Jim Mashek

BGHS SQUARES SERIES WITH GATORS AT ONE GAME APIECE; JOHNSON HAD NO-HITTER INTACT WHEN POWER OUTAGE INTERVENED AFTER FIFTH INNING

Bowling Green High School’s eighth-ranked baseball team had one night to think about Game One of its critical KHSAA 14th District game against Greenwood on Wednesday night.

After a 48-hour delay because of severe weather concerns.

After the Gators put up a 5-spot, in the top of the first inning, before the Purples even had a chance to swing the bat on their home turf of Harold J. Stihl Field.

After processing the defeat, and taking the short trip up Scottsville Road to tangle with Greenwood, ranked No. 18, statewide, by Kentucky Sports Radio/On3.

“We just came out ready to play,” senior BGHS third baseman/pitcher Matt Mosley said after the Purples’ impressive 7-1 victory over the Gators at Corey Hart Ballpark/Aaron Fletcher Field in an elongated game on Thursday night.

(There was nearly an hourlong delay, after a blown transformer nearby caused the electricity to go out, with darkness approaching after the fifth inning.)

Bowling Green improved to 21-4 overall, and 3-1 in KHSAA 14th District play, while the Gators dropped to 14-9 and 2-2, respectively.

BGHS senior right-hander Logan Johnson showed great command over the first five innings, holding Greenwood hitless while recording five strikeouts. The Purples, meanwhile, had forged a 7-0 lead after the top of the third, when Mosley connected on GHS right-hander Mason Cosby’s first pitch, sending a towering blast over the left-field fence for a three-run home run.

It was Mosley’s team-leading fourth home run of the season, which accounts for half the team’s total in 25 games to date.

“We just did not put our best foot forward (Wednesday) night,” BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg said after it was over. “It was a stinker, to be honest with you … Our guys have responded all year.

“Matt’s been really hot, at the plate. A lot of our guys, on offense, are starting to get comfortable up there.”

That could be bad news for the rest of the KHSAA’s ultracompetitive 4th Region, but it’s loaded with other contenders such as Greenwood (16-9 overall, 7-3 in 4th Region play), defending champion South Warren (15-8-1, 11-1), Franklin-Simpson (15-9, 8-5), Logan County (14-11, 6-8) and Barren County (13-11, 5-5).

The Purples will take a break from competition and get back on the practice field before completing their 14th District schedule with a home-and-home series against South Warren, starting Monday at BGHS. The Gators, meanwhile, will travel to face Allen County-Scottsville (10-13 overall, 5-7 in 4th Region play) on Friday before their two-game district series against a young Warren Central squad (1-16, 0-10).

Greenwood will play host to the Dragons on Monday night at Corey Hart Ballpark/Aaron Fletcher Field.

The umpires were diligent on Thursday night with darkness approaching, calling for a postponement immediately after Bowling Green’s Logan Johnson retired Greenwood first baseman Ethan York on a pop fly to center field, completing the fifth inning.

The Gators could retreat to their indoor batting facility/locker room during the delay, but the Purples had to make do, with senior center fielder Hudson Nottmeier keeping things going with a spirited game of pepper near the Bowling Green dugout.

It seemed possible that both teams might have to leave the Greenwood facility, with baseball still to be played, as South Warren did in Game One of its home-and-home series with Warren Central on Tuesday night. But the lights and stadium scoreboard WOULD come back on, with BGHS head coach Nathan Isenberg and his pitching coach, Greg Scheer, having to make a decision about whether Logan Johnson should return to the mound after going five innings without allowing a hit.

Senior BGHS catcher James Yarbrough can take it from there.

“It would have taken a SWAT team to keep Logan from going back out there,” Yarbrough said with a grin, “and it DID take a SWAT team to keep Logan from going back out there.”

Isenberg and Scheer chose to play the percentages, with the big picture in mind, and the Purples’ Matt Mosley moved over from third base to complete the task at hand.

No problem.

Mosley surrendered a one-out single, a soft line drive to center field off that bat of Greenwood’s Sam Holder, before retiring the next two GHS batters he faced. In the seventh, the Gators’ Henry Justice ripped a double off the fence in left-center field, putting two base runners in scoring position. That’s when Mosley induced a ground ball from the Gators’ Griffin Veazey, bringing GHS senior Chaze Huff home from third base.

Huff, Justice and Holder accounted for the Gators’ three hits on the night.

Bowling Green infielder/pitcher Landon Gilbert went 3-for-3 against Greenwood pitchers Mason Cosby and Henry Justice, including a run-scoring triple on a line drive that skipped all the way to the fence in right field. Gilbert ranks eighth overall, statewide, with 37 hits on the season.

Gilbert leads the Purples in hits, batting average (.430), extra-base hits (17) and RBI (34). He’s also compiled a 2-0 record on the mound, in five appearances.

Bowling Green’s Logan Johnson earned his fourth victory, against a single defeat, while Greenwood’s Mason Cosby took his first loss in five decisions.

Bowling Green and Greenwood will now prepare for their stretch run of regular-season play, before the KHSAA 14th District Tournament begins in about three weeks at South Warren High School.

Buckle up.