GUIDED HIS SQUAD PAST GREENWOOD, 2-0.
RAIDERS, SPARTANS WILL SQUARE OFF IN WEDNESDAY EVENING’s CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AT WKU’s NICK DENES FIELD
The ninth-ranked Greenwood High School baseball team stayed in the dugout, at WKU’s Nick Denes Field, for 20, maybe 25 minutes after the game came to a sudden conclusion.
The Gators were perhaps the favorite, coming into the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament, but everyone knew the deck was stacked — with South Warren, the runner-up in the 14th District, along with traditional power Russell County, 15th District champion Barren County, and the scrappy Wildcats from Franklin-Simpson High School.
And South Warren has just gotten a boost of firepower with the return of multi-purpose star Ethan Reynolds, a WKU signee who can pitch, play third base, or man any of the outfield positions at The Nick, widely considered a pitcher’s park.
Well, it was definitely a pitcher’s park, for the second semifinal game late Tuesday night.
Warren East, the Little Underdog on Louisville Road, the Not-So-Little Engine That Could, has turned this tournament upside down.
Taking a somewhat misleading 10-19 record into 4th Region play, the Raiders have knocked off two district champions on their way back to the 4th Region Championship Game.
First, Warren East eliminated Russell County, 4-3, behind steady pitching from senior right-hander Brenden Bratcher. The Raidahs needed some help in the seventh inning, so veteran Warren East coach Wes Sanford turned to junior right-hander Brooks Vincent to close the door on the Lakers.
Mission accomplished.
After eighth-ranked South Warren zapped Barren County, 8-4, with a six-run third inning in the first game, the stage was set for a high-stakes semifinal pitting crosstown rivals Greenwood (28-6) and Warren East (11-19).
l
ALLOWED THE RAIDERS
TO RECORD THE FINAL OUT IN
A 2-0 WIN OVER GREENWOOD.
IS FLANKED BY RAIDERS TEAMMATES
BROOKS VINCENT (LEFT) AND MATTHEW ESCALARA.
The Gators were two wins away from the school’s first apperance in the KHSAA State Tournament at t UK’s Kentucky Pride Park in Lexington, but Vincent and Co. had other ideas.
“We’ve scuffled, offensively,” Warren East coach Wes Sanford said. “But we knew we always had the arms …
“We came in here, we hadn’t beat anybody al t the top of our region beside Logan County. We had gotten walked off earlier in the year by Greenwood, we’d gotten walked off by South and Bowling Green walked us off (earlier in May).
“So we’d been in all three games (against those 14th District opponents).”
South Warren, meanwhile, had won six of its previous seven games, heading into its opening semifinal against KHSAA 15th District champion Barren County. The Spartans rolled through the quarterfinal round, beating Logan County, 10-0, in six innings, but the sledding figured to be tougher against the talented Trojans from Barren County.
They were, at least until the third inning.
That’s when the Spartans batted around, sending nine batters to the plate, while striking for six runs and a 6-1 lead against the reeling Trojans. Between games, South Warren shortstop Griffin Rardin was recognized as the 4th Region Player of the Year, while Jaggers, the Gators’ head coach since the 2011 season, was named the Region’s Coach of the Year. Joey Talley, the Greenwood pitching coach, was named the region’s assistant coach of the year.
THE 4th REGION TITLE GAME.
AND WARREN EAST’s WES SANFORD
BEFORE TUESDAY NIGHT’s GAME.
WARREN EAST 2, GREENWOOD 0
Offense was at a premium in the nightcap at WKU’s Nick Denes Field.
Warren East managed just two hits against Greenwood right-hander Nathan Howard, both by leadoff man Brenden Bratcher. But Bratcher’s triple to the right-field fence — he’d caught the Gators’ outfield playing him a little shallow — left the Raiders with a base runner 90 feet from home in the bottom of the first inning.
William Alexander, the Warren East first baseman, fouled off several pitches to draw a walk, giving the Raiders runners on the corner with no outs. Howard struck out Warren East’s Kalven Hinton, but Alexander would force the action by bolting for second on a delayed steal attempt. An errant pickoff throw from behind home plate allowed Bratcher to score from third.
The Raiders would load the bases before Greenwood’s second error of the inning allowed Alexander to score from third base. It was 2-0, just like that, and Warren East right-hander Brooks Vincent recorded two strikeouts in each of the first four innings.
OF THE BATTER’s BOX AFTER HITTING
A SHOT TO THE RIGHT-FIELD FENCE …
AS HE HEADED TOWARD SECOND BASE …
FOR HIS FIRST TRIPLE OF THE SEASON.
GESTURES TOWARD HIS DUGOUT
AFTER HIS FIRST-INNING TRIPLE.
Greenwood shortstop Zach Davis had the Gators’ lone hit, a single he slapped into left field with one out in the third.
It would be their lone hit of the game.
“We couldn’t get anything going, offensively,” Jaggers said. “Brooks did an outstanding job on the mound (for Warren East). He did a good job of attacking the zone, even when we had men on base.
