Jim Mashek

KHSAA DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS TO UNFOLD ON MONDAY

Bowling Green High School catcher/first baseman Ethan Madison delivered an impressive shot across the bow.

Actually, it was a three-run home run over the 25-foot wall in center field at the familiar Harold J. Stahl Field on the BGHS campus.

But fans on both sides of this high-profile, non-district baseball game were talking about it when it was over.

“That was a shot. They played well,” Warren East coach Wes Sanford said.

Madison’s teammates in the Bowling Green dugout, meanwhile, were pretty much in awe.

“That was a no doubter. It just kept going,” BGHS senior right-hander P.J. Henderson said.

“I think it’s still going,” Purples lefty Dillon Maners added.

Bowling Green used a prolific offense to build a big lead and survived a dismal top of the seventh inning on defense Wednesday night, holding on to defeat former district rival Warren East 10-6.

Warren East knocked off the Purples in last year’s KHSAA 14th District championship game, on its way to a 4th Region title game appearance against eventual state runner-up Russell Springs High School.

Sanford returned the bulk of that Warren East squad for the 2023 season, and the Raiders have lived up to the hype. They’ve compiled an impressive 23-7 record and Top 20 ranking in MaxPreps’ statewide rankings on the cusp of the postseason.

Madison’s big night at the plate included a two-run single to center field in the bottom of the second inning, and he finished the night 2-for-4 with five RBI. Henderson, who took over for BGHS starter Dillon Maners in the top of the third inning, was the winning pitcher.

The Purples won for the 10th time in their last 11 games — Bowling Green failed to solve Greenwood right-hander Zach Davis, in a 4-0 defeat on May 2 at GHS — while improving to 17-11 overall.

“It’s nice to see our bats produce,” BGHS coach Nate Isenberg said. “We knew there would be some bumps in the road, this season, and we thought our schedule would give us a chance to get better.

“You want to drive a nail in the coffin, when you’ve got a six- or seven-run lead. That last inning (when the Raiders capitalized on three BGHS errors, scoring five runs) … that’s what ulcers are made of.

“We’ve got to play better, defensively, obviously … but once we started playing more often (late in the season), who showed some progress.”

The Purples had another anxious moment when Maners, their ace left-hander, had to be treated on the field after an apparent injury hustling down the first-base line. Maners (5-2, 1.34 ERA) is the BGHS likely starting pitcher in next week’s KHSAA 14th District semifinal game against Greenwood (21-6 overall).

The winner of that game will automatically advance to the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament, at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. The losing team will have to pack its gear and get ready for summer baseball and fall sports for the 2023-24 academic year.

“You see what happened, with Dillon, and you want to put your kids in bubble wrap,” BGHS coach Nate Isenberg said with a sigh. “We hope it was just a cramp … We’ll get a look at him (Thursday).”

Maners, who also leads the Purples with an impressive .431 batting average, said he’s pretty confident it was nothing more than a cramp. Still, there’s a chance he won’t be in the lineup when Bowling Green hits the road to square off with the Glasgow Scotties (13-14 overall) at venerable Richardson Stadium.

(The city-owned stadium burned to the ground in an apparent electrical fire last summer in Glasgow.)

“I’m really confident, in this team,” BGHS junior infielder Ethan Madison said.

Maners, for one, can’t wait to pitch with his season on the line against Greenwood.

“I’m excited about it. I’m ready,” he said.

The Purples’ program held “Teacher Appreciation Night” on their home turf, with each player escorting one of the school’s instructors to the infield during a brief pre-game ceremony. The crowd had little chance to settle into their seats when Madison ripped a pitch from Warren East left-hander Tanner Goad for a three-run home run in the first, his third homer of the season.

“I’ve played travel ball with Tanner, and I know he has a really good curveball,” Madison said. “I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve faced him, in a game, but I was looking for a fastball. It was down and in, and when I hit it, it felt like a line drive …”

It was a line drive, all right, a line drive that kept rising, until the Raiders’ Tray Price could do little more than watch it sail over the 25-foot wall in center field.

It was a bad omen for the Raiders, who claimed the Kentucky Class 2A state championship on April 23, an impressive 4-2 victory over Harrison County in Owensboro.

Warren County coach Wes Sanford will take his squad back on the road Thursday night, when the Raiders tangle with Ohio County (16-13 overall).

“We’ve got Ohio County and then South Warren on Saturday,” Sanford said. “We’re just trying to fine tune some things. We played about as bad as we can, early on, tonight … We didn’t play real well yesterday (in a 3-2 victory over Franklin-Simpson). (Bowling Green) got a lot of free passes and scored five runs on three hits (in the first).

“Our offense is really struggling right now.”

The Raiders defeated Bowling Green, 5-3, on March 23 at the Warren East ballpark. In fact, they’ve won 16 of their last 18 games, overall, so forgive Sanford for grading on a curve.

Much like the Purples’ Nate Isenberg, who had to make an unexpected pitching change, going with his son, BGHS lefty Drew Isenberg, to get the final out of the game.

Bowling Green’s Dillon Maners was the winning pitcher while East left-hander Tanner Goad (5-2) took the loss.

“We’ve still got to go out and compete,” Maners said. “We’ve got high standards here, and we’ve got to hold ourselves to those standards.”

They’ll start playing for keeps on Monday, Bowling Green at Warren Central High School and the Raiders at Barren County. Stay tuned.