Jim Mashek

RAIDERS’ SANFORD MAKES UNUSUAL PITCHING MOVE PAY OFF; GATORS’ BATS GO QUIET IN SEMIFINALS

Warren East High School’s baseball team is back at the doorstep of the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament, but the Raiders are going to need some serious mojo to conquer a familiar foe in Tuesday’s 4th Region championship game.

Longtime high school baseball power Russell County established an early lead and cruised past Greenwood, 6-2, in the opening semifinal on Tuesday evening at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. The Gators couldn’t break up Russell County right-hander Austin Bartrug’s no-hit bid until the sixth inning, when Canon Jaggers’ two-out, line-drive single to left-center field scored Greenwood teammate Reed McClard.

The resourceful Greenwood squad scrapped out a couple more hits and a single run in the seventh, but Drake Bowers’ line drive was turned into a game-ending double play, ending the Gators’ season at 27-10.

Junior left-hander Chaze Huff took the loss for Greenwood, moving from the mound to center field after giving up an unearned run in the second inning. The Lakers’ Jake Shearer had already put Russell County in front, 2-0, by ripping a two-run single to right field with one out in the first inning.

The Gators were down two runs before they ever got a chance to swing the bat.

“We only had two or three hits,” veteran Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said, “but I thought we barreled up nine or 10 balls tonight. The game plan was to spit on the breaking ball and attack the fastball.”

The Gators had 13 batters retired on fly balls or line drives, including circus catches from the Lakers’ outfielders in the third and sixth innings.

In the nightcap, Warren East built a quick 4-0 lead it never relinquished. But Wes Sanford, the Raiders’ longtime head coach, made an unusual move in the third inning that ultimately paid off for his squad on its way to the championship game.

Sophomore right-hander Brooks Vincent, the Warren East starting pitcher, struggled with his control in the third inning, and Sanford brought junior right-hander Brenden Bratcher in from right field to quell the Wildcats’ rally. He did a lot more than that, retiring the side on a strikeout and a pop fly to send the Raiders back to their dugout.

Warren East would scratch out a single run of its own, in the bottom of the third, extending its lead to 5-2. And then Vincent returned to the mound, and Bratcher to right field, and the Raiders were rollin’ … all the way to the title game.

“I get back to the dugout, and Coach Sanford said, ‘Keep your head up, you’re probably going back out there,’ ” Vincent said. “He asked me if I wanted the ball, and I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ “

Perhaps, in the back of Sanford’s mind, he wanted to have Bratcher available to start Wednesday evening’s championship game against Russell County.

That’s what he’ll get, as the Raiders pursue their first trip to the KHSAA State Tournament since 2011.

They’ll be playing the team that knocked out Warren East in the last two 4th Region Tournaments, including a 10-5 defeat in the championship game two years ago. Russell County would go on to finish as the state runner-up that year, falling to Louisville’s St. Xavier High School, 11-1, in the championship game.

WARREN EAST 9, FRANKLIN-SIMPSON 3

Pitching depth can be critical in these eight-team regional tournaments, and veteran Warren East coach Wes Sanford defied conventional wisdom and went back to his starting pitcher, Brooks Vincent, after Franklin-Simpson pulled to within two runs with a 2-spot in the top of the third.

“Sometimes, you’ve got to put all your chips on the table,” Sanford said.

Warren East won for the 13th time in its last 15 games, improving to 24-14 overall in the process. Franklin-Simpson closes the door on a successful season under longtime coach Matthew Wilhite with a 22-15 record.

Franklin-Simpson’s Brevin Scott, a Murray State signee, pitched the Wildcats into the sixth inning, and he finishes the season with a 4-5 record. Franklin-Simpson struggled defensively, committing four errors in the infield, which was fuel to the fire for a team that likes to run as much as Warren East.

This was a game, however, that turned on the pitcher’s mound.

