RAIDERS TAKE MOMENTUM INTO 4TH QUARTERFINALS
Spirits were high Saturday morning at the baseball/softball complex at Warren East High School.
Volunteers were cutting grass and tending to the grounds for the Raiders’ quarterfinal game on Monday evening in the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament. Warren East, the 14th District champion, will open regional play against Franklin-Simpson, on the Raiders’ home field, with the winner to advance to WKU’s Nick Denes Field for the semifinals on Tuesday.
Warren East (22-13) played Franklin-Simpson (19-15) twice during regular-season play, with both teams winning at their home field. Having the last at bat is a significant advantage, as veteran East coach Wes Sanford acknowledged after Saturday’s breezy workout, and the Raiders will be back on the field for a little while Sunday, just to get loose and take some batting practice.
And besides, if there’s one word to describe the Raiders these days, it’s loose.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum,” junior shortstop/pitcher Chase Carver said. “It’s a do-or-die mentality. We should have a good crowd, Monday night. We know the field. The conditions. Those kinds of things.”
That’s what a tense 4-3 victory over the Commonwealth’s fifth-ranked team, the Bowling Green Purples, will do for a squad. The Raiders’ Drake Young, a junior right-hander, turned in a clutch performance in Tuesday’s 14th District Tournament championship game, limiting Bowling Green to just one hit while striking out seven batters in four innings pitched.
“Our kids are having fun with it,” Sanford said. “They’ve had their final exams, they’re getting more rest. They’re looking forward to playing.”
Franklin-Simpson defeated Warren East in last year’s KHSAA 4th Region Tournament, taking a 2-1 victory on a walk-off, bases-loaded single from Cole Wix in the bottom of the ninth inning. Franklin-Simpson reached the championship game of the KHSAA 13th District Tournament last week, dropping a 7-6 decision to Logan County.
Logan County (23-9) will square off with 14th District runner-up Bowling Green on Monday evening in Russellville, with the winner to face either Russell County or Barren County in semifinal play Tuesday at Nick Denes Field.
If Warren East can knock off Franklin-Simpson, the Raiders will be paired against either Glasgow or Clinton County on Tuesday in the 14th District semifinals, also at WKU.
Warren East coach Wes Sanford said last year’s tense 2-1 loss at the hands of Franklin-Simpson should serve notice that the Raiders have their hands full. The players might be loose, 48 hours or so before first pitch on Monday evening, but Sanford believes they understand the stakes going forward.
They only get higher, with each victory along the way.
“Obviously, we have a lot to play for,” Sanford said. “Franklin-Simpson walked off on us, on a bloop single in the ninth inning … We’re very similar teams, this year, Franklin-Simpson and us. It’s going to be a tight game Monday, a tight situation.
“You just have to throw strikes, make the plays you can, defensively, and get timely hitting.”
Sanford is expected to start junior right-hander Chase Carver or senior right-hander Austin Comer against the Wildcats, who have one of the 4th Region’s premier individual talents, senior pitcher/infielder Dalton Fiveash. Fiveash, who swings from the left side of the plate, is batting an even .500 with seven home runs, 22 extra-base hits and 36 RBI, all team highs.
On the mound, Fiveash has gone 4-3 with one save in 10 games. He’s sporting a 1.83 ERA with 93 strikeouts — and just seven walks — in 53 2/3 innings. Other possibilities for the Wildcats are Cole Wix (2-4, 2.93 ERA) and Luke Richardson, the quarterback for the Franklin-Simpson football team. Richardson is 2-5 with a 2.02 ERA.
Franklin-Simpson coach Matt Willhite said Fiveash was injured on May 13, in a 3-2 loss to Ohio County in non-district play. Willhite said it would be a “game-time decision” on Fiveash’s availability, adding that he expects another competitive game.
“We’re done pretty good with our pitching,” Willhite said. “We’ve played 12 teams in the Top 25, so I think we’re prepared for this tournament. Wes has done a great job with his program and we’re looking forward to playing them.”
Saturday’s practice session at Warren East featured some windy conditions, and Carver said the wind is usually blowing toward right field.
“I would say it’s a hitter’s park,” Carver said. “The dirt is fast, the infield grass is pretty fast. The wind is usually going to right- or right-center field. We feel comfortable, confident playing here.
“We’ll be ready to play.”
Carver pitched a complete game in the Raiders’ 5-2 victory over Greenwood on Monday night in the KHSAA 14th Region semifinals.
Leadoff man Tray Price, the Raiders’ three-sport standout, has been swinging a hot bat of late. He’s batting .367 with 10 extra-base hits, 16 RBI and a team-high 35 runs scored. Price also has 16 stolen bases in 18 attempts, and Warren East, as a team, is active on the base paths. The Raiders have 79 stolen bases in 95 attempts, to go with their .300 team batting average and 10 home runs
“We’re feeling pretty good,” junior Raiders catcher Wyatt Nesbitt said. “Everybody’s ready to come to practice, school’s out. But we still have to go to work.
“We can’t let up on the gas.”
