{"id":11717,"date":"2024-04-17T14:34:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T14:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=11717"},"modified":"2024-04-18T01:19:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T01:19:14","slug":"gators-bite-back-greenwood-bats-come-alive-in-8-3-victory-over-bowling-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=11717","title":{"rendered":"GATORS BITE BACK\/Greenwood bats come alive in 8-3 victory over Bowling Green"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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GREENWOOD’s ANDREW JOLLY IS FLANKED
BY SENIOR CATCHER JAKE RUSSELL AND
INFIELDER\/PITCHER JAMES RUSSELL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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PURPLES’ WHITT: “THE MARGIN FOR ERROR, FOR US, IS SMALL’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bowling Green High School’s baseball team set the table for a successful run in its six-game journey in KHSAA 14th District regular-season play on Monday night, turning back homestanding Greenwood 4-2 at The Swamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gators made like the late, great John Belushi in “National Lampoon’s Animal House” in the rematch, solving the Purples pitching in the late innings while claiming a gritty 8-3 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food fight? Not quite. Just some hungry Gators, wielding the bats to square the two-game series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GREENWOOD’s ZACH DAVIS SCORES
IN THE TOP OF THE SEVENTH …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… BRINGING THE GATORS FANS TO THEIR FEET.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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“SEE IF YOU CAN GUESS, WHAT I AM NOW …”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… AND THE GATORS ENJOY
SOME POSTGAME HIJINKS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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“Once we got that first run on the board, the dugout came alive,” Greenwood pitcher\/infielder James Russell said. “When we got the lead, we didn’t think they’d be able to respond.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell saw to that, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning before closing the door on the Purples in the seventh. Greenwood, which improved to 15-4 overall and 1-1 in the 14th District,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowling Green, ranked third statewide by MaxPreps, dropped to 18-2 overall and also 1-1 in district play. When the skies got dark in the late innings — there was a random raindrop here and there, too — things got pretty gloomy for the Purples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our margin for error is small,” BGHS coach Adam Whitt said. “They beat us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EASTON TALLEY GAVE GREENWOOD
A SOLID START BEFORE YIELDING
TO CHAZE HUFF IN THE THIRD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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BOWLING GREEN EXCELS AT ‘SMALL BALL’ …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… BUT THE OMINIOUS SKIES CAME
WITH THE PURPLES’ STRUGGLES …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… AND GREENWOOD COMPLETED
THE TASK AT HAND, 8-3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Russell followed Greenwood teammates Easton Talley and Chaze Huff to the mound, inheriting a base runner with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Purples scratched out one run, on Reid Buser’s RBI single to left-center field, but that was it. They still trailed 4-3, with six outs with which to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell got the first three quickly, bringing the Gators to the plate in the top of the seventh. They loaded the bases with one out for cleanup hitter Andrew Jolly, a senior GHS first baseman\/pitcher. Jolly handcuffed the Purples’ Drew Isenberg with a hard grounder that skipped through the infield for a two-run single that pretty much put the issue to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenwood would add two more on Nathan Howard’s line-drive single to left field for good measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All of their three runs came after leadoff walks,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said. “Situational hitting has been a bit of an Achilles heel for us, but we put a lot of good swings on it. You have to take advantage of your opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We had some guys come through.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BGHS INFIELDER EVAN SCHALLERT GOT
HIS TEAM ON THE BOARD IN THE FIRST INNING.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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BGHS COACH ADAM WHITT:
‘IT’s HARD TO BEAT TWO 4-SPOTS.’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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GREENWOOD’s ANDREW JOLLY
DELIVERS A TWO-RUN SINGLE IN THE SEVENTH.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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THE PURPLES’ HARRISON YATES SCORES
ON A SACRIFICE FLY IN THE FOURTH.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The Purples’ Hudson Nottmeier brought one of those runs home on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth, staking Bowling Green to a 2-0 lead. Max Buchanon, the Purples’ starting pitcher, ran into quick trouble in the fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nathan Howard was hit by a pitch before the Gators’ Canon Jaggers lined a single to left field. Cyler Talley put down a perfect bunt along the first-base line, and the Purples had no play, leaving the bases loaded with no outs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenwood’s Reed McClard and Zach Davis lined back-to-back, run-scoring singles, bringing Jackson Idlett out of the BGHS bullpen. Idlett retired Rylan Graves on a fly ball to left field, but Drake Bowers walked to bring Talley across the plate, and Jolly brought another run home on a fielder’s choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a critical run, because the Purples nearly turned the double play to end the inning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We left the ball up (with some pitches), and that’s a good ballclub,” BGHS coach Adam Whitt said. “Give them all the credit. They hit their way to victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our offense hasn’t been able to bail our pitching out, not too many times, this season. It’s hard to beat two 4-spots.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One in the fifth, one in the seventh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowling Green will resume district play next week against South Warren (11-8, 2-0 in the KHSAA’s 14th District) while Greenwood will take on Warren Central (1-11, 0-2). The Spartans swept Warren Central in two games to take the early lead in the district race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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JASON JAGGERS’ GATORS
IMPROVED TO 15-4 OVERALL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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FANS FROM BOTH SIDES ALREADY
KNOW YOUR NAME, PIPER …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… AND SHE WAS A GOOD GIRL
WHILE I DID MY INTERVIEWS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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BOWLING GREEN AND GREENWOOD
ARE TWO TEAMS TO WATCH
IN THE KHSAA’s 4th REGION.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PURPLES’ WHITT: “THE MARGIN FOR ERROR, FOR US, IS SMALL’ Bowling Green High School’s baseball team set the table for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hsbaseball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11717"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11744,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11717\/revisions\/11744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}