Greenbrier West One Win Away From the Class A Softball State Championship Series

South Charleston - Wednesday was a mixture of good and bad for Greenbrier West softball.

Fortunately for the Lady Cavaliers, the positives outweighed the negatives.

After dropping a tough 7-4 loss to Wahama in game one of the State Softball Tournament, Greenbrier West bounced back to beat Trinity Christian, 8-3 in an elimination game to stay alive in the quest for a state championship title.

The victory over the Warriors was the first-ever win at the state softball tournament for the Lady Cavaliers and the most runs scored by West in a softball state tournament game.

"I don't think I changed anything. I think we relaxed a little bit," Greenbrier West head coach Stephen Price said about the improved team hitting in game two. "I am not going to make excuses, but after looking back (on game one), we had a lot of nerves and we made a lot of mistakes and we didn't throw strikes. You can't do that when you get to the state tournament."

An RBI-single from Preslee Treadway staked the Cavaliers to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the win-or-go-home game, however, when Greenbrier West came to bat in the third frame, it trailed 2-1.

A quick answer to the deficit turned the momentum in favor of the Cavaliers.

Brilee Redden led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Brooke Patterson. Redden scored on a double from Maddie Fields, who then scored on a two-out single from Kyndall Taylor.

"That third inning when they took the lead and we came right back on them. That is when I saw the nerves begin to ease," Price said. "In the fifth inning, the (umpires) missed a foul ball off the (batter's) foot and they had to bring everybody back out. We didn't score, but we ended up loading them up. I think that is when the lower part of our order got a little confidence right there. If they are putting the ball in play we are in pretty good shape. That means the top of the order is going to hit it and I think the top of the order did good today."

An inning later it was Fields again haunting the Warriors when she tripled home two more runs with two outs for a 5-2 advantage.

The Ladies from Charmco put the game on ice by scoring three additional runs in the sixth inning.

Patterson led off with a single to right. When the right fielder misplayed the ball, Patterson came all the way around to score.

Treadway then singled and stole second where she then scored on a base-hit from Brooklyn Adkins. Kenna Fields closed out the scoring with a two-out single for the 8-2 lead.

"I kinda knew it and didn't know it," Price said about the historic win. "It is a big thing. The volleyball team came down here last December and hadn't ever won a match. They finished the job. It had been maybe 40 years since the basketball girls had won a game down in Charleston. They did that. We didn't come down here to just play two. We have put ourselves in a hole. so we just have to come out tomorrow and take care of business."

With her team in dire straits, Taylor was masterful in the circle, scattering seven hits, allowing only two earned runs and striking out 11 batters.

"Kyndall has come through consistently for us. She has thrown strikes. What more can you ask from her and our defense was solid behind her. Kyndall is going to keep us in ball games."

In the opener, Greenbrier West built a 3-0 lead aided by a couple of costly errors from Wahama. The White Falcons refused to go away, however, and battled back to tie the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning.

The Cavaliers took their final lead on a sacrifice bunt from Treadway in the bottom of the frame, but the game slipped away from West in the top of sixth inning.

"We didn't keep our foot on the gas," Price said. "We got up 3-0 and honestly, I think we hit cruise control and thought it was going to be an easy day. We have to keep our foot on the gas. We have to understand every at-bat matters. We had a bunch of (girls) that didn't have their best game and we gave the game away."

A two-out error, followed by a walk and a triple from Kalyn Christian put Wahama on top for good. Kate Reynolds capped the uprising. A sac fly from Zoie Mayes in the seventh gave the White Falcons some breathing room for the final margin.

Greenbrier West will get a rematch with Wahama at 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning. The winner will advance to the Championship series where it will have to beat Pendleton County twice to be state champions. The loser will be done for the season.