Jim Mashek

BOWLING GREEN FACES RUSSELL COUNTY IN KHSAA 4th REGION SEMIFINALS TONIGHT

Bowling Green High School’s baseball team had either trailed or been tied up, all night.

But Logan County was teetering, to be sure, in the KHSAA 4th Region quarterfinals on Monday night at Harold J. Stahl Field. And the Purples kept grinding.

Both teams had trouble throwing strikes in this one, and since Bowling Green was the home team, the Purples had that ace up their sleeve.

Plus, the ace that trotted in from left field in the top of the third inning.

“It was a weird night, for all of us,” BGHS coach Nate Isenberg said. “We were both throwing our best arms, and no one seemed to be throwing strikes.”

Until the Purples loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

That’s when Grayson Newman, the sophomore BGHS outfielder, stepped to the plate, intent on sending the decisive run home from third.

Bowling Green used sturdy pitching and opportunistic offense to knock off Greenwood and South Warren, two teams with impressive records, in last week’s KHSAA 14th District Tournament at Warren Central High School. Pitching is likely to determine the winner of the 4th Region, and that’s why BGHS coach Nate Isenberg made a decisive move when Logan County struck for three runs in the top of the third inning.

“(BGHS assistant) Coach (Dan) Mosier said, ‘If nothing else, crowd the plate. You’re a tough guy, if he hits you, you can take it,'” Newman said after ripping on RBI single to deep right-center field, sending Evan Schallert home with the winning run in a dramatic 7-6 victory over the Cougars. “I saw (Logan center fielder Brady Hinton) drifting back, a little, and I was saying, ‘Get down, get down …'”

It got down, all right.

“Hello, Newman! …”

And the Purples came dancing out of their dugout — somebody cue up a little K.C. and the Sunshine Band, it’s Old School Night — as Bowling Green extended its winning streak to eight games with a 4th Region semifinal matchup at WKU’s Nick Denes Field on the horizon.

The Purples, who have won 14 of their last 15 games, will take a 21-11 overall record into the second semifinal game at The Nick on Tuesday night, a matchup with Russell County, the squad which eliminated Bowling Green last year at WKU on its way to finishing as a state tournament semifinalist.

Russell County (24-9) held off a late surge from Warren East to slip past the Raiders, 8-7, in its quarterfinal game at Russell Springs on Monday night. South Warren drubbed Franklin-Simpson, 7-0, on the Wildcats’ home turf, and the Spartans (24-9) will tangle with Barren County (14-17) in the first semifinal.

First pitch is at 5:30 p.m.

BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg wandered in front of the Purples’ dugout, in the top of the third.inming, when the Cougars struck for three runs.

That’s when he made the decisive move, in hopes of putting Bowling Green on the right track.

Well, kind of decisive.

Isenberg stepped forward, he stepped back. And then he made a purposeful walk to the pitcher’s mound. BGHS left-hander Drew Isenberg had struggled with the umpire’s strike zone, like pretty much everyone else, and the Cougars had two runners on base with no outs in the third.

Before long, they’d be leading 5-1.

That’s why Nate Isenberg had to put all his chips in the middle of the table, and bring BGHS senior left-hander Dillon Maners in to pitch from left field.

Nate Isenberg had hoped to have Maners available for a possible semifinal game against Russell County or Warren East — the Lakers defeated East, 8-7, on Monday night in Russell Springs — but the Cougars seemed poised to pounce, so to speak, and the Purples had to stop the bleeding.

“I came in cold (without warm-up pitches), which is never ideal,” Maners said. “But at this stage, it’s do-or-die … I never got into much of a rhythm, so I just had to battle through every at bat.”

That’s what he did.

After Logan County put up a 3-spot, in the top of the third, the Purples trailed 5-1. The Cougars’ starting pitcher, Chance Sweeney, had battled out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, allowing just one run, before cruising through the second.

“When you go up 5-1, that’s when you’ve got to throw up some zeroes,” Logan County coach Ethan Meguiar said when it was over. “It was almost like who wanted to give this one away. Lots of free passes, from both pitching staffs … I thought we battled, in the (batter’s) box, pretty well.

“We just had some missed opportunities.”

Logan County scored at least one run in each of the first four innings.

Then, nada. Zilch. Bupkus.

Dillon Maners wasn’t dealing, but he was finding a way. Getting it done. Keeping the Purples in the game.

And the BGHS bats were following suit.

In the bottom of the third, the Cougars’ Chance Sweeney put two men on base, via a walk and a hit batsmen, when BGHS junior first baseman Ethan Madison stepped to the plate.

Madison had an amazing at bat against Sweeney, fouling off one 1-2 pitch after another, before ripping a foul ball that rattled the Logan County dugout.

And that’s when a rabbit scurried onto the field, between the pitcher’s mound and home plate, before retreating to another nook or cranny of the Purples’ venerable ballpark.

Everyone on hand was amused, including Madison, who would load the bases with no outs on an infield single.

“I saw the rabbit, and started laughing a little bit,” Madison said. “But I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried to forget about it. I had to keep battling, living to see another pitch …

“There was no way (Sweeney) was going to strike me out.”

If nothing else, the rabbit’s cameo coincided with a turn in the game’s momentum.

BGHS catcher Dom Davis drew a bases-loaded walk — on the night, Davis walked four times, in as many trips to the plate — to close the gap to 5-2, before Sweeney retired the Purples’ Max Buchanon on a pop fly into foul territory.

Bowling Green’s Evan Schallert got enough of a Sweeney pitch to send a fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Grayson Newman from third. The Purples scored four runs before BGHS shortstop Ben Davenport was retired, at the plate, on a delayed double steal.

Most important, the game was tied.

“Winners always find a way,” Madison said.

That’s what the Purples did.

The Cougars’ Kade Wall delivered a one-out double off Maners in the top of the fourth, and he scored on a bases-loaded walk to put Logan County in front 6-5.

Bowling Green put up a single run of their own, in the bottom of the fourth, when Madison drilled an RBI double into left-center field, scoring Drew Isenberg to make it 6-all.

Then the chess match unfolded, and LCHS reliever Logan Gidcum matched the Purples’ Dillon Maners for a couple zeroes, before Bowling Green came to bat in the bottom of the seventh.

Evan Schallert, the BGHS designated hitter, was hit by a Gidcum pitch before Logan coach Ethan Meguiar turned to LCHS junior Davin Yates, moving him from third base to the pitcher’s mound.

Ben Davenport’s sacrifice got Schallert into scoring position, but Yates induced a pop fly from Luke Idlett, the Purples’ second baseman. Drew Isenberg and Maners both walked, loading the bases for Grayson Newman, the BGHS sophomore who rattles cages as a safety for the Purples’ football team in the fall.

Newman crushed a 1-1 pitch from Yates into deep right-center field, sending Schallert home and giving the Purples another night to pursue a berth in the state tournament next week at UK’s Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington.

If they get there, maybe they oughta find that rabbit for good luck. Take him for a ride to The Lex.