Jim Mashek

Greenwood High School’s baseball team is plugging away in Panama City Beach, Florida, looking to add some polish as the Gators move toward district play in the KHSAA’s ultracompetitve 4th Region.

Across town, on Nashville Road, South Warren High School has designs on returning to the KHSAA state tournament, at UK’s Kentucky Pride Park, taking plenty of momentum into Spring Break. The Spartans (9-4 overall) are taking a true break before returning to the field on April 14, when they’ll play host to Campbellsville at the South Warren Ballpark.

Then, on Rockingham Avenue, Bowling Green High School’s unbeaten team will play in a series of games in the Green County Wooden Bat Tournament, starting with Tuesday afternoon’s afternoon contest against Christian Educational Consortium, a home school team based in Louisville. The Purples improved to 9-0 with a solid 11-3 victory, on the road, against Allen County-Scottsville.

“There’s a lot of different ways to get your team some work during Spring Break,” BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg said. “We’re playing Walton-Verona, on Wednesday, and they have a kid who throws 90-plus (mph) … Most of the summer ball teams use wooden bats, so it’s good for our kids to experience that, while we get ready for district.”

Bowling Green is ranked second, statewide, by Max Preps, trailing only Trinity High School (10-2 overall). The Purples check in at No. 6 in the On3 poll, with two Louisville schools, Trinity and St. Xavier leading the way. South Warren and Greenwood are both ranked in those polls, too, and they’ll start sorting out the KHSAA’s 14th District in two weeks, when Greenwood (8-4 overall) and South Warren (8-3) tangle in Game One of their two-game series at Greenwood.

“We’ve got our parents down here with our kids in Florida,” Jaggers said in a telephone interview. “The booster club takes care of the coaches’ rooms, and the boys’ rooms … I’d say we’re a work in progress. We had a really good group of seniors last year.”

Greenwood faces East Forsyth High School, from Gainesville, Georgia, in its opening game Monday at Panama City Beach. The Gators have won four straight games, including a 12-6 thumping of Glasgow High School at Sam Royse Field on March 30 in Glasgow.

“From my understanding, East Forsythe is ranked in the Top 15 in Georgia,” Jaggers said. “We play Owensboro Catholic, on Tuesday, and they’ve always had good teams … We lost nine seniors from last year’s team, but this is a good group. They’ve done a fantastic job.”

Greenwood is ranked No. 17, statewide, in the On3 poll.

South Warren, meanwhile, played two games on Saturday in Madison, Tennessee, including a 6-3 victory over Perkins High School in Sandusky, Ohio. The Spartans are 6-3-1 on the season, with the tie coming on Saturday against Goodpasture Christian in Tennessee.

“We’ve had to deal with some injuries and guys playing new positions this year,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “One of our catchers, Joseph Fentress, had a torn ACL last year in football, and Jax Decker, an outfielder, finished the basketball season with an elbow injury and a bum ankle. We’re gonna try to get Decker back out there after Spring Break.”

Decker is planning to play JUCO ball next year at Rend Lake College in Southeastern Illinois. He was the Spartans’ left fielder last season, and played a key role in South Warren’s run to the KHSAA 4th Region boys basketball championship game.

South Warren alum Griffin Rardin, the son of WKU head baseball coach Marc Rardin, is off to a fast start at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and he’s already committed to play next year in the SEC, at the University of Alabama.

“We’re all really happy for Griff,” Gage said.

Gage, Jaggers and Isenberg are all evaluating their pitching staffs. Senior right-hander Jacob Lobb has pitched 13 innings this season, sporting a 2-0 record with a 2.15 ERA. Sophomore right-hander Tanner King (2-1) has worked a team-high 13 1/3 innings, with 13 strikeouts and a 2.10 ERA. South Warren sophomore Brandon ‘Junior’ Perkins, a standout in both basketball and baseball, is batting .364 with two home runs and a team-high 15 RBI.

“We’re playing Junior in right field, for now, but he’s also been our second baseman,” Gage said. “He’s kind of our Mookie Betts out there … We’ve got a lot of kids playing new positions. Camden Page was our third baseman last year, and he’s moved over to shortstop. He’s got good range and has really worked really hard in the offseason.”

Page also is the starting quarterback for the South Warren football team, which reached the KHSAA Class 6A state championship game in December, before falling to Louisville’s Trinity High School, 28-14.

“We encourage our kids to play multiple sports at South Warren,” Gage said.

With Fentress’ injury, Tucker Sears is the Spartans’ full-time starting catcher. Sears also plays both football and baseball. Gage said sophomore Cooper Thomason has given the Spartans some depth behind the plate, but he’s still evaluating his options, pitching-wise, for district play.

“We really couldn’t find any suitable opponents, in Kentucky, for Spring Break, so the boys are getting a little break,” Gage said.

Greenwood extended its winning streak to four games last week, knocking off Central Hardin, 12-6, at Corey Hart Ballpark on the GHS campus. Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers plans to start senior right-hander Jackson Lee in Monday’s game against East Forsyth (Georgia), with senior right-hander Whit Glissick the projected starter for Tuesday’s game against Owensboro Catholic.

“Whit has pitched really well. He beat St. X last year,” Jaggers said.

Greenwood’s Griffin Veazey, a senior, has moved into the starting role at catcher, after missing most of the 2025 season with an injury. Jackson Lee is batting .400 with a team-high 14 RBI, while teammate Bryce Mangold, a junior, is batting .500 with six doubles and 11 RBI.

The Gators have another promising junior in utility player Kioshe Une, who is sporting a .314 batting average with three home runs and 11 RBI.

Bowling Green High School has seven non-district games scheduled before its 14th District opening series against Warren Central. BGHS senior right-hander Logan Johnson guided the Purples to a 12-1 victory over Franklin-Simpson last week, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Jack Cowan, a junior left-hander, is unbeaten in three decisions with an impressive 1.75 ERA.

Nathan Isenberg’s younger son, Colt Isenberg, has moved into the role as the Purples’ starting shortstop. Colt Isenberg is batting .400 with four extra-base hits and 13 RBI. Landon Gilbert, another senior pitcher/infielder, is batting .406 with five extra-base hits and 13 RBI. BGHS senior James Yarborough is the Purples’ starting catcher, and he’s batting .429 with eight RBI.

“We’d like for our pitching to be a little better,” Nathan Isenberg said, “but we’ve played a lot of good opponents. We faced a pitcher from University Heights who’s going to Indiana State, and a really good college prospect at Larue County.”

Drew Isenberg, Colt’s elder brother, is now playing at Rend Lake Community College in Illinois.

“This is a good group of guys, who play well together,” Nathan Isenberg said. “We’re still evaluating our pitching, and some other things, with two weeks to go before district.”