Looking to reclaim their district title that they won in 2015, Warren East halted South Warren’s undefeated district run by knocking off the top-seeded Lady Spartans 6-0 for the 2017 14th District Championship.
Bringing in huge momentum after an 11-0 win over bitter rival Greenwood on Tuesday evening, the Lady Raiders brought their flaming hot bats back to Penny Reece Field, quickly grabbing an early lead and leaving South Warren with no answers.
“Anytime you can score first, it helps the dugout kind of calm down a little bit,” said Warren East head coach Philip McKinney. “It was really big to get those two runs and get settled in.”
Lots of credit rested on the shoulders of sophomore pitcher Katie Gardner, who struck out 10 batters in the complete game shutout and slapping a two-run homer to give the Lady Raiders a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
“(Katie) did a good job of changing speeds and hitting her locations all night,” said McKinney. “If you miss your location against a lineup like South Warren’s, they’re really going to hurt you.”
“To be able to start off with a home run is amazing,” said Gardner. “I knew I had to help myself out a little bit. I think it made me a lot more confident on the mound as well, and everybody else just followed through.”
Against a tough Lady Raider defense, South Warren got runners into scoring position multiple times but could not capitalize on any opportunities.
In the top of the fourth inning, after the Lady Spartans replaced Karson Williams on the mound with WKU-commit Shelby Nunn, fellow Hilltopper-commit Kendall Smith crushed a two-run double to center field and Nicki Gibbs collected a two-run infield hit to blow the game open with Warren East leading 6-0.
South Warren threatened twice in the fifth and sixth innings by getting runners on second and third both innings, but Gardner managed to pitch her way out of the rut, ending both innings with strikeouts.
“Our hitting made me confident on the mound. If we wouldn’t have been hitting like we were, I probably would be a lot more nervous than I was,” said Gardner of East’s bats, which produced 10 hits on the night including six in the four-run fourth inning.
Of the 10 hits, two apiece came from the bats of Gardner and Kelsey Sparks. South Warren collected five hits on the evening, including two from Nunn.
“I’m very excited for the girls and the Warren East community,” said McKinney. “It means a lot to us, but we also have to keep in mind that we’re not quite done yet.”
With the district championship win under their belts, the focus for the Lady Raiders now shifts to the 4th Region Tournament, where they could likely face these same Lady Spartans once again.
“Working on hitting will probably be the most important part of preparation because our defense is already pretty solid,” said Gardner. “This game definitely gave us a ton of confidence.”
Warren East head coach Philip McKinney talks about the Lady Raiders' 6-0 District 14 Title Game win over top-seeded South Warren. pic.twitter.com/FHi9dhYJnR
— The Sporting Times (@sportingtimes) May 26, 2017
Warren East sophomore pitcher Katie Gardner talks about the Lady Raiders' win over South Warren in the 14th District Title Game. pic.twitter.com/Tl0gfnovyb
— The Sporting Times (@sportingtimes) May 26, 2017
—Follow Sporting Times Insider Clay Manlove on Twitter: @ctmanlove58—
