Jim Mashek

BRATCHER, ESCALERA TAME TROJANS’ BATS; BOTH TEAMS TURN FOCUS TO 4th REGION TOURNEY

It certainly stuck in Maddux Tarrance’s mind, not to mention his Warren East High School teammates.

Might have stuck in their collective craw, too.

The Raiders seemed loaded for bear for the 2023 KHSAA baseball season, and they played for a district championship in their first 15th District Tournament, after moving over from the likes of Bowling Green High School and the other Warren County public schools.

Barren County’s young, ambitious squad stunned the No. 1-seeded Raiders, 4-2, on their home field in Glasgow, sending Warren East on the road for its first KHSAA 4th Region playoff game. The Raiders would lose that one, too, taking the 90-minute bus ride to Russell Springs before dropping a heartbreaker, 8-7, to the tradition-rich Russell County Lakers.

The road to Lexington will be different this time. Actually, it’ll be a little different for everyone in the 4th Region. (More on that later.)

Warren East showed patience, skill and its usual grit in crushing the Trojans, 16-4, in the KHSAA 15th District championship on Thursday night, a game moved to Bowling Green High School because of wet grounds at Allen County-Scottsville High School. The artificial surface at BGHS is fast, particularly when it is damp, and the Raiders have the kind of speed to capitalize on that sort of dimension in postseason play.

“We thought about (last year’s 4-2 loss to Barren County), sure,” Tarrance said. “I’d say we got a little too big for our britches … Winning this game, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to ‘us.’

“We are coming together when we need it the most.”

Warren East (22-14 overall) has won six of its last seven games, and 12 of its last 14. The Raiders have a balanced lineup and good team speed. Wes Sanford, Warren East’s coach since 2006 — that’s right, before some of the Raiders’ current players were even born — was pleased with the victory, after the twists and turns of a challenging season.

“I’m super proud of these kids,” Sanford said. “Somehow, we’ve found a way to win 22 games … all the injuries we’ve had to play through have actually helped us, in the long run.

“We’ve grown as a team.”

Tarrance, one of the mainstays on the Warren East football team, too, delivered a bases-loaded triple to left-center field in the bottom of the sixth inning. That’s when the Raiders exploded for 10 runs, on just six hits, before reliever Matthew Escalera closed it out by retiring the Trojans in order, in the bottom of the sixth.

Winning via the 10-run rule seems to have given the Raiders a lift, while it results in a time of reflection for Barren County coach Derrick Alfonso and the Trojans (20-13). Both squads will learn of their first-round opponents in KHSAA 4th Region play on Friday morning, when a draw will be held at Bowling Green High School.

The Trojans have posted a 12-4 record since April 15, Tax Day, and they’re sporting a healthy team batting average north of .340.

“We just didn’t play well enough to win, plain and simple,” Alfonso said via text message on Thursday night. “It was a long day (the game was pushed back, because of rain, after a scheduled 4 p.m. start), and it probably didn’t work in our favor, but excuses are for losers, and I’m not much putting that much of a role into it.

“We’re not throwing it well enough, or playing defense well enough, to beat good teams right now. It’s also super hard to beat a good team, three times in a row. I told the boys, all of our goals are still right in front of us, but we’ve got to play better, no doubt about it.

“Give East all the credit. They beat our butts tonight.”

Barren County stopped the Raiders, 7-4, on April 15 at Warren East, and the next night, the Trojans claimed an 8-7 victory over Wes Sanford’s squad in eight innings, in Glasgow.

Which may have strengthened the resolve of the Raiders, who also wanted to turn the tables on last year’s loss in the district championship game, at Barren County.

“It left a bad taste in our mouths,” Sanford said. “The guys understood, we needed to work harder …”

(The Raiders learned at Friday morning’s 4th Region draw that they would open regional play against Monroe County — the Falcons are 12-16-1, the runner-up in the KHSAA’s 16th District — on Monday at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.)

Barren County collected seven hits against East pitchers Brenden Bratcher and Matthew Escalera, but the Trojans also committed three errors, and issued four walks in the sixth inning alone. Warren East put up a 4-spot before the Trojans even took their first cuts of the night.

“A lot of people doubted us,” Warren East catcher Micah Ford said. “We knew we had to work harder, in practice … Brenden and Matthew did really good out there, hitting their spots, competing.”

Bratcher, a swingman on Warren East coach Kyle Benge’s basketball team, earned the victory on the mound, improving to 7-1 on the season. Warren East has long been built around multi-sport athletes, and the Raiders’ teams are quick to support one another, showing up in the stands and giving them a discernible home-field advantage.

“It’s a strong community. Nothing like it,” Warren East senior Maddux Tarrance said.

Five Warren East players finished the game with two hits. Barren County’s starting pitcher, junior right-hander Joey Meyers, took his first loss of the season in seven decisions.