SCORES THE WINNING RUN
WITH TWO OUTS IN THE SEVENTH.
GREENWOOD WILL BE ON HOME TURF ON TUESDAY EVENING; KREIS GETS THE START FOR BOWLING GREEN
It happened quickly. Almost in an instant.
Greenwood High School’s closer, junior infielder/pitcher Jackson Lee, moved from second base to the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning in Monday’s critical KHSAA 14th DIstrict game against the Bowling Green Purples.
The game was tied at 4, and the drama was building. Bowling Green had not held a lead for the entire game.
Lee retired the first two BGHS batters he faced, outfielder Grayson Newman on a line drive run down in center field before the Purples’ Luke Idlett took a called third strike. Extra innings loomed, but BGHS catcher Harrison Yates put the ball in play and reached on the fourth error charged to Greenwood in the game.
That brought BGHS pinch hitter Grayson Rogers to the plate, and veteran BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg sent senior right-handed pitcher Eli Kreis into the game as a pinch runner.
Isenberg called for a hit-and-run, and Rogers executed it perfectly. Kreis broke for second base and Rogers lashed the ball through the right side of the infield, sending Kreis to third base with the two-out single. That brought Logan Johnson to the plate for the Purples, but Johnson never had a chance to swing the bat.
Jackson Lee’s first pitch found the dirt, and Greenwood catcher Easton Talley couldn’t stop it before it hit the backstop at Bowling Green’s Harold J. Stihl Field. There isn’t much foul ground behind the plate, but Kries broke for home, immediately. Talley got the ball to Lee at the home plate, but Kries was able to slide under his tag, sending the Purples to an unconventional 5-4 victory over Greenwood.
THE GAME WITH NINE HITS.
WITH TWO RUNS IN THE TOP OF THE SIXTH.
LEADS HIS TEAM IN STRIKEOUTS
AND INNINGS PITCHED.
IS BATTING .360 WITH 13 RBI.
BELTS AN OPPOSITE-FIELD DOUBLE
IN THE SECOND INNING.
Game Two moves to Greenwood’s Corey Hart Ballpark/Aaron Fletcher Field on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg plans to start Kries on the mound, while Greenwood’s Jason Jaggers is expected to counter with Louisville signee Zach Davis, a senior shortstop when he isn’t pitching, or junior outfielder/pitcher Chaze Huff.
The Purples improved to 17-8 overall and 4-1 in the KHSAA’s 14th District, while Greenwood dropped to 20-6 and 3-2, respectively. Bowling Green likely will need a sweep of the Gators to claim the top seed for the 14th District Tournament, which begins May 17 at Greenwood High School.
“Our bench won it for us,” Isenberg said after the Purples mobbed Kries in front of the BGHS dugout. “We’ve played in a lot of close games, several extra-inning games … Our guys know how to play in those kinds of games.
“Now we go to Greenwood, and see what we can do there.”
Kries didn’t hesitate in getting down the third-base line to score the winning run.
“Coach (Isenberg) was talking to me (at third base). You’ve just got to be prepared,” Kries said. “Taking off (for home plate) was worth the risk, in that situation … we’re just happy we pulled it out.”
RETIRES THE GATORS’ ZACH DAVIS IN THE THIRD.
GAVE THE GATORS SIX SOLID INNINGS.
VISITS THE MOUND IN THE THIRD.
IS HELPED OFF THE FIELD
AFTER AN OUTFIELD COLLISION
IN THE SECOND INNING.
A CALLED THIRD STRIKE PAST
THE PURPLES’ LUKE IDLETT.
Drew Isenberg, Bowling Green’s starting pitcher, and Greenwood right-hander Nathan Howard turned in solid efforts. Isenberg was approaching 110 pitches when he was pulled in favor of BGHS reliever Jackson Idlett in the top of the sixth. Idlett retired the two Greenwood batters he faced, but in the seventh, BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg went to junior right-hander Landon Gilbert, who moved over to the mound from third base.
Gilbert surrendered a one-out double to Greenwood’s Chaze Huff, a shot to deep right-center field, but Gilbert struck out Greenwood’s Easton Talley and Sam Holder, bringing the Purples to bat for the bottom of the seventh.
BGHS shortstop Evan Schallert said the Purples never lost their cool when they fell behind, 4-2, in the top of the sixth. Bowling Green’s Logan Johnson scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half, with teammate James Yarbrough taking TWO bases on the same wild pitch, moving in safely to third. Then Schallert put the ball in play, an RBI single that sailed into left field, and Yarborough scored to tie the game at 4.
“It took everyone, to win this game,” Schallert said. “The dugout bought in, they were right there. I never thought we were out of the game. When they scored, we punched back.”
HE SCORES THE WINNING RUN.
‘OUR BENCH WON IT FOR US …’
AFTER SOME SEVENTH-INNING CATCALLS.
IS FLANKED BY TEAMMATES (FROM LEFT)
HUDSON NOTTMEIER AND ELI KRIES.
Chaze Huff and Jackson Lee each had two hits for the Gators. Schallert and senior BGHS pitcher/outfielder Drew Isenberg also had two hits apiece.
Bowling Green right fielder Hudson Nottmeier had two critical defensive plays, robbing Easton Talley of an extra-base hit with a diving catch inside the right-field line in the third and a throw to third base that erased Zach Davis from the base paths. Davis initially was safe before oversliding the bag, and Landon Gilbert made the the tag, also in the third inning.
“I had (his throw) lined up right up with (Davis) and the coaches teach us to throw for the head,” Nottmeier said. “I took the right angle in getting off the throw and Landon got him out.”
It was by no means a pretty victory — Greenwood was charged with four errors, compared to two for the Purples — but Bowling Green coach Nathan Isenberg will certainly take it.
“All you can do,” he said, “is try to put yourselves in a position for good things to happen.”
Thanks to BGHS players such as Hudson Nottmeier, Evan Schallert and Eli Kries, the Purples did just that.
TO GREENWOOD ON TUESDAY.
WITH WARREN EAST AND APOLLO.
FOR THE DOG PARK ON WEDNESDAY.