Princeton saw the first two batters out after they hit the ball to first base. The third batter hit a blooper over second base, then stole second. The next batter was thrown out. East, in the third inning, saw Johnson hit a triple to left center. Carr walked, then Daylon Colley hit a sacrifice to third base that scored Johnson. Ford hit a single that brought Carr home. Shannon Bennett scored, as a pinch runner. Blake Colley hit a ball into the outfield that scored Ford, who was stealing second as Colley hit the ball. In the top of the fourth, Bowyer flied out, McCallister stole second, but was thrown out stealing third. Score, 6-0.
Princeton, in the fourth inning, left two men on base. East, finished the inning with no runs, out on three fly balls to the outfield.
In the fifth inning, Princeton hit into a double play for two outs, then scored a couple of runs, advancing runners with good hitting. The bases were loaded twice in this inning, a wild pitch brought home another Princeton batter. The second time the bases were loaded, pitcher Tanner McCallister struck out the batter to retire the side. Score, 6-3.
In the top of the sixth inning, Princeton left one runner on base.
In the bottom of the sixth, Joey Powell led off with a single, hitting to left field. He advanced to second base on a bad pitch. Willis was thrown out at first, but advanced Powell to third base. Johnson was hit with a pitch, so went to first base, then stole second. Carr got a hit to left center that made the score 9-3. Daylon Colley brought Johnson home, score 10-3. Ford hit a popup that scored Carr. 11-3. Blake Colley hit a ball to third that the fielder dropped, but picked up to make the throw to first in time. Bowyer batted next, putting runners at first and third. With Thomas Willis up to bat, two outs, bases loaded, he hit a ball to right field that brought in the runner on third, and the game ended, because the lead had grown to ten runs.
Johnson and Powell both had on-base percentages of .750, reaching base on three of four at-bats. Johnson hit two doubles, and scored three runs. Johnson and Carr each had two stolen bases. Blake Colley and Frank Ford each had two RBI. Greenbrier East has a record of 12-3, and is ranked fourth in the state.