Greenbrier West cruises to Class A Region 3, Section 2 Title

Crawley - There was no denying the fact that Greenbrier West softball was a heavy favorite to win the Class A Region 3, Section 2 title.

Thursday night at Western Greenbrier Middle School, the Cavaliers (16-8) once again proved why.

After a 21-0 thrashing of Webster County Tuesday night, Greenbrier won the sectional crown with a 17-0 win over Richwood in five innings.

"We did care of business, but we weren't real patient at the plate and you have to be," Greenbrier West head coach Stephen Price said. "What I tried to tell them is when you come out and jump on these teams early, you should win. They will lay down and it usually takes care of itself."

Along with a 13-hit performance at the plate, the Cavaliers were solid in the circle led by senior Kyndall Taylor and Emma Edens.

Taylor pitched three scoreless innings with six strikeouts, while Edens closed out the game with two clean innings for the win.

Taylor's performance also sent her over the 100 strikeout milestone for her career.

The combined two-hitter came on the heels of Brilee Redden's five-inning perfect game against the Highlanders.

"I am pleased with how we threw the ball in these two games in a section that we should have won," Price said. "Brilee located the ball real well the other night and threw strikes. I thought Kyndall, in her (three) innings of work, threw the ball well."

Greenbrier West took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Taylor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The visitors proceeded to dig themselves a bigger hole in the second inning.

Opening the at-bat by hitting two more batters, the Cavaliers doubled the lead with a sacrifice fly from Redden before the hit parade started in full force.

Diana Porter singled to load the bases before a hard ground ball single from Potomac State commit Maddie Fields doubled the advantage.

Preslee Treadway ripped a double just inside the third base bag to score two more and the Cavaliers were never threatened the remainder of the contest.

Greenbrier West tallied 13 hits including four from Fields and three from Treadway. Both players had four-RBI nights. Taylor added two hits and drove in three runs, while Redden had three RBI. Ava Price was 2-for-2 as well.

The Cavaliers will now battle Mount View in the Class A region 3 championship series, which is a best 2-out-of-three format.

The two teams did not meet in the regular season.

Game one will be played in Crawley, with game two contested in Welch. Should game three be needed, it will be played back in Greenbrier County.

"We played some common opponents and we know a little bit about them," Price said about the Golden Knights. "We tried to play them and couldn't. Mount View has a girl that throws the ball decent enough and if you're not ready to play, she will strike you out."

The challenge now for Price will be keeping his team sharp with game one not being played until Monday, May 19.