“You never want to see the season end. This one’s kind of tough to swallow.”
Vincent and Warren East did the high-wire act the rest of the way, and Vincent was up against the pitch count when Warren East’s Wes Sanford decided to move senior pitcher/infielder Matthew Escalara from third base to the mound.
“We were going to try to win tonight,” Sanford said, “and figure out tomorrow later.”
Tomorrow, meaning Wednesday’s championship game against the Spartans.
Escalara, one of Sanford’s pitching options for the title contest, may have put it best.
“We knew we had a chance,” he said. “But I’m thankful we could scratch out two runs, early.”
KEPT HIS TEAM IN THE GAME.
BRINGS THE HEAT IN THE SEVENTH.
SCORES THE GAME’s FIRST RUN.
Greenwood star Zach Davis, a shortstop/pitcher on his way to play at the University of Louisville, was grateful for the team he had, with his teammates and coaches. Jason Jaggers always has maintained a special bond with his players, including his son, Canon Jaggers, the Gators’ right fielder.
“It’s a hard feeling, to overcome, knowing we’d have a chance to go all the way,” Davis said via text message on Wedneday morning. “The only thing I can do now is look back, at all the good things that came from it. I was part of a very special family.”
Greenwood finishes its season at 29-8 overall.
AND THE RAIDERS WILL PLAY FOR A
4th REGION TITLE ON WEDNESDAY.
ON THE MOUND WHILE THE SPARTANS
CONVENE NEAR THIRD BASE.
SOUTH WARREN 8, BARREN COUNTY 4
Senior right-hander Austin Allen gave the Spartans another quality start before the bats kicked it into another gear in the bottom of the third inning.
Griffin Rardin, perhaps appropriately, had the first hit of the inning, after teammate Camden Page drew a leadoff walk. Barren County’s Skyler Potter pitched around South slugger Ethan Reynolds, loading the bases, before striking out Junior Perkins on a sharp 2-2 curveball.
Then the guys from Nashville Road rounded into form.
WITH SIX RUNS IN THE THIRD.
WENT 3-FOR-4 WITH THREE RUNS SCORED.
BARREN’s JAY VINCENT ON A FLY BALL
TO SHALLOW CENTER FIELD.
VISITS BRIEFLY WITH HIS COUSIN,
WARREN EAST’s BROOKS VINCENT,
BETWEEN GAMES TUESDAY.
Second baseman Ty Croghan slapped a single through the right side, scoring two runs and putting the Spartans in front, 3-1. Greenwood junior Jaxen Decker then crushed a Potter pitch for an RBI triple to left-center field, before teammate Casey Green made it 5-1 with a shot to the right-center field fence for ANOTHER RBI triple.
“Hitting’s contagious, we all know that,” Decker said. “We saw what (Potter) had, early, and I think we got a little ‘amped up.'”
J.R. Estes, Barren County’s interim head coach, sent a couple pitchers down the right-field line to loosen up in the bullpen, but the game was quickly getting out of hand.
Gray Pearson’s sacrifice fly brought Green home, extending the Spartans’ lead to 6-1.
Barren County never recovered.
“They took the lead early, so it gets uncomfortable when the other team has the lead,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “You don’t want your players to get tight or anything, but second time through the order we were able to get after it.”
Rardin made two or three exceptional defensive plays, while going 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and a stolen base. He’s one of Gage’s pitching options for the championship game, along with Ethan Reynolds, who pitched effectively in the 14th DIstrict Tournament last week in a 5-2 victory over Bowling Green High School.
All things considered, senior left-hander Mikey Coradini (9-1, 1.32 ERA) looks like the probable starter for the Spartans on Wednesday. Coradini pitched for South’s 2023 team that finished 27-10 overall while reaching the quarterfinals of the KHSAA state tournament.
Ultimately, however, it was Griffin Rardin’s night. His father, WKU head baseball coach Marc Rardin, was able to take in the game before the Hilltoppers left for Oxford, Mississippi, on Wendesday to compete in this weekend’s NCAA regional tournament at Ole Miss.
Griffin Rardin plans to play next season at Shelton State Community College, a two-year school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but he’s already carved his name into the South Warren record books. He also was an all-district player for the Spartans’ basketball team.
“Griffin Rardin’s the best defensive player I’ve ever seen, in high school,” Gage said.
Rardin’s offensive numbers are otherworldly, too, heading into Wednesday night’s championship game against Warren East.
He’s batting .490 with 28 extra-base hits in 37 games. Rardin also leads the Spartans in RBI (44), runs scored (44), doubles (19) and stolen bases (14, on as many attempts).
South’s Austin Allen (5-5) was the winning pitcher, and freshman left-hander Tanner King took over for the final two innings.
South Warren has been a state tournament quarterfinalist three times under Gage, most recently in 2023.
TOOK IN THE GAME BETWEEN
WARREN EAST AND GREENWOOD.
WE’RE GOIN’ BACK ON VACATION …