After a pair of tightly contested contests in the first two games of the series, the Warren East baseball team used 
costly Greenwood mistakes and did away with its hitting slump to win 14-3 on Wednesday evening at Corey Hart Ballpark.
The Raiders (18-6, 7-4 District 14) used seven hits to score seven of their runs while the other half came courtesy of four bases-loaded walks, a two-run error and a wild pitch.
“We obviously wanted to win all three, but that didn’t happen as we didn’t do on our job on Monday and Greenwood played really well. We took advantage of a lot of mistakes by (Greenwood) – the walks really hurt them a lot. To capitalize when we had guys in scoring position was nice to see.”
Greenwood (14-14, 4-7 District 14) was forced to go deep into its bullpen, using six different pitchers throughout the course of the game. Starter Parker Farley was pulled after allowing five runs in the top of the first inning with two bases-loaded walks and the wild pitch.
Colton Jones stayed on the mound the longest for the Gators, throwing 1.67 innings. He allowed two runs and two hits with one strikeout on 33 pitches during that time.
Of its seven hits, Warren East had seven different players record one. Baylor signee Davion Downey, who blasted a two-run homerun in the top of the eighth inning to give the Raiders their Game 2 win on Tuesday, recorded a grand slam in the third to tally four RBI on the night.
Baseball: Davion Downey's grand slam increases Warren East's lead to 11-0 over Greenwood entering Bot. 3rd. He totally crushed that ball. pic.twitter.com/qS1i5E2rmt
— Tyler Mansfield (@ByMansfield) May 3, 2017
“The hit felt pretty good,” said Downey. “I took my hands to the ball and drove it.”
East starter Clay Wagoner went the full five innings, giving up three runs – all unearned – on five hits while finishing with five Ks. The victory improved the Freed-Hardeman signee’s record to 4-2 on the year.
“I threw pretty well, just tried to pound the strike zone,” Wagoner said. “One of my goals every time I come out on the mound is to give my team a chance to win. That’s one of my goals every game – the other is to gain the respect from the other teams.”
The Raiders added to their 5-0 lead behind a six-run third inning. Chauncey Greer and Dakota Basham each crossed the plate on bases-loaded walks before Downey sent his bases-clearing shot over the wall in right center to make it 11-1.
“You feel bad for the kids over there that were walking us, but you know, we’re trying to hit and we’re trying to win,” Sanford stated. “Our kids were patient and realized that they were struggling and instead of coming out and swinging at everything, they stayed patient and looked for balls in the zone.”
Greenwood responded with three runs of its own in the ensuing frame, as Ryan Wheeler reached on an error to score Mac Ausbrooks and Addison Harris got a two-run RBI double.
However, the Gators still trailed by eight and wouldn’t be able to add to their side of the scoreboard again.
Warren East tacked on three runs in the fifth to seal the deal. Austin Hymer’s RBI double and Wagoner and Colson Elkins’ RBI singles helped conclude a powerful offensive affair for the Raiders.
Greenwood returns to action Friday at 7 p.m. as it hosts Barren County while East and South Warren meet Monday at 5:30 p.m. at South Warren Ballpark for a makeup game from their March series.
“We’re just getting closer to the District Tournament,” Wagoner added. “We’ve got some good opponents coming through and we’re just gonna play our best and try and do what we’ve done most of the year so far. Just swing the bats and throw the ball right.”
-Follow Sporting Times High School Insider Tyler Mansfield on Twitter @CallMeMansfield–
