{"id":20883,"date":"2026-04-21T19:41:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=20883"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:37:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:37:59","slug":"southside-hustlers-south-warren-erases-5-0-deficit-in-the-fifth-claims-7-5-victory-over-greenwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=20883","title":{"rendered":"SOUTHSIDE HUSTLERS\/South Warren erases 5-0 deficit in the fifth, claims 7-5 victory over Greenwood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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SOUTH WARREN SHORTSTOP CAMDEN PAGE
DELIVERS A TWO-OUT, TWO-RUN DOUBLE
TO LEFT-CENTER FIELD IN THE TOP OF THE FIFTH.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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GATORS LOOK FOR THE EQUALIZER ON TUESDAY; SPARTANS AIM TO PUT ROUGH STRETCH BEHIND THEM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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South Warren outfielder Jaxen Decker cast a look at the scoreboard, as darkness surrounded Greenwood’s Corey Hart Ballpark\/Fletcher Field on Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spartans had just produced one of their patented comeback moves, erasing a five-run deficit in the top of the fifth inning on their way to an impressive 7-5 victory over the Gators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decker scored the winning run in last year’s KHSAA 4th Region championship game at WKU’s Nick Denes Field, when the Spartans overcame — on the surface, at least coincidentally — a 5-0 deficit in a memorable 8-7 victory over Warren East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Camden Page’s bases-loaded walk brought home the winning run that night, and on Monday, it was Page’s two-run double that fueled another improbable comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s South Warren baseball,” Decker said. “It’s in our blood … It’s the tie that binds.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Warren, which had lost three of its previous four games, opened their KHSAA 14th District schedule in style. The Spartans (10-7 overall) will play host to Greenwood (13-7) in Game 2 of the home-and-home series on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First pitch is at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Page, one of the Spartans’ multi-sport standouts, made the move from third base to shortstop after Griffin Rardin, their all-state shortstop, made the move to the college ranks. Rardin is having a strong season at Shelton State (Alabama) Community College this year, and he’s made his verbal commitment to the University of Alabama for the 2026-27 academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Being around Griff, the last couple years, has really helped me,” Page said. “But we started having big comebacks when we were playing middle school ball …”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH WARREN’s CAMDEN PAGE IS FLANKED
BY SENIOR OUTIELDER JAX DECKER (LEFT) AND
JUNIOR CATCHER TUCKER SEARS.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SENIOR RELIEVER OWEN PERKINS
RECORDED FIVE STRIKEOUTS
WHILE EARNING THE VICTORY.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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GREENWOOD CATCHER GRIFFIN VEAZEY AND
THE GATORS LOOK FOR THE EQUALIZER
IN GAME TWO ON TUESDAY NIGHT.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH WARREN OUTFIELDER JAX DECKER
HAD A LATE START RECOVERING
FROM BASKETBALL INJURIES.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH WARREN’s CHRIS GAGE
AND HIS COACHING STAFF HAD
PLENTY OF GROUND TO COVER
AFTER MONDAY’s 7-5 VICTORY.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Greenwood did virtually everything right in building a 5-0 lead through the first four innings. The Gators were precise in the short game, advancing runners and getting the leadoff man on base. Starting pitcher Whit Glossick, a senior right-hander, was dealing for the Gatahs, and his teammates were holding up their end in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We had to remind our kids that we’ve been able to do this,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “And, hard as it may be, it’s kind of who we are … (We) don’t have the time to panic. Put some good (at bats) together, put the ball in play …”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spartans failed to get a base runner to third in the opening four innings. There was a successful pickoff attempt, and other base running blunders. But they looked like a different team, with the game on the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I don’t know how we pull off some of these Houdini acts,” Gage said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior DH Cole Kuzma was hit by a Glossick pitch, to open the fifth, before Tucker Sears, South’s junior catcher, ripped a double to the left-field corner. That turned the lineup over, for the Spartans, and junior outfielder Justin Capps got his team on the board with an RBI single through the left side of the infield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glossick recorded a critical out against South’s versatile junior outfielder, Brandon ‘Junior’ Perkins, for the second out of the inning, and Page, the Spartans’ football\/baseball star, stepped to the plate before working the count full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Page would hammer a two-run double to the base of the fence in left-center field, and suddenly it was 5-3, and the Spartans smelled blood in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second baseman Alex Miller singled up the middle, scoring Page from second