EARNED HIS SEVENTH VICTORY
AGAINST TWO DEFEATS.
LOGAN JOHNSON, HENRY PHILLIPS GUIDE BGHS BACK TO STATE TOURNAMENT; PURPLES WILL FACE McCRACKEN COUNTY NEXT THURSDAY
There was plenty of time — for reflection, for accolades, for sportsmanship — after the Bowling Green High School baseball team finally punched its ticket to the KHSAA State Tournament next week in Lexington.
The Purples first would have to get past their crosstown rivals, a familiar foe known as the Greenwood Gators.
And the Gators would not be going down without a fight.
“I knew we’d have to be sharp,” BGHS head coach Nathan Isenberg said after this squad squeezed past the Gators, 7-5, on Wednesday night before an overflow crowd at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. “You always have to be, to win a region tournament …”
Bowling Green won for the 13th time in its last 14 games, improving to 34-5 on the season. The Purples will face perennial contender McCracken County in first-round play next Thursday at Lexington’s Legends Field.
BGHS INFIELDER LANDON GILBERT
TO END THE THIRD INNING.
BROUGHT A CAPACITY CROWD
TO WKU’s NICK DENES FIELD …
FROM THE SCHOOL’s FIRST STATE TITLE SINCE 1965.
Bowling Green understood the obstacle in front of them, and it was the fourth time the Purples would square off with Greenwood over the course of the 2026 season.
They split their two games during the regular season, with Bowling Green taking a 7-1 triumph at Greenwood’s Corey Hart Ballpark/Aaron Fletcher Field, a game suspended for about an hour because of a power outage in the area.
They’d tangle again, in the KHSAA 14th District Tournament, with the Gatahs rolling to a 10-1 victory at South Warren High School, a game that marked Greenwood’s third consecutive district championship.
It almost seemed inevitable, that they would play for the 4th Region title, but Franklin-Simpson proved to be quite the challenge for Greenwood in semifinal play on Tuesday night. The Gators would need a walk-off hit, an RBI single from senior pitcher/infielder Whitt Glosick, to slip past the Wildcats, 5-4, before another big crowd at The Nick.
Bowling Green fell behind quickly in its quarterfinal matchup against Barren County, before the Purples hit their stride to eliminate the Trojans, 6-2, in the first game of the tournament on Monday morning.
Ultimately, everything fell into place for a prime-time matchup at WKU. The winner goes to Lexington for the KHSAA state tournament, and the losing team packs its gear for the 2026-27 academic year.
The Purples never trailed, on Wednesday night, against Greenwood, although the Gators tied things up at 2 in the top of the fifth inning. Glosick led off the frame with a double to the left-field corner, and Greenwood had runners on the corners after senior catcher/infielder Griffin Veazey made contact for a soft line drive that fell in for a single to left-center field.
NINE HITS IN THE GAME, INCLUDING
FOUR THAT WENT FOR EXTRA BASES.
TAKES A POSTGAME PHOTO WITH HIS BIG BROTHER,
FORMER PURPLES STANDOUT TURNER NOTTMEIER.
HAS MADE MOST OF HIS STARTS IN THE OUTFIELD.
Greenwood’s Boston Howard was filling in for Veazey, behind the plate, while Veazey took Howard’s normal position at third base. Veazey was treated for an injury in the final inning or two in Tuesday night’s dramatic victory over Franklin-Simpson.
Howard chased Glosick home with an RBI grounder, and Greenwood’s Bryce Mangold belted a pinch-hit RBI single, a line drive to right-center field, to square things at two runs apiece.
Bowling Green right-hander Logan Johnson ran into trouble in the top of the sixth inning, too. Howard, a slender sophomore, unloaded a Johnson pitch over the head of BGHS center fielder Hudson Nottmeier, which fell for a two-run triple while trimming the Purples’ lead to 7-4.
That’s when veteran BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg made his move.
Isenberg went back to his eighth grade prodigy, Henry Phillips, to close the door on the Gatahs.
And Phillips delivered.
