Everyone may have counted Warren Central out, but it sure didn’t.
“Nobody’s expecting us to win the game today … shock the world,” Warren Central senior DC Rigsby said of the Dragons’ mindset coming in. “Handle adversity as it comes and do what we can do about it – and that’s what we did today.”
A team with no district wins and seeded dead last, the Dragons played the underdog role perfectly – putting together an all-around impressive performance to upset fourth-seeded Warren East, 7-1, in the quarterfinals of the District 14 Baseball Tournament on Monday evening at Harold J. Stahl Field.
Central (9-20 overall, 1-2 District 14) – which earned its first district win since defeating Greenwood on May 23, 2016 in the district tournament – finished with 11 hits and did everything it needed to do in order to survive and advance and keep its season alive.
“It’s very, very big for our program,” Warren Central head coach Adam Biller said. “We’ve worked tremendously hard the past couple of weeks. Once our last district series ended, everything from that point on we told the guys was for this game right here – and the guys really bought in this last week.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. All the credit in the world to them.”
The Dragons trailed 1-0 after three complete innings before completely unloading in the fourth with seven runs on six hits and three walks. The offensive-powered frame gave Warren Central a 7-1 lead, and Warren East (15-22, 4-9) wouldn’t be able to overcome it.
DC Rigsby led the way for the Dragons with a 2-for-4, 2-RBI showing, while Jordan Miller finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. Defensively, WCHS starter Ethan Stephens – who has battled injuries all throughout his high school career – didn’t allow an earned run with just four hits and two walks while recording three strikeouts in a complete-game outing to keep the Raiders from getting anything going.
“I told coach before the game that I wanted this moment,” Stephens said. “I knew if he gave me the moment I was gonna go out there and give it my all. I’ve been waiting for this moment and I’ve been dreaming of it. I’ve had a few setbacks, and that’s only been pushing me further to get out there and do my best.”
With Warren Central’s win, it’ll now meet top-seeded Bowling Green – the tournament host – at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the district semifinals.
Warren East stuck first in the bottom of the first inning, scoring on a single from Sheldon Martin. With two outs and Louisville signee Ryan Hawks on after registering a single of his own and then stealing second base, Martin sent a hard ground ball into left field to send Hawks home and give the Raiders a 1-0 lead after a complete frame.
After a scoreless second and third, Warren Central caught fire in the top of the fourth.
“I told the guys that was a big inning for us,” Biller said. “We had a couple two-out hits, and that’s what we told them coming in; ‘We don’t have to be excellent in any phase of this game, but we’ve gotta be good.’ Offensively, the timely hitting had to be there – and it was tonight, especially in that inning.”
With the bases loaded after a pair of walks and a single by Miller, Rigsby laid down a single of his own to score a pair of runners, and Josh Hurt quickly followed up with another single to plate another run and suddenly put the Dragons up 3-1 with no outs.
Noah Thomas’ two-run double, a Stephens RBI sacrifice fly out and another single from Miller – this one scoring a run – gave Central a comfortable 7-1 advantage and dug Warren East into a deep hole.
“Putting that hit into right field and scoring the first two runs, I can’t explain it,” said an extremely happy Rigsby. “I could feel the energy on the field at that point.”
Trailing by six runs, the Raiders would never be able to string together timely hits and get back into it as the Dragons finished off the upset and moved into the next round.
“We’ve just tried to find that turning point. We’ve been running and running trying to get it,” said Stephens. “We’ve been working and it just hasn’t gone in our favor, but I feel like this might be our moment. We’ve gotta take advantage of it. Building off of this is where we turn it around.”
