The Warren East baseball team used back-to-back offensive-powered innings to defeat LaRue County, 8-5, on Tuesday evening at Raider Ballpark.
Down 2-0 after the first inning, the Raiders (22-7) outscored LaRue County, 8-3, throughout the remaining six innings to complete the comeback and begin their final regular-season homestand on a positive note. Warren East outhit the Hawks 14-7 on the day.
“We felt confident that we could have good at-bats,” East coach Wes Sanford said about getting down early. “(Andrew) McWhorter struggled early, but once he settled in we were fine. We had a big inning there with Ty (Stringfield) hitting a homerun and Davion (Downey) hitting that laser to set-up Ty. Once those guys get going, it seems like everyone else rolls in there with them.”
Six different Raiders finished with multi-hit games while Stringfield tallied three RBI. Starting pitcher McWhorter pitched four innings, allowing three hits, three runs and two walks with four strikeouts. Downey relieved McWhorter and gave up two hits and a run with three strikeouts.
WE returns to action Thursday against Hopkinsville, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at Raider Ballpark. It’ll be Senior Night for the Raiders’ 10 seniors.
“Our last month-and-a-half has been pretty tough; it’s not like it’s been easy,” stated Sanford. “Playing Hopkinsville and Logan County and all of those teams this week will be good preparation for next week (in the District 14 Tournament). But I love those (seniors) and they work hard and we want them to go out with a bang.”
LaRue County jumped out to its early lead on a pair of RBI groundouts in the top of the first inning. McWhorter walked the first two batters he faced and then an East error put another runner on, setting up Derek Goode and Matheo Lynn, who earned the two RBI, respectively.
Trailing by a pair of runs, Ty Colson’s single scored Chauncey Greer and gave the Raiders their first run in the second. With Greer on second after reaching on a single, Colson connected on a line drive down the left field line to cut East’s deficit to 2-1.
Warren East used a four-run third to to take its first lead – and the lead for good. Downey doubled and Stringfield blasted a second-pitch two-run homerun over the left field wall to make it 3-2, just before Elkins doubled and Greer’s single plated courtesy runner Matt Alford. With two outs, Colson recorded another RBI single on a line drive to left, which scored Greer and increased the Raiders’ advantage to 5-2.
After the Hawks added a run on a groundout in the ensuing inning, East scored three times in the bottom half of the frame to take control. Stringfield recorded an RBI double while Ryan Hawks singled and Colson reached on an error to plate Stringfield and change the scoreboard to 8-3.
LaRue County would score twice more in the fifth and seventh, but it wouldn’t be enough for it to comeback on Warren East.
-Follow Sporting Times High School Insider Tyler Mansfield on Twitter @TheTMansfield–
