4th REGION PLAY
AGAINST BARREN COUNTY.
GREENWOOD FACES BARREN COUNTY IN TOURNEY OPENER; FRANKLIN-SIMPSON TANGLES WITH SOUTH WARREN IN NIGHTCAP
High school baseball coaches in South Central Kentucky have had a pensive few days finding dry practice fields in preparation for the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament starting Monday at WKU’s Nick Denes Field.
Indoor facilities were put to good use, but it was touch-and-go for more traditional practice sessions on Sunday, which included tornado sirens, weathermen on TV and heavy thunderstorms, however brief, in Bowling Green.
Leave it to South Warren coach Chris Gage, who was told at Friday’s 4th Region draw that the long-range forecast for the Mid-South was fairly encouraging. The KHSAA’s 15th District championship game was moved from Allen County-Scottsville to the artificial surface of Bowling Green High School’s Harold J. Stihl Field.
The turf dries significantly faster than the traditional grass-and-dirt playing surfaces.
And it’s one of the selling points of Nick Denes Field, too.
“I’ve never trusted weathermen,” Gage said in a gruff tone Friday morning.
AT THE KHSAA STATE TOURNAMENT LAST JUNE.
TO SLIP PAST BREATHITT COUNTY, 4-3,
IN LAST YEAR’s KHSAA STATE TOURNAMENT.
OBVIOUSLY NEEDS SOME WORK …
Greenwood, which defeated South Warren 6-3 in the KHSAA 14th District title tilt, will open 4th Region play against 15th District runner-up Barren County (20-13 overall), with a first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. The second game of the first session will pit tradition-rich Russell County (27-10) against the runner-up in the 13th District, the Logan County Cougars (17-15).
Greenwood (26-9) is built around pitching and defense, with an impressive team ERA of 2.05.
Veteran Gators coach Jason Jaggers, who has guided his squad to its first 4th Region appearance since 2017, had hoped to squeeze in a practice session Sunday afternoon before its breakfast time matchup against Barren County.
“I think the region is wide open,” Jaggers said. “It’s going to come down to who’s playing that best, on game day. We’ll make a game-time decision about our starting pitcher.”
IS FLANKED BY TROJANS TEAMMATES
SKYLAR POTTER (LEFT) AND AIDEN KENNEY.
TEAMMATES NATHAN HOWARD (LEFT) AND CHAZE HUFF.
The Gators’ likely options include junior right-hander Nathan Howard (7-1, 1.87 ERA), junior right-hander Zach Davis (2-3, 2.71 ERA) and junior left-hander Chaze Huff (3-2, 2,37 ERA). Senior pitcher/infielder James Russell (5-0, 2.04 ERA) is an outside possibility, with three starts on the season.
Howard and Huff joined forces to lead Greenwood past South Warren, 6-3, in the KHSAA 14th District championship game on Tuesday. Davis, the Gators’ shortstop, is batting a team-high .364 with 17 stolen bases and 35 runs scored.
Derrick Alfonso, a former Louisville Cardinals standout, is in his third year as the head coach at Barren County. The Trojans didn’t play Greenwood this season, but Alfonso is impressed with what the Gators have done in winning 26 games.
“I think everyone would tell you Greenwood has been the most consistent team (in the 4th Region) all year,” Alfonso said. “That’s why we wanted to draw them first. To win this thing, you gotta beat the best teams in the region. Might as well get the best of the best in Game One, at full strength.
“We have a pitching plan but those plans can get blown up really quickly, in a tournament like this. It’s ‘win or go home.'”
TEAMMATES MICAH FORD (LEFT) & MADDUX TARRENCE.
IS BATTING .456 WITH NINE HOME RUNS.
IS FLANKED BY SPARTANS TEAMMATES
TY CROGHAN (LEFT) AND ETHAN REYNOLDS.
Junior right-hander Joey Meyers (6-1) and senior lefty Tristan Meech (2-3, 1.58 ERA) have both made nine starts for the Trojans this season. Junior outfielder Sutton Hyde and junior pitcher/outfielder J.P. Hyde are both batting better than .400, and Meech leads Barren County with six home runs.
Russell County, the state tournament runner-up in 2022, brings a 27-10 record into 4th Region play. The Lakers will face Logan County in the second game of the early session, projected for a 1:15 p.m. start. Russell County has gone 16-3 against 4th Region competition this season, compared to Logan County’s 8-11 mark against the same opponents.
The winner of that game will face either Greenwood or Barren County on Tuesday afternoon in the semifinals.
In the evening session, 15th District champion Warren East, winners of 12 of its last 14 games, will take on Monroe County (12-16-1). Veteran Warren East coach Wes Sanford, who’s looking for his first state tournament berth since 2011, has good team speed, with four players with at least 15 stolen bases. Senior outfielder Maddux Tarrance is batting an even .400 with 13 extra-base hits and 26 RBI.
Warren East’s Matthew Escalara (4-1, 2.93 ERA) and Brooks Vincent (7-1, 2.03 ERA) have both made nine starts this season, followed by teammate Brenden Bratcher (7-2, 2.46 ERA). Sanford also has yet to decide on a starting pitcher.
“I feel our guys have really become a team,” Sanford said. “Guys who compare about the team more than themselves. They’ve worked really hard and we feel like we’re in a good right now.
“I’ll talk with my coaches and we’ll make a decision on who we’ll throw.”
HAVE PLENTY OF TEAM SPEED.
South Warren will play a familiar opponent in Franklin-Simpson, located just 11 miles south on U.S. Highway 31W on the way to the Tennessee state line. The Spartans are expected to start junior left-hander Mikey Coradini (8-1, 1.75 ERA), but longtime coach Chris Gage has yet to confirm that decision.
The Spartans have one of the premier offensive threats in the state in junior football/baseball star Ethan Reynolds, who is batting .456 with 21 extra-base hits, including a team-high nine home runs. Reynolds and South shortstop Griffin Rardin, also a junior, have already committed to play baseball at WKU for the 2025-26 school year.
The Spartans have played Franklin-Simpson, the 13th District champion, once this season, taking a 1-0 decision in Franklin on May 19. Junior pitcher Gavin Link leads the Wildcats in starts (12), innings pitched (72 1/3), wins (nine) and strikeouts (69, sharing the team lead with Brevin Scott.) Franklin-Simpson defeated Logan County, 5-0, in the district championship game last week at Todd County Central.
One KHSAA coach in the area believes the tournament is wide-open, with no clear-cut favorite.
“They’re all very equal,” he said. “Everybody has a pitcher that can beat anyone in the field. We’ll see what happens after the first day.”
The tournament will run concurrently with the KHSAA 4th Region fast-pitch softball tournament, at the WKU Softball Complex across University Blvd.
The KHSAA state tournament begins on June 6 at Lexington’s Legends Field, with the University of Kentucky’s nationally ranked baseball team possibly playing host to an NCAA Super Regional at Kentucky Proud Park.
250th CAREER VICTORY EARLIER THIS SEASON.
THE BEACH IS BECKONING. TWO OR THREE WEEKS …