EAST’S COMER TAKES TOUGH LOSS IN DEFEAT
Greenwood High School’s baseball team was a wounded bunch after Monday night’s 12-0 defeat at the hands of Warren East, a resounding victory that allowed the Raiders to keep pace with Bowling Green in the KHSAA’s rugged 14th District.
The Gators made the short trip to Warren East on Tuesday, intent on getting back on track in their final district game.
Enter Greenwood sophomore Blake Marks.
The Gators’ 6-foot-4 right-hander guided Greenwood to a hard-fought, 4-3 victory over Warren East on Tuesday evening. Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers had sophomore Jake Russell heating up in the Gators’ bullpen in the seventh inning, but he clearly wanted Marks to finish the task at hand.
No problem.
Marks surrendered back-to-back singles to the Raiders’ Braylen Lee and Maddox Tarrance with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and for a moment it looked as though Warren East would score the tying run on Tarrance’s line drive inside the right-field line.
Greenwood’s Rhett Dysholm made a splendid play in getting the ball back in the infield, and pinch runner Dane Parsley put on the brakes after making the turn at third. Marks then retired the Raiders’ Colton Edwards on a routine fly ball, and the Gators could savor their first 14th District victory since April 14, outside two forfeits by Warren Central the following week.
Marks earned his third victory against a single defeat while Warren East starter Austin Comer took the loss. Greenwood improved to 15-9 overall and 4-4 in KHSAA 14th District games while the Raiders fell to 17-9 and 5-1 respectively.
“After the embarrassment of (Monday night’s) game, we wanted to come out and play better, give ourselves a chance to win,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said. “Blake struggled some at the beginning of the year, but his last three or four outings have been very good.
“We had total confidence in him, going into the seventh.”
Marks also batted fifth in the Gators’ lineup and drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning before igniting a rally with two outs in the fifth. Marks lined a single into right field before Gators teammates Ethan Groff and Cyler Talley followed suit, extending the Greenwood lead to 4-0.
Warren East stranded three base runners in scoring position in the first three innings, but the Raiders made it interesting with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Parsley scored on a wild pitch before back-to-back doubles off the bats of Warren East’s Drake Young and Wyatt Nesbitt made it 4-3. Marks struck out pinch hitter Ayden Barrick, however, to set up his seventh-inning heroics, also with two outs.
“It was definitely nerve-racking, at the end,” Marks said. “I started going with the fastball more in the seventh inning. I think they were kind of sitting on the slider.
“Our defense really did their job.”
No doubt about that, particularly Dysholm’s alert play on Tarrance’s line drive down the right-field line in the seventh. Warren East coach Wes Sanford said holding Parsley at third was the right move, with Colton Edwards coming to the plate for the Raiders.
“We didn’t want to take that chance, with a good stick coming up,” Sanford said.
Greenwood catcher Joseph Rahill has also been witness to Blake Marks’ improvement over the last month or so.
“I trust Blake. He throws strikes,” Rahill said. “This was a bounce-back game for us. For Blake to come in, and shut down a quality district opponent, should really help us.”
Greenwood will travel to Hopkinsville on Thursday to square off with University Heights Academy, before returning to Corey Hart Ballpark for Senior Night on Friday against Allen County-Scottsville.
Wyatt Nesbitt, Warren East’s junior catcher, finished the game 3-for-3 with two doubles and a sixth-inning RBI. Teammates Braylen Lee and Drake Young both had two hits.
Warren East, meanwhile, plays host to Barren County on Thursday before traveling to play the Owensboro Red Devils on Friday. Sanford is looking for a fast finish going into the 14th District tournament, which is two weeks away at South Warren High School.
“We’re running out of (regular-season) games,” Sanford said. “We’ve got to find a rhythm before we get to the district tournament.”
