Nate Cunningham’s pitches were working Monday evening – especially his curveball.
The junior left-hander had an impressive performance in Greenwood’s 3-1, series-opening win over Warren East, allowing just four hits and a run while tallying six strikeouts in six complete innings.
“He’s been our bulldog from the get-go,” Greenwood head coach Jason Jaggers said of his pitcher. “He did a great job. He worked out of a jam there late. He got behind too many hitters tonight, but he found a way to battle around that and really gave us the chance to win the game.”
Three of the four hits Cunningham allowed were singles with the other being a double. Of his 101 total pitches, 57 were strikes. The Raiders (16-6, 5-4 District 14), as whole, were out-hit 7-4 on the day while the loss snapped a two-game winning streak.
Dell Henk and Adam Schneller each went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Gators (14-12, 4-5 District 14), who secured their second-straight victory after defeating Portland, Tennessee 6-5 over the weekend.
“I thought we swung the bats pretty well,” Jaggers stated. “We had a couple of timely hits that we needed. We left some runners on base, but we did what we needed to do. I told the boys after the game that the type of game we played tonight is the type of game we’ll be playing in the end of May in the District Tournament.”
In its loss, Warren East was led by Ryan Hawks’ two-hit outing. The starting pitcher gave up seven hits and three runs while finishing with seven strikeouts in a complete game.
After a scoreless first inning, Greenwood’s bats came alive in the second.
“We came out aggressive,” Cunningham said. “I try to throw the same every night, but something we did tonight that we usually don’t do is come out hot – and you see how it works.”
John Hicks was walked and Connor Cline hit a double to set up Mac Ausbrooks, who connected on a pitch from Hawks for a double, which scored the two runners and made it 2-0.
Following three more scoreless frames, East plated their first run of the evening on Matt Alford’s RBI double to cut its deficit to just one. With Ty Stringfield and Hawks on, Alford’s shot into right field scored Stringfield, but Hawks was held up at third.
The Raiders wouldn’t be able to score any further throughout the remainder of the contest while Greenwood scored in the seventh on an East fielding error.
The two sides will meet for Game 2 of the slate Tuesday at 5 p.m. at South Warren High School, a part of a District 14 doubleheader. South Warren and Bowling Green will meet at the conclusion of East-Greenwood.
“I told the guys that tomorrow is a fresh start,” added Jaggers. “Warren East is a great team and they’ve got a great staff. Coach (Wes) Sanford is gonna have them ready to play. We’ve just gotta make sure that we come ready to play, too.”
-Follow Sporting Times High School Insider Tyler Mansfield on Twitter @CallMeMansfield–