Greenwood’s Josiah Groff came through with a two-out double to right-center field, scoring Howard, and suddenly the Gators were down by just two runs.
No problem for the Purples.
Phillips gave up an infield hit to Greenwood’s Jackson Lee, with two outs in the top of the seventh, before slipping a called third strike past Greenwood slugger Henry Justice to end it. The Purples would improve to 34-5 on the season, while the Gators would bow out with an impressive 27-11 record.
IN THE HANDS OF EIGHTH GRADER HENRY PHILLIPS,
WHO EARNED THE SAVE IN IMPRESSIVE FASHION.
HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE IN FRONT OF HIM.
Isenberg was convinced Henry Phillips was ready for this sort of challenge. He closed the door on Barren County with two innings of solid relief on Monday.
“I talked to Henry about it beforehand,” Isenberg said. “He’s been solid, he’s never flinched, all season … He’s a big part of what we’ve done, defensively. He can play anywhere on the field …
“I expected a battle, and it was a battle. We ran the bases well, and we got the big hits when we needed them.”
Phillips admitted he was nervous, taking the mound on Wednesday night, but he said the same thing after taming Barren County on Monday.
Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers and his squad were gracious in defeat.
It’s not surprising, given that Bowling Green and Greenwood have held a memorial game, for the late Mason Goodnight over the last several seasons. As Greenwood’s Whitt Glosick said, “I’ve been teammates, and I’ve played against, these (BGHS) guys all my life … They’re my guys. I hope they go up there and win that thing.”
A 34-5 OVERALL RECORD INTO
THE KHSAA STATE TOURNAMENT …
THEIR SEASON AT 27-11 OVERALL.
STORMED ONTO THE FIELD
AFTER THE GAME’s FINAL OUT.
It won’t be easy for Jaggers to say good-bye to this GHS senior class, but he’ll return a solid nucleus to make another possible run in 2027.
“They’re a bunch of blue-collar workers,” Jaggers said. “They bring their lunchpail to work every day … They’re good kids, good teammates. They showed no quit tonight …
“I’m super proud of these kids.”
BGHS senior James Yarbrough, the undersized catcher and the Purples’ emotional leader, was named the tournament’s MVP. Yarbrough went 2-for-3 at the plate, with his designated ‘courtesy runner’ — Kip Walden, another BGHS eighth grader — scoring two of the Purples’ seven runs on the night.
Yarbrough handled the hard-throwing Logan Johnson for five innings and some change, and he helped coax Henry Phillips for the final few outs of the game.
“Logan comes out and throws strikes,” Yarbrough said. “He pumps it in the zone, and he lets the defense eat it up.”
Jackson Lee, Greenwood’s starting pitcher, kept his team in the game. But two errors in the bottom of the fifth inning would help the Purples put up a 5-spot, with BGHS sophomore shortstop Colt Isenberg closing the scoring with an RBI single into shallow left field.
As he did against Franklin-Simpson, GHS coach Jason Jaggers turned to hard-throwing senior Henry Justice to start the bottom of the fifth inning.
And as he did against Franklin-Simpson, Jaggers would move Jackson Lee back to the mound, and return Justice to the outfield, to get out of the fifth inning.
Lost in all of the twists and turns was BGHS senior Jack Cowan, a transfer from Greenwood, delivering two extra-base hits, including an RBI triple in the fourth.
Bowling Green was represented on the all-tournament team by Yarbrough, the MVP, along with Purples teammates Colt Isenberg, Hudson Nottmeier and Landon Gilbert. Greenwood’s all-tournament selections included senior pitcher/infielder Whitt Glosick, junior shortstop Kioshi Une and sophomore third baseman Boston Howard.
THEIR FOUR GAMES AGAINST GREENWOOD AT 2-2 …
TAKES A POSTGAME PHOTO WITH HIS BIG BROTHER,
REYN LAKE CC OUTFIELDER DREW ISENBERG.
AND PLENTY OF CAPABLE ARMS FOR
NEXT WEEK’s STATE TOURNAMENT.
IN COACH, I’M OBVIOUSLY READY TO PLAY …”