base, and South teammate Tanner King followed suit, lining Glossick pitch into right-center field for another single. Senior outfielder Jax Decker, a basketball\/baseball athlete in his final few weeks at South Warren, was able to put the ball in play, and the Spartans would score two runs on a Greenwood error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the inning that wouldn’t end for the Gators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenwood actually threatened in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with no outs on three consecutive walks. Senior right-hander Owen Perkins replaced Spartans teammate Noah Roland on the mound, at that point, and Perkins slipped a called third strike past the Gators’ John Kincaid before pinch hitter Bryce Mangold grounded into a flashy 5-2-3 double play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GREENWOOD BOLTED TO A 4-0 LEAD OVER
THE COURSE OF THE FIRST TWO INNINGS.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH’s CHRIS GAGE NEEDED
THREE PITCHERS TO COMPLETE
THE TASK AT HAND.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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THE GATORS’ BRUCE MANGOLD CHASES
OWEN PERKINS’ FIRST PITCH IN
THE BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH …<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… BUT CRIDER YARBROUGH FIELDED IT CLEANLY,
FIRING THE BALL TO SOUTH’s TUCKER SEARS …<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… AND SEARS QUICKLY TURNED
THE DOUBLE PLAY, DENYING
THE GATORS IN THE FIFTH.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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South’s Tucker Sears made that play happen, behind the plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a fastball, a check swing, and we made the play,” Sears said. “‘Perk’ brings the energy, he brings it every time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owen Perkins recorded four strikeouts, in the final two innings, and the Spartans finished the task at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was kind of the ‘best of games, the worst of games,’ walking their guys there,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “You’ve got all the momentum in the world, and then … we had a lot of guys come through in the end.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenwood’s Chaz Huff went 2-for-3 with two run-scoring singles. Jackson Lee, the Gators’ leadoff man, reached safely on all four of his at bats, and he finished the game on the mound for GHS coach Jason Jaggers’ squad. Greenwood shortstop Keoshi Une was ejected in the second inning, in protest of an umpire’s call, but the Gators’ Boston Howard filled in admirably and collected two hits, both singles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior right-hander Mason Cosby, who has gone 5-0 without allowing an earned run this season, is expected to be the Gators’ starting pitcher. Gage said he would likely counter with junior right-hander Noah Rowland, who threw about 20 pitches on Monday night, or sophomore left-hander Tanner King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GREENWOOD IS EXPECTED TO TURN
TO RIGHT-HANDER MASON CROSBY FOR
TUESDAY’s GAME GAINST THE SPARTANS.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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THE GATORS ARE A SOLID
OFFENSIVE SQUAD WITH
A .322 TEAM BATTING AVERAGE.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH WARREN’s ALEX MILLER
HAD A CLUTCH RBI SINGLE
IN THE TOP OF THE FIFTH.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH’s COLE KUZMA SCORES
IN THE SIX-RUN FIFTH INNING …<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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… AND SOUTH WARREN COMPLETED
THE TASK AT HAND, DEFENSIVELY.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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in the other KHSAA 14th District game, Bowling Green High School (16-1 overall), rolled past Warren Central, 23-0, in four innings. BGHS is ranked third, statewide, by MaxPreps, while Greenwood checks in at No. 15. Several BGHS players arrived at Corey Hart Ballpark to catch the final couple innings on Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South outfielder Jax Decker, meanwhile, was a little philosophical about it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When you get down to two strikes,” he said, “you’ve just got shorten your swing and put the ball in play …”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday night, when it counted, the Spartans did just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EX-SOUTH INFIELDER MATT MOSLEY (No. 9)
AND SOME BOWLING GREEN TEAMMATES
CAUGHT THE GAME’s CONCLUSION …<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH WARREN’s DYLAN MARR
DELIVERS A PINCH-HIT DOUBLE
IN THE TOP OF THE FIFTH INNING.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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SOUTH’s CHRIS GAGE INQUIRED ABOUT
PIPER … SHE’s LIVIN’ THE DREAM, OBVIOUSLY.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GATORS LOOK FOR THE EQUALIZER ON TUESDAY; SPARTANS AIM TO PUT ROUGH STRETCH BEHIND THEM South Warren outfielder Jaxen Decker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15,14,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hsbaseball","category-hsbasketball","category-hsfootball","category-potpourri"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20883","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=20883"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20931,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20883\/revisions\/20931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}