ADDRESSES HIS SQUAD AFTER
TUESDAY’s 4-1 VICTORY OVER SOUTH.
BOWLING GREEN’s JACK COWAN, LANDON GILBERT SHINE ON THE MOUND; PURPLES COMPLETE TWO-GAME SWEEP OF SOUTH
There were plenty of variables for the 10th-ranked Bowling Green High School baseball team on Tuesday night, when the Purples closed their six-game district schedule with a trip down Nashville Road to tangle with South Warren.
The Spartans are the defending KHSAA 4th Region champion, and they’ve made the June journey to Lexington twice in the last three years, reaching the Elite Eight before being eliminated by McCracken County, 9-4, in quarterfinal play at UK’s Kentucky Pride Park.
Bowling Green has loomed as the team to beat in the KHSAA’s ultracompetitive 14th District for months, and the Purples have done a solid job handling those expectations. Baseball’s a game “with so much adversity,” as veteran BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg puts it, and the Purples have stayed the course in clinching the No. 1 seed for the 14th District Tournament that begins in less than two weeks at South Warren High School.
Bowling Green 4, South Warren 2.
Bowling Green improved to 23-4 overall while finishing district play with a 5-1 league record. The Spartans dropped to 16-12-1 and 3-3, respectively.
STRUCK OUT SEVEN BATTERS
WHILE EARNING THE WIN.
LEADS HIS TEAM WITH FIVE HOME RUNS.
HAS GIVEN HIS TEAM PLENTY
OF STABILITY BEHIND THE PLATE …
The Purples outscored South by just three runs in the two games of the series, striking first on Logan Johnson’s pitching effort in a 1-0 victory over the Spartans on Monday night at Harold J. Stihl Field. In Tuesday’s game, Bowling Green built a 3-1 lead over the first five innings before lightning in the area forced a 40-minute delay at the South Warren Ballpark.
It was yet another mental obstacle the Purples seemed to handle with style.
“I think our guys handled the mental part pretty well,” Isenberg said. “To beat these guys, at their place, that’s always a tough task.”
Bowling Green will now face a young Warren Central squad in semifinal play of the tournament, while South Warren and Greenwood, both also ranked by MaxPreps and Kentucky Sports Radio/On3, in the dreaded 2-vs.-3 knockout game on May 18.
“We always seem to be the Number 2 or 3 seed,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said.
A strong 10- to 15-mph wind was blowing toward left-center field in the game’s first five innings, but after the weather delay, it was a still, damp air that hovered over the field.
Bowling Green third baseman Matt Mosley, a transfer from South Warren, got the Purples on the board with a towering two-run home run to left-center field in the top of the second inning.
“The way the wind was blowing, I just tried to hit it hard,” Mosley said. “I thought I’d have a shot at getting it out …”
It was Mosley’s team-high fifth home run of the season.
AND 11-2 AGAINST THE KHSAA’s 4th REGION.
HAS MADE THE TRANSITION FROM
THIRD BASE TO SHORTSTOP.
HIT HIS THIRD HOME RUN OF THE SEASON
WITH TWO OUTS IN THE SEVENTH INNING.
One of the keys to the Purples’ success has been their pitching depth. BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg and his first-year pitching coach, Greg Scheer, decided to go with senior left-hander Jack Cowan in Game Two against South Warren. Cowan, who is headed to Nashville’s Belmont College on a baseball scholarship, breezed through the first two innings before running into trouble in the bottom of the third.
“I just tried to throw strikes, let my defense do most of the work,” Cowan said.
South Warren’s Crider Yarbrough, a freshman third baseman, delivered a line-drive single that was fielded cleanly off the base of the fence by Purples left fielder Henry Phillips, a middle schooler still attending Bowling Green Junior High. That put two runners on with no outs, but Cowan made the play on a bunt attempt by South’s Tucker Sears, before doubling off Cole Kouzma at second base for the second out of the inning.
South Warren’s Justin Capps then draw a walk, putting runners on the corners with two outs, before teammate Brandon “Junior” Perkins lined a single into left-center field, bringing Yarbrough across the plate. Capps tried to take the extra base on the play, however, and BGHS catcher James Yarbrough threw him out at third to end the inning.
“Jack Cowan pitched really well, and we played solid defense behind him,” BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg said.
IS FLANKED BY FELLOW BGHS SENIORS
LANDON GILBERT (LEFT) AND JACK COWAN.
IS PLANNING TO RETIRE AFTER
THE 2025-26 SCHOOL YEAR.
HITS THE BRAKES ROUNDING THIRD BASE.
CAN PLAY IN BOTH THE INFIELD AND THE OUTFIELD.
Isenberg made the move from Cowan to reliever Landon Gilbert just as play was being suspended for weather, and Gilbert retired four consecutive batters until South Warren’s Crider Yarbrough hit a solo home run to left field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Gilbert then retired pinch hitter Grayson Quillen on a ground ball to end the game.
Cowan earned his fifth victory in six decisions, while striking out seven batters and allowing three walks. Junior right-hander Noah Rowland took the loss for the Spartans, falling to 1-3 on the season.
Both squads will face challenging schedules for the rest of this week.
Bowling Green plays host to Franklin-Simpson (17-10 overall) on Thursday, before facing traditional power Russell County (10-18) on Friday. Then the Purples will travel to a three-team tournament at Muhlenberg County, with games against Muhlenberg (11-8) and Daviess County (3-18) on Saturday.
South Warren, meanwhile, will play three games in two days at the Eli Hill Tournament in Corbin.
The Spartans will face a stout Madison Central squad (18-9 overall) on Friday, followed by games against Corbin (14-13) and Somerset (12-18) on Saturday.
EIGHT OF ITS LAST 10 GAMES.
IS SPORTING A 5-1 RECORD WITH
36 STRIKEOUTS IN 24 INNINGS PITCHED.
THE DUGOUT … YOU BETCHA!