Greenbrier team happy in 4th place
Lady Wolfpack tied 2004 school record with 35 wins
The softball season came to an end over the weekend for Greenbrier. The Lady Wolfpack squad was the only team from Columbia County still in postseason contention when they traveled to Columbus, Ga., last week for the Class AAAA state finals tournament.
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Greenbrier softball coach Garrett Black said just getting to that level was an achievement in itself.
"We're disappointed how it ended, but if you would have told me after the Coke Classic here that we were going to end up fourth in the state I don't know if I would have believed you," he said.
The Coke Classic, a regular-season tournament Greenbrier played host in September, marked the low point in the season for the Lady Wolfpack. They lost four of six games in that stretch, including a 3-3 record at the tournament and a 1-0 loss to Evans in a region game two days later.
That's why Greenbrier's march to fourth place in the Class AAAA state tournament felt so sweet to the team's coaches and players.
It was the second consecutive season the Lady Wolfpack brought home a No. 4 finish. This year the squad did it with wins over St. Pius X and Whitewater at the state finals tournament.
Senior Kaitlyn Vest hit an RBI single with two outs in the top of the seventh inning in a first-round 1-0 win over St. Pius X.
After a 3-2 loss to eventual state champion Northgate in the second round, sophomore Ashlyn Masters homered to help the Lady Wolfpack eliminate Whitewater in the losers' bracket.
Greenbrier's season ended on Friday with a 1-0 loss to Marist in 13 innings.
"To go down there and win the title you've got to get a good draw and have some luck, but you've also got to have some of that experience," Black said.
"We're still young, but the girls did get that experience. I don't think we were as strong as we were in past years, but the kids found a way to win."
Greenbrier tied a school record with 35 wins this season. The only other Lady Wolfpack softball team with that many victories in one year was the 2004 squad that won the Class AAAA state championship.