Jim Mashek

SPARTANS EXTEND WINNING STREAK TO SEVEN GAMES; PURPLES LOOK FOR EQUALIZER IN GAME TWO ON TUESDAY NIGHT

South Warren senior left-hander Mikey Coradini had to get back in the Spartans’ bullpen during a sixth inning that didn’t want to end.

He wanted that complete game.

Crosstown rival Bowling Green High School, however, had other ideas in the top of the seventh.

Leadoff man Evan Schallert drew a walk with one out. Schallert moved into second on a stolen base and South Warren coach Chris Gage made the move to the bullpen and junior right-hander Jacob Lobb. And then, suddenly, the Purples’ bats came to life.

Drew Isenberg slapped a single up the middle, scoring Schallert from second base and trimming the Purples’ deficit to 8-3. The Spartans’ bench remained confident, encouraging Lobb to complete the task at hand.

He did, but it took awhile.

An errant pickoff throw, an infield single from the Purples’ Landon Gilbert, a wild pitch and another infield single, off the bat of Bowling Green outfielder Grayson Newman, and it looked like things might get interesting.

Lobb retired the Purples’ Luke Idlett on a ground ball, scoring Gilbert, and believe it or not, Bowling Green had the tying run on the on-deck circle. Lobb struck out BGHS catcher Harrison Yates, however, and the Spartans had begun KHSAA 14th District play with a workmanlike 8-5 victory over the Purples on Monday night.

Game Two is set for Tuesday evening at Harold J. Stihl Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

“I wanted to finish it,” Coradini said. “But I was at 111 pitches, and that was enough. The most I’d ever gone before was 92 (pitches). I struggled with my control today. Six walks. But our defense will be better (Tuesday). Austin (Allen, the Spartans’ senior right-hander) is a good pitcher. He’ll be ready to go.”

South Warren extended its winning streak to seven games, improving to 15-2 overall. Gage and BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg both said “first district game jitters” contributed to the sloppy play — Newman was caught in a rundown after Idlett’s ground ball, only to safely make it back to second base — and they both expect a different sort of contest in Game Two.

Bowling Green dropped to 10-7 overall.

“We didn’t show up ready to play,” Nathan Isenberg said. “We didn’t make the plays on defense. Drew (Isenberg, the Purples’ starting pitcher) couldn’t give us a chance. We didn’t have it.

“I told our team we played like we were scared.”

Coradini, who improved to 5-1 on the season, was the beneficiary of an opportunistic South offense in the second and third innings. In the second, Casey Green doubled down the right-field line and scored on Grey Pearson’s line-drive double to right-center field. Drew Isenberg fanned Spartans catcher Tucker Sears for the second out of the inning, but South’s Junior Perkins and Ty Croghan reached on back-to-back walks.

Then, South Warren shortstop Griffin Rardin put the ball in play, reaching on an error that extended the Spartans’ lead to 3-0.

“We got (Drew Isenberg’s) pitch count to 61 in the third inning, I believe,” Rardin said. “The middle and the bottom of the lineup got some big hits. I think we scored four runs with two outs.

“We’ll be playing on their (artificial) turf (on Tuesday), so they probably haven’t had the work we’ve had with bad hops in the infield.”

South’s Joe Fentress singled through the left side with a man on base in the third, but Isenberg got the Spartans’ Casey Green chasing an 0-2 curveball for the first out of the inning. Then South Warren first baseman Grey Pearson slapped an RBI single up the middle, extending the Spartans’ lead to 4-0.

“Grey was the catalyst,” South coach Chris Gage said. “Both teams came in a little tight. It’s the first district game. We were able to ride Mikey to the victory. He’s a steady pitcher.”

Pearson said he’d “been a little slump” and that he’s spent some extra time in the batting cage. Griffin Rardin, who leads the Spartans with a .542 batting average and 17 extra-base hits, added an RBI single to right field in the fifth. South has lost senior slugger Ethan Reynolds, a WKU signee, to wrist surgery, at least for the time being, so the Spartans have had to adjust accordingly.

Coradini, meanwhile, breezed through the first four innings, allowing nothing more than a couple walks.

Relievers Jackson Idlett and Luke Idlett finished the game on the mound, for the Purples, who have lost four of their last six games.

“We chased pitches early on,” BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg said, “but we were able to chip away a little bit late in the game. We’ll throw (senior right-hander) Eli Kreis in the second game, see what we can do.”

In the other KHSAA 14th District opener, Greenwood drubbed Warren Central, 12-0, in five innings. Chaze Huff was the winning pitcher, and the Gators (15-4) finished the game with 11 stolen bases. Greenwood’s next opponent in the district rotation is South Warren. South Warren is ranked sixth among Top 25 Kentucky squads by the Prep Baseball Report, followed by Greenwood (14th) and Bowling Green (18th).

All of which should contribute to an interesting district race.