<strong>By Mason E. Haynes </strong> [caption id="attachment_25557" align="alignnone" width="640"]<img class="size-large wp-image-25557" src="https://mountainmedianews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/03/Nathaniel-Byers-3000x2000.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" /> (Photo by Mason Haynes)<br />Nathaniel Byers pitches at East opener[/caption] <h1>The Greenbrier East Spartans landed a decisive win against the Pikeview Panthers Wednesday night. Tensions were high on both sides as the teams fought to determine which one will be declared as victorious.</h1> The night was cold and bitter while both teams held their expectations high for the beginning of the season. At the start of the game, the men’s Spartan baseball team gained a strong lead by scoring two home runs within the first three innings while the Panthers fought back to catch ground on their scores. Lee Pittsenbarger has a son who plays on the Greenbrier East baseball team, and he said the tide of the game has him nervous. “It looks like it’s going to be close,” Pittsenbarger said. “I got one of my kids playing baseball out there but I think we might win it”. Tensions were also the same with the away team. Chris Nash, a resident native to Pikeview , stressed his opinion of the current game. “It’s cold and it has been a good game,” Nash said. “I think it’s going to be pretty tight we lost seven starters on our team so they are rebuilding. It’s going to be interesting to see how this turns out”. The game ended with a total of seven innings. The Panthers attempted to score back at the last inning but the Spartans outscored them with two extra home runs ending in a 4 to 2 victory. Coach Mann who is head coach of the men’s baseball team was impressed with his team’s overall performance. “We battled all night and it was a close game,” Mann said. “It was a real nail-biter and we came through on top at the same time when you win a close game it definitely helps your team move forward”. Next week the men’s Spartan baseball team will have future home games against rival schools such as Greenbrier West on Mar. 29 and Princeton High School on Mar. 31.
