Coming off a strong offensive performance in a 9-2 win over Paducah Tilghman on Thursday, the Warren East baseball team looked to keep its bats hot on Friday afternoon against Mason County at WKU’s Nick Denes Field.
The Raiders wouldn’t score nine runs, but they would record six hits on the day and strong outings from right fielder Ty Stringfield and left fielder Austin Hymer helped propel East (8-4 overall) to a 2-1 victory, marking its second-straight victory in its own Invitational.
“We had some good at bats tonight,” WE head coach Wes Sanford said. “I was pretty pleased with the at bats we had for the most part. We still aren’t playing like I want them to, but I guess I’m just picky. I feel like we need to be playing harder and more for each other.
Stringfield went 2-for-3 on the afternoon to go along with two RBI while Hymer also recorded two hits in three at bats. Both of the Raiders’ runs were courtesy of Hymer hitting a single and Stringfield sending him home with RBIs.
On the bump, Wagoner gave up four hits and one run while finishing with four strikeouts in 6 innings thrown.
“I threw pretty well,” Wagoner said. “I threw strikes – and that’s what you’re always trying to do on the mound – and let your defense work behind you.”
Mason County starter Nick Nelson went the distance and allowed 6 hits and two runs to go along with 7 strikeouts.
“We faced a pretty good guy on the mound and he attacked the zone pretty well,” Sanford stated. “It was good to see that we could handle a guy with velocity and not be over matched.”
The Royals opened the game with a leadoff single from Jantzen Smith while Jerran Jones followed with an RBI double to give County an early 1-0 lead. Warren East responded with two hits of its own in the bottom half of the first inning, beginning with Austin Hymer’s single before Ty Stringfield doubled to score the leadoff hitter and tie things at 1-1.
“Ty is a little banged up, and I was actually gonna rest him today, but I knew Ty could handle velocity pretty well, so I went with him and let him have his rest tomorrow,” Sanford added. “And it paid off. Ty hit that guy pretty well and handled him pretty good.”
It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth inning that another run would be added to the scoreboard.
Stringfield singled into right field with two outs and Hymer crossed the plate from third to put the Raiders up 2-1 – and that score remained the same for the remainder of the affair.
“It’s a good momentum builder for us,” Wagoner added. “We struggled a little bit last week (against South Warren), but baseball’s a game a game where you have to come out the next day and compete and do your best. That’s what we’ve done the last few days.”
Warren East now meets McLean County on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Nick Denes Field.
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