The West Greene baseball team completed the season sweep of South Greene on Monday evening by taking down the Rebels 5-1 on Rebel Hill.
“It’s always good come out here and get a win,” West Greene coach Adrian Sauceman said. “Defensively we played pretty well and Ethan (Carpenter) and Brandon (Hunter) threw it well. We got guys on the bases, but it was frustrating we couldn’t get more of them in. All in all, it’s a win and we’ll take it.”
The Buffaloes wrap up District 1-2A play with a 4-6 record. South Greene falls to 1-9 in league play.
West Greene got the job done with timely defense and opportunistic offense. They left five South Greene runners stranded in scoring position and ended five innings with a strike out.
“We have leaned on the defense all year. That has been something we can count on. Pitching wise we have had four or five guys that have really produced. They definitely came through again today,” Sauceman said.
West Greene started the evening by using an error, a walk and a hit batter to load the bases, but South Greene used a 1-2-3 double play to temporarily end the threat. West Greene loaded the bases again and Aidan Willett knocked in the first run of the day with a line drive past the third baseman.
The Rebels were able to end the inning with the bases loaded while the Buffaloes sat on a 1-0 lead.
South Greene was able to even the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Christian Darnell fired a line drive into the right-center gap to knock in Dawson Ripley from second base. The Rebels then loaded the bases, but Ethan Carpenter ended the threat with a strike out.
The second inning started with a walk, a hit batter, and a bunt single by Jayden Cox to load the bases once again for West Greene. Carter Stills skipped a ground ball through the left side to give the Buffaloes a 2-1 advantage.
West Greene could have opened the game up at that point, but a pair of pop ups left the bases loaded once again.
The Buffaloes added one more run in the third inning to go in front 3-1. Willett led off the side by launching a double into the deepest part of center field. A pair of groundouts by Bronson Brown and Christian Hunter pushed Willett the rest of the way around the base path.
Two more West Greene runs crossed the dish in the fourth inning. Cox was walked on four pitches and Stills sent a groundball to the third base that was booted.
Julian Greenlee made the mistake hurt when he bounced a groundball through the left side with two outs. Brown scored from second, then the Rebels sent the ball from left field to the plate and back to third base in an attempt to catch Stills. The ball got away and Stills increased the lead to 5-1.
West Greene kept the Rebels in check the rest of the way and held on for the win.
Carpenter earned the win for the Buffaloes. In 4 2/3 innings he struck out nine, walked one and allowed five hits.
“I don’t think Ethan had his best stuff today. He landed maybe four curve balls all night, but he got some swings and misses with his fastball. He filled up the zone, he competed and he gave us a chance,” Sauceman said.
Brandon Hunter finished the game for West Greene. In 2 1/3 innings he struck out four, walked one and allowed two hits.
Cameron Kinser took the loss for South Greene. In four innings he struck out one, walked four and allowed five hits. Zach Mason threw three innings with two strikeouts, no walks and one hit allowed.
Willett led West Greene’s offense by going 2-for-3 with a double. Greenlee was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
For South Greene Cayden Fillers was 2-for-2 with two doubles.
