Similar to Tuesday’s 2-1, series-opening win, South Warren again edged Warren East on Wednesday evening with a 3-1 victory at Raider Ballpark.
In what was another pitching battle, the Spartans and pitcher Tyler Martin – who went the distance – held the Raiders to a single run for the second straight night and put together a nice offensive outing to come out on top and claim the series win.
“It’s a good feeling for us – 2-0 against them,” Martin said. “Not going to hold up Game 3, either. Gonna try and go 3-0 and try and win as many games as we can in the district without stopping.”
While Martin allowed just one run, he gave up only four hits to earn the District 14 win and help South Warren (11-3, 2-0) extend its winning streak to three games.
Offensively, the Spartans tallied six hits as Martin recorded two of them to go along with an RBI off a triple in the top of the sixth inning.
South Warren will look to sweep the series against Warren East (5-8, 0-2) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at South Warren Ballpark.
“We’re gonna have a tough game,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “I know they’ve got more pitching. Looking at statistics, they’ve got some more pitching and we’re gonna go down deeper in our staff. We’ve got more guys that need to step up and we’re gonna need a couple guys to step up for this third game.”
After Warren East pitcher Ryan Hawks – a Louisville commit and MLB Draft prospect who also threw a complete game – struck out the first three batters he faced, the Spartans delivered the first run in the third inning to break a scoreless contest.
“Give it to Hawks – he’s a heck of a pitcher and he’s got all kinds of stuff,” Martin said. “He’s hard to hit. Our guys put it in play tonight and did the things they could to get on base and it just worked out.”
With Caleb Lloyd on after reaching on a fielding error, AJ Isable singled into the outfield to score Lloyd and give South Warren a 1-0 lead. Sam Gage also singled following Isable’s hit, but the Spartans weren’t able to scratch another run across in the frame.
The Raiders responded in the ensuing inning and recorded their first run on Skyler Price’s RBI single to even the scoreboard at 1-all entering the fifth.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Spartans’ bats heated up in the sixth as Martin laid down his RBI triple and Adam Burns tacked on an RBI single to push South Warren’s advantage to 3-1.
Hawks doubled for East in the seventh, but the Raiders weren’t able to get anyone home and fell short.
“We’re playing in a lot of close games,” Warren East coach Wes Sanford said. “Eventually, we’re going to get some breaks. We’re gonna put some balls in play and we’re gonna find the right lineup and the right crew of guys that are gonna be able to put the ball in play and have consistent at-bats. Until then, I hope our pitchers can hold on.
“We’re leaving them out to dry really bad right now. They’re giving us everything they’ve got every night.”
