BOWLING GREEN FINISHES BANNER SEASON AT 34-6 OVERALL; MUSTANGS IMPROVE TO 32-8, HEADING INTO SATURDAY’s QUARTERFINALS
LEXINGTON — Bowling Green High School’s baseball team has struggled against left-handed pitching for much of the 2026 season, but this was something else entirely.
This was McCracken County’s Caden Kern putting up one zero after another.
Kern fired a three-hitter on Thursday afternoon as the Mustangs rolled past Bowling Green, 6-0, in first-round play of the KHSAA state tournament at Legends Field.
The Mustangs (32-8) will face either Johnson Central (32-8) or Lexington’s Sayre High School (26-9) in Saturday’s quarterfinal round, while the Purples close the door on a banner season with a 34-6 record.
Bowling Green slipped past crosstown rival Greenwood High School, 7-5, last week in the 4th Region championship game at WKU’s Nick Denes Field.
IN THE BOTTOM OF THE THIRD INNING.
REPLACED TEAMMATE LOGAN JOHNSON
ON THE MOUND IN THE FIFTH.
The Purples fell behind quickly against Kern and the Mustangs, and Bowling Green had just two runners reach third base over the course of the seven innings. McCracken County, meanwhile, collected 10 hits, four of them for extra bases, against BGHS pitchers Logan Johnson and Landon Gilbert.
Kern remained unbeaten in 10 decisions while Johnson, the BGHS starter, finished the season with a 7-3 record.
Veteran BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg and his players tipped their caps in the Mustangs’ direction before leaving the stadium for the bus ride back to Bowling Green. The Purples won 14 of their last 16 games.
“Hitting left-handers, that’s kind of been our Achilles heel all year,” Isenberg said. “(Kern) is good. He’s really good. We didn’t execute, a couple times, with the bunt, or on the bases … Hat’s off to their pitcher, their team. They win the (KHSAA) 1st Region just about every year. We knew what we were up against.”
The Mustangs grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, when nine-hole batter Brady Thompson lined a pitch from the Purples’ Logan Johnson into right field for a two-run single. McCracken County extended its lead to 3-0, in the bottom of the third, and the Mustangs struck for three more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Bowling Green’s Jack Cowan had a one-out double to the right-field corner, after the Purples’ Grayson Rodgers was thrown out trying to steal second base. BGHS shortstop Colt Isenberg was caught leaning in the top of the second inning, when Kern picked him off and Isenberg was retired in a rundown.
ADDRESSES HIS SQUAD AFTER
THURSDAY’s 6-0 DEFEAT IN
THE KHSAA STATE TOURNAMENT.
AND JAMES YARBROUGH, BOTH SENIORS,
PLAYED KEY ROLES IN THE PURPLES’
SUCCESS THIS SEASON.
BGHS seniors Hudson Nottmeier and Landon Gilbert had the other two hits for the Purples, both singles.
“We let ’em get a knockout punch early,” Nottmeier said. “McCracken’s a good team, we knew that goin’ in … I wouldn’t want to play baseball with anyone else.”
I’ll have complete coverage of the game, and a wrap on the Purples’ season, tomorrow at jimmashek.com. Tonight, I’ll be covering the No. 1-ranked South Warren High School softball team, and its first-round matchup against Oldham County at UK’s John Cropp Stadium.
Thanks for reading.
TO 32-8 WITH THE VICTORY;
BOWLING GREEN WOULD
FINISH ITS SEASON AT 34-6.