Warren East was able to pad its lead, with single runs in the third and fourth innings. Brenden Bratcher stopped the Wildcats’ first rally, striking out DH Braxton Jenkins before retiring Gavin Dickerson on a pop fly to end the inning. Jenkins delivered the bases-loaded triple that sent Franklin-Simpson past South Warren, 3-2, in the quarterfinals on Monday.

After issuing three walks and hitting a batter with a pitch in the third, Warren East’s Brooks Vincent came back with a vengeance, allowing just one run, and one hit, the rest of the way. Vincent earned his eighth victory of the season, against a single defeat.

“We had confidence, in Brooks, to come back,” Bratcher said.

It was all about feel, for Raiders coach Wes Sanford. He brought senior outfielder/pitcher Tray Price to the mound for the seventh inning, and Price recorded three strikeouts, while allowing one hit to the Wildcats’ Layne Alford, to finish the game.

“We were close to getting out of that (third) inning,” Sanford said, “and it started crossing my mind like, ‘Hey we might be able to get back in there with Brooks,’ if he can re-gather, and refocus, because at that point he was rattled a little bit.

“You know, he’s a sophomore, it’s his first big moment.”

Sanford sent Vincent to the Warren East bullpen for some warm-up pitches, just to make sure. The bottom of the third ended, and …

“We didn’t even get a chance to talk to him,” Sanford said. “He started running in from the bullpen.”

That gives the Raiders more flexibility for the championship game, with Brenden Bratcher expected to get the call against Russell County.

“He’s a strike thrower,” Sanford said.

Warren East’s Aiden Barrick had a two-run double to right-center field in the sixth inning, and the Raiders added another run after a Franklin-Simpson error in the infield. They only had three other hits in the game — Tray Price’s single in the first, Carter Bassette’s bloop single to score Grant White in the first, and White’s hustling double to right-center field, when the Wildcats were a little relaxed in getting the ball back to the infield.

Now the Raiders will tangle with the team that has knocked them out in 4th Region play in each of the last two seasons — the Russell County Lakers. Russell County edged Warren East, 8-7, in quarterfinal play last year, after the aforementioned championship game defeat in 2022.

Warren East catcher Micah Ford believes the Raiders are ready.

“We’re ready to get ’em back … we believe this is ‘our time,’ ” he said.

RUSSELL COUNTY 6, GREENWOOD 2

Russell County opened the game in efficient fashion, scoring two runs against Greenwood’s starting pitcher, junior left-hander Chaze Huff. The Lakers never trailed, and won for the ninth time in 10 games, while improving to 29-10 overall.

Greenwood coach jason Jaggers turned to senior infielder/pitcher James Russell in the second, with Russell moving over to the mound from third base. Russell kept his team in the game, usually pitching to contact while buoying the Gators’ spirits. The Russell County bats went back to work with three runs on four hits in the sixth, including Trace Stringer’s two-out, two-run single through the left side that made it 6-0.

Greenwood’s Canon Jaggers had an RBI single to the opposite field in the sixth, and the Gators’ Cyler Talley lined a run-scoring single to center field in the seventh against Lakers reliever Lincoln Helm.

“We competed our tails off,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said. “The ball really didn’t bounce our way, at all …”

Talley, playing in his final game in a Greenwood uniform, agreed.

“The baseball gods weren’t with us tonight,” Talley said. “We hit balls hard, right at people.”

Greenwood returns the likes of pitcher/outfielder Chaze Huff, first baseman Andrew Jolly, outfielder Canon Jaggers and ace right-hander Nathan Howard next season. Howard finished the year with an 8-1 record with a 1.62 ERA. He allowed just 36 hits in 52 innings pitched, while striking out 62 batters.

“I know we’re going to graduate seven seniors, but I like the core group that we’ve got returning,” Greenwood’s Jason Jaggers said. “We’ve got some young guys that can come in and fill in. We’re excited about what the future holds for us.”