Jim Mashek

GAME TWO MOVES TO GREENWOOD’s COREY HART BALLPARK ON TUESDAY EVENING

The runs were hard to come by in Monday’s KHSAA 14th District duel between South Warren’s Mikey Coradini and Greenwood counterpart Nathan Howard on Monday evening.

Which is why Griffin Rardin’s first-inning home run, a solo blast to left-center field at South Warren Ballpark, figured so significantly in the Spartans’ 2-0 victory.

Coradini guided sixth-ranked South Warren past the No. 11 Gators in under two hours, earning his sixth victory in seven decisions. The senior left-hander allowed just five hits, all singles, while striking out five batters with just one walk.

South Warren improved to 17-4 overall and 2-1 in the KHSAA’s ultracompetitive 14th District. Greenwood dropped to 18-5 overall and 2-1 in league play, but the Gators will get a chance to square the series on their home turf. Game Two at Greenwood’s Corey Hart Ballpark is set for a 6 p.m. start on Tuesday.

South Warren has missed senior slugger Ethan Reynolds’ potent bat for a month or so, but Rardin is one of the guys who has helped pick up the slack. Reynolds is hoping to return from hand surgery before too long, but it’s anybody’s guess when he’ll be back in the lineup.

The Spartans are a poised team that has won nine of their last 11 games.

“It was a competitive game, that lived up to the advance billing,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “Two good pitchers, two good defenses.”

Howard, a senior right-hander, kept the Gators within striking distance, but Coradini retired 12 consecutive Greenwood batters until Jake Flickinger lashed a single to left field with one out in the fifth inning. The Gators had two men on base with two outs, but Coradini handled Jackson Lee’s nubber in front of home plate, retiring the side to end the threat.

Coradini relied on his change-up in the early innings, to keep the Gators off balance, but his curveball came to life down the stretch.

“I started landing the curveball, and that just opened up everything,” Coradini said. “I really only have three pitches — fastball, curveball and changeup — so I’ve got to concentrate on throwing strikes and staying ahead in the count.”

Griffin Rardin, the Spartans’ senior shortstop, warmed up quickly in the bottom of the sixth inning, if South coach Chris Gage decided to go to his bullpen. Greenwood’s Chris Glossick lined a single to right-center field with two outs, moving into second base on a wild pitch before a balk against Coradini sent him to third. But Rardin gobbled up Jackson Lee’s grounder and retired him, by just a step, at first base to end the game.

“We had Griff in there (the bullpen), in case all hell broke loose,” Gage said. “And it almost did …”

Gage moved Rardin from the three hole to the second spot in the Spartans’ lineup, and the Shelton State (Alabama) commit quickly turned on Nathan Howard’s 1-1 pitch and sent a towering home run over the fence in left-center field. It was Rardin’s third home run of the season.

“(Howard) had started me with a couple sliders, so I was anticipating the fastball,” Rardin said. “It was a little low and inside. I just tried to put a good barrel on it, make good contact.”

South’s Camden Page followed with a bloop single to right field, and Spartans DH Ty Croghan drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch, putting Page in scoring position. But Howard induced a double-play ground ball from South outfielder Joseph Fentress, and the Gators turned the 6-4-3 twin killing to get back in the dugout for the second inning.

Greenwood didn’t get a base runner into third until the seventh, which helped Coradini finish the task at hand with just 86 pitches.

South Warren catcher Tucker Sears said Coradini’s ability to hit the corners might have been the difference.

“Mikey did a great job. He threw the strikes when he needed to,” Sears said. “He pounded the zone.”

Greenwood’s Nathan Howard was effective in his own right, striking out seven batters while allowing just four hits. South Warren’s Ty Croghan accounted for the game’s second run, chasing home courtesy runner Tanner King with a sacrifice fly to center field in the third.

Ultimately, though, it was Mikey Coradini’s night.

“(Coradini) was efficient with his off-speed pitches,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said, “and we weren’t disciplined enough to spit on it.”

The Spartans’ victory leaves South Warren, Greenwood and Bowling Green all with 2-1 district records. The Purples’ Jackson Idlett struck out 10 batters in four innings, leading BGHS to a 12-2 victory over Warren Central in five innings. That series moves to WCHS for Game Two on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to come out with some hot bats,” South’s Griffin Rardin said.

South’s Chris Gage expects to start senior right-hander Austin Allen (3-2, 1.62 ERA) in Game Two, while Jaggers is leaning toward junior right-hander Chaze Huff (1-1, 2.80 ERA).