RAIDERS, RUSSELL COUNTY TO SQUARE OFF IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Warren East High School’s Tanner Goad, a junior left-hander, was a mere four outs away from immortality on a damp, overcast afternoon at WKU’s Nick Denes Field.
Goad, intent on leading Warren East to the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament championship game, was four outs away from a perfect game on Wednesday in the Raiders’ tilt with the Clinton County Bulldogs.
B.J. Evans, the No. 9 hole hitter in the Clinton County lineup, delivered a high hopper over the pitcher’s mound with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Austin Comer, the Warren East shortstop, quickly moved into position to make the play. Comer fielded the ball in time to have a chance of retiring Evans at first base to end the inning.
No such luck.
Warren East first baseman Braylen Lee couldn’t come up with the throw in time, and Evans had reached safely on an infield hit. Pretty easy call for the official scorer, but there was a pause around the stadium just the same.
Goad retired the next four Bulldogs batters he faced, completing the one-hitter in a masterful 9-0 victory over Clinton County. The lopsided victory sends Warren East (24-13) into the 4th Region championship game against Russell County (27-7) on Thursday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
“It actually feels a little surreal,” Goad said on Wednesday night, a few hours after the Raiders packed their equipment to leave the stadium. “We’re this close, this close, to getting what our whole team has dreamed of, since we were playing in Little League.”
The Raiders will certainly take it.
“Today, Tanner was just locked in,” Warren East catcher Wyatt Nesbitt said. “He was throwing all strikes, one after another, in the bullpen. He was ready. He’s been waiting for this kind of opportunity.
“It was something special.”
The Bulldogs were in no position to disagree.
Goad needed just 74 pitches to finish the seven-inning complete game, and the Warren East southpaw did it his way, too. He didn’t strike out a single batter. Neither did he issue a single walk. But Goad did keep his infield busy, as he induced 15 ground balls, most of them routine plays for the Raiders to handle.
Goad earned his third victory of the season against a single defeat.
“The Goad kid did a good job. His off-speed stuff was really effective,” Clinton County coach Russell Baker said. “It’s been 12, 13 years since we won a game in regional play. (Clinton County edged 15th District champion Glasgow High School 2-1 in Monday’s quarterfinals.) I’m really proud of our boys. It’s the most successful two-year period in Clinton County baseball history.
“It was a well played game, well executed on both sides. Warren East is very good.”
Baker went with senior right-hander Blake Melton against the Raiders, and Melton threw plenty of strikes, too. But Warren East used a disciplined approach at the plate to grab a 5-0 lead in the second inning. The Raiders kept giving themselves chances to pad that lead, and in the sixth, they finally did with a 4-spot that brought Caleb Thrasher out of the Clinton County bullpen.
“I laid three eggs in a row,” Melton said, “and we just couldn’t capitalize on offense … They hit the ball well. Line drives. They hit it into the gaps. We’d heard from several coaches that (Goad) liked to throw the first-pitch fastball. So that was the approach we took. Aggressive, looking for something to hit.”
The “three eggs in a row,” interestingly enough, were innings in which the Bulldogs turned Warren East away without scoring. Melton, a charismatic young man with a full beard and a mullet that would make Billy Ray Cyrus jealous, also was a versatile guard for the Bulldogs’ basketball team.
Melton has signed with Lindsey Wilson College, to continue his baseball career, and the private school of about 2,200 students in Columbia, Kentucky, might want to brace themselves right about now.
But this was Tanner Goad’s Tour de Force, in an unconventional manner. And when it was over, and East teammates Wyatt Nesbitt and Colton Edwards stopped to speak with a reporter, Goad was seen running laps along the warning track, a force of habit for the Raiders’ pitchers.
“Tanner’s been pitching really well lately,” Warren East coach Wes Sanford said. “He showed us today, what he’s really capable of. We got a tough break on (Evans’ chopper for the infield hit), but he stayed out of hitter’s counts, and that’s what we wanted.”
Nesbitt said Goad might have had a three-ball count “two times, three tops,” over the course of the game, and when push came to shove … well, you get the idea.
“The infielders love when Tanner’s pitching,” Edwards said with a smile. “He’s going to get a lot of ground balls, and on a turf field, like here, you just have to stay alert on defense.”
The resounding victory wouldn’t have happened without steady offense, and the Raiders took care of business on that front, too.
Warren East’s Chase Carver and Braylen Lee had back-to-back triples in the first inning, and Lee added a run-scoring single in the second inning, too. Leadoff man Tray Price, the Raiders’ gifted three-sport athlete and speedy center fielder, had two hits, and Carver, Lee and Edwards followed suit.
Russell County, which will square off with Warren East on Thursday with a berth in the state tournament on the line, figures to be a taller challenge. The Lakers trounced Bowling Green 7-3 on Tuesday night, in a game that included a two-hour rain delay, pushing the Warren East-Clinton County game back to Wednesday.
That gives Russell County a significant logistical advantage, as senior left-hander Cody Luttrell will be available after working a couple innings in the Lakers’ victory over Bowling Green. Luttrell is 10-0 on the season with an otherworldly 0.37 ERA. He’s allowed just 28 hits in 56 2/3 innings pitched, while recording a team-high 116 strikeouts and only 10 walks.
Russell County coach Dave Rexroat has other capable arms in his bullpen, including Nick Aaron (3-1, 1.19 ERA) and Evan Hammond (2-1, 3.44 ERA). The Lakers hit for average and power, too, with Nathan Lawson leading the way with a .460 batting average, 12 home runs and 43 RBI, all team highs.
Lawson took a no-hitter against Bowling Green into the sixth inning on Tuesday night, but the Purples struck for three runs after a lengthy weather delay, bringing Luttrell out of the bullpen.
Which leads to the obvious question.
Who will be the Raiders’ starting pitcher, given that Tanner Goad and Chase Carver have worked extensive innings during the tournament.
“We’ll probably have to use everybody we have available,” East coach Wes Sanford said in a matter-of-fact tone. “That’s something we’ll talk about, as a coaching staff.”
Warren East will be playing in its first 4th Region championship game since 2011.
“We’re gonna have to be strong, mentally,” Raiders catcher Wyatt Nesbitt said. “Capitalize on the opportunities. Make something happen.”
