South Warren used a dominant offense to win last week’s District 14 series against Warren East, and that ended up being the case again this week.
Hosting Bowling Green on Thursday in the rubber match of an important three-game set, the Spartans racked up six hits and rolled to a 7-0 shutout win to capture its second series in as many weeks and put themselves in a good spot in the district standings.
“This might be the biggest game of the year if we take care of business down the road,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “It’s going to be difficult. We still have Greenwood and (Warren) Central to go, but early in the year that’s as big of a game as it can be.”
Trent Rice led South Warren (7-7 overall, 4-2 District 14) by going a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with three RBI, while Zack Beckner added a hit and two RBI as four different Spartans finished with hits. Tyler Martin started on the mound and threw a complete game shutout with four strikeouts and allowed just four hits.
“Looking at district, big win,” Martin said. “Getting two of the best teams out of the way and getting those series won. My arm felt good tonight. I felt loose, relaxed and pitched a good game. I feel like we have a good roll going. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
South scored the first run of the evening on Jacob Lacey’s RBI single in the bottom of the second inning before using a five-run third — highlighted by Rice’s three-run home run — to build a 6-0 lead and put Bowling Green (6-7, 1-2) in a hole early.
Will Garske led the way for the Purples — who were without Eli Thurman, who went 3-for-3 with three RBI in Tuesday’s series opener due to a concussion — by going 2-for-3.
“It’s your guy that’s been making your offense go. He can change things so quickly,” Bowling Green coach Matt Myers said of Thurman. “But, (South Warren) did a good job of taking advantage of the opportunities that they had. They seemed to find a way to get the big hit. They’re an older team — they’re an aggressive team.”
After Trevor Dennis took South Warren down in order in the first, the Spartans got their offense going in the ensuing frame.
With Martin on after being hit by a pitch, Lacey singled into right field to score his predecessor and gave South a 1-0 lead. The Spartans had another pair reach following Lacey’s hit, but Dennis and the Bowling Green defense left them stranded.
South Warren’s offensive success in the second carried over into the third.
“We’re facing premium arms,” Gage said. “Bowling Green has the most arms in the district.”
Behind four hits — including the three-run home run from Rice — the Spartans racked up five runs in the frame to push their advantage to 6-0. Beckner singled to score Sam Gage, who led off with a double, before Drew Gregory used a single of his own to plate Hunter Evans.
With a pair on and two outs, Rice sent a pitch over the right field wall to empty the bases and put South Warren in a comfortable spot.
“We had Tyler throwing great on the mound and I just kind of had to get behind him,” Rice said. “That hit right there helped out a lot. Whenever I hit it, it felt good off the bat. Going into right, I kept watching it and it finally crossed the fence I was like, ‘It’s about time it happened.'”
The Spartans added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth on Beckner’s sacrifice fly that sent Clay Nohel home, and they were able to stay in front from there and earn a marquee series victory.
South Warren will face a quick turnaround, as it hosts the South Warren Invitational on Friday and Saturday at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. The Spartans will first face Madison Central — the state’s fifth ranked team — at 6 p.m. Friday before taking on Sayre and Bardstown on Saturday.
“Huge,” Gage said of how big the series win was for his team’s confidence. “We didn’t know exactly what we were gonna have this year. We lost some seniors, and we knew we had some talent. The defense was a little shaky last night, but we rebounded tonight.”
–Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TMansfieldST.–
