Bowling Green second baseman Ethan Wilson prepares to tag out South Warren's Trey Kirtley during Bowling Green's 2-0 win over South Warren in the Region 4 championship on Friday, June 1, 2016, at Nick Denes Field. (Austin Anthony / photo@bgdailynews.com)

Through all the record-breaking seasons and players who left their mark, a state tournament berth had eluded the Bowling Green baseball team for nearly a decade.

The Purples are headed back to the big stage with their first region championship since 2007.

Bowling Green (31-9) made the most of limited offense and shut down South Warren on the mound Wednesday, finishing off a 2-0 victory in the Region 4 Baseball Tournament title game at Western Kentucky University’s Nick Denes Field.

“It’s nice to get a gold one instead of a silver one,” BG coach Dan Mosier said. “We talked about that. We finished second in this thing three times in the last five years, and we set the goal to win this thing from day one when we started practice.

“We came up here not hoping to win, but expecting to win, and I think that was the difference.”

Most of the Purples were 9 years old or younger the last time the program claimed the Region 4 crown.

Bowling Green had fallen in four region championship games since that last title, including losses to South Warren in 2012 and 2015.

With that slide now in the past, BG will face Region 12 champion West Jessamine at 7:30 p.m. CDT June 9 in the first round of the state tournament at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington.

“We finally did it,” senior second baseman Ethan Wilson said. “It’s what we’ve been working for, for four years to do, and we finally got it done.”

South Warren actually outhit Bowling Green 3-2 and committed one less error, but the Purples managed two runs in the third inning and rode the strong pitching of senior ace Stuart Posey.

The Spartans (29-10-1) were chasing their third straight region title and their fourth in the last five years.

SWHS coach Chris Gage praised Posey and shared his excitement for Mosier, as the two go back to Gage’s playing days at WKU. But Gage also hinted at some disappointment with some calls in the game, including during BG’s two-run inning.

“Hated playing this game, because I like those guys over there,” Gage said. “I’m very happy for Dan Mosier because we go back to when I was playing for him here at Western. He was a graduate assistant. He definitely deserves one. That said, I’ll always defend my players, too. There are kids that are upset, and we just hope everybody understands why we defend our players. These kids work really, really hard. You outhit him, you make less errors, but a break or two, or a call or two here or there – we think we strike a kid out, it leads to two runs, ballgame. Period. 

“The umpires are very good umpires. That’s a very good crew. The ball didn’t bounce our way today.”

Mosier noted that in Bowling Green’s last three losses in the region final, it fell to “two Division I pitchers and a first-round draft pick,” meaning South Warren’s Josh Bartley and Cameron Shryock – who both went on to pitch for WKU – and Warren East’s Hunter Green, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels.

The Purples had to face another D-I pitcher Wednesday in South Warren senior Michael Hicks, a WKU signee.

They struck first in the bottom of the third with Wilson’s RBI double to score senior right fielder Justin Gentry. Wilson later scored on an error, and Posey took it from there.

The hurler allowed three hits, issued one walk and hit one batter with four strikeouts over seven innings and 77 pitches. 

Mosier said he thought Posey was an optimal matchup against South Warren because of his ability to change speeds, throw from different arm angles and compete behind in the count with multiple pitches.

“Honestly, not thinking,” Posey said of what made him so effective. “I just threw pitch by pitch. It was my night. … I knew it was going to be a close game. They play us every single time they come out. They never really give us an easy win. 

“I just knew we had to take the first run, and we were going to get it.”

South Warren had its opportunities in the later innings.

The Spartans left runners at second and third in the top of the fifth, and they couldn’t capitalize on back-to-back singles with one out in the seventh. Posey finished the game with a strikeout and a groundout.

Hicks allowed four walks, two hits and two runs over six innings with two strikeouts. He’s one of nine South Warren seniors who helped start a run of dominance in the region after many years of parity.

“There’s nobody in the region that can – ever, I think – come close to what they have accomplished, that I know of,” Gage said.

It’s been quite some time since Bowling Green had to make state tournament preparations, but the Purples cautioned after Wednesday’s victory that they’re not done yet.

Not ones to get caught being happy just to advance, Posey said the team will get back to work quickly.

“We get one day off,” he said. “Then we’re back to the practice.”

SWHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 3 1

BGHS 0 0 2 0 0 0 x – 2 2 2

WP: Posey    LP: Hicks

— Follow Assistant Sports Editor Zach Greenwell on Twitter @zach_greenwell or visit bgdailynews.com.