One season after falling short, South Warren flipped the switch and came out on top this time around.
Facing Franklin-Simpson – a team they lost 3-0 to this same time a year ago – in the quarterfinals of the Region 4 Tournament on Monday at Nick Denes Field, the Spartans put together an all-around outing and recorded a 2-0 shutout win to earn their revenge over the Wildcats and keep their season alive.
“We were out for blood with Franklin cause they knocked us out last year,” South Warren first baseman AJ Isable said. “We came out strong as always. Same mentality for the next game.”
South Warren (27-12), the District 14 runner-up, finished with eight hits and scored in the second and third innings to build its two-run lead and maintained it throughout the remainder of the contest.
“They did the game plan pretty well,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “They went up there hacking and put the ball in play and did the game plan pretty well.”
While the Spartans’ bats were alive, Franklin-Simpson (20-19) – the District 13 champion – could never get into an offensive rhythm and were limited to just one hit by South Warren starting pitcher Tyler Martin.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Franklin-Simpson coach Kyle Gammons said of Martin. “He throws so many breaking balls and he sets you up well with it. He really located today when he went with his fastball. He did a really good job against our bigger hitters. It just definitely wasn’t our day at the plate today.”
SWHS now advances to the regional semifinals and will face District 15 champion Allen County-Scottsville at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
SWHS – 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 – 2
FSHS – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0
WP: Martin. LP: Fiveash.
