Bowling Green’s Luke Brown slides safely into third past Metcalfe County third baseman Peyton Reece during their 6-2 win over Metcalfe County on May 30 at Nick Denes Field.

District 14 baseball coaches all agree – if you can survive the district, you can be a threat in the region.

Last year three teams won 23 or more games, with South Warren and Bowling Green meeting in the Region 4 Tournament championship.

The Purples are the defending region champ, but have plenty of new faces – including a new coach. South Warren has some questions, while Warren East, Greenwood and Warren Central all hope to make noise.

“There is a lot of talent in this district,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said. “It seems like every year that anybody can win this district. It’s such a battle just to get to the region.”

That battle includes a 12-game district schedule, with every team playing a three-game series. That format tests the pitching depth, making the two teams that survive at the end battle-tested for whatever happens in the region tournament.

Warren East is the only team that hasn’t played one game yet, with district play set to begin on March 20.

Here is a look at what to expect this season:

Bowling Green (31-10 last season)

Former Western Kentucky coach Matt Myers takes the helm for the Purples, inheriting a team that may take a little time to gel.

Myers said three or four players that have chance to contribute are still playing basketball, so it will be a while before he knows everything that he has.

Senior Tyler Stahl, who won 10 games last season, looks to lead the pitching staff, but is out with an injury. Myers said he hopes to have Stahl back soon.

Seniors Logan Bowen, Luke Brown, Riley Hogan, Brice Deglow and Nick Meyer are among the other players expected to contribute.

“If you don’t have pitching, you are really in trouble,” Myers said. “If you do have pitching, you feel good about playing those three games. I think that is definitely going to be an advantage for us. I think the strength of our program once we have everybody on the field is our pitching depth.”

Myers said the hope is that BG will be playing its best baseball in the second half of season.

South Warren (29-10 last season)

The Spartans will have to fill plenty of holes after losing the top three starting pitchers from last year and several other key contributors.

Seniors Ryder Litten and C.J. Hayes are also not playing this year, focusing on getting ready for college football.

The pitching staff returns four wins from last year, two each from Kirtley Lawrence and Logan Gage.

Senior Granite Pare and Max Benningfield are corner guys with experience and pop in their bats that look to spark the offense. Jaxson Smith and Josh Vincent will see time in the outfield.

“We have a lot of kids that have ability,” Gage said. “Now it is their turn to play. We are looking forward to it. In a way it is kind of exciting to see how they will play.”

Warren East (23-13 last season)

The Raiders return home after playing at Hobson Grove last year while their field was being renovated.

Warren East will have plenty of depth, but WE coach Wes Sanford said he is still looking to see how everything fits.

Baylor signee Davion Downey, Louisville commit Ryan Hawks and Clay Wagoner give Warren East plenty of experience on the mound. Senior Tyler Jones is a lefty that Sanford said he will rely on, adding depth to the pitching.

Offensively, Warren East will have to replace 46 RBIs from Jonathan Biggs, with Austin Hymer looking to be the spark plug at the top of the order and Chauncey Greer also expected to be in the mix.

“It sure is nice to not have to pack up and go places,” Sanford said. “It’s much better than driving across town, even though Hobson was good to us. We did wear down a bit (at the end of the year), but I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. Our schedule got tougher. We had a stretch of nine straight district games.

“The guys are hungry. They talk like they want to be really good. There is a difference between talking and doing it, but they have a goal and they seem to be wanting to get it.”

Greenwood (12-23 last season)

The Gators will still be young, but have players who gained experience last season.

Jack Blair and Addison Harris are the lone seniors.

Junior Nate Cunningham logged a lot of innings and will be a key part of the pitching staff.

Connor Cline, Parker Williams, Mac Ausbrooks, Tyler Cook and Parker Farley will also be expected to contribute.

“We are excited about the season,” Jaggers said. “We feel like we worked hard during the offseason. Pitching and defense we feel like will be a strength. We are still real young … but we like the leadership and we like how we’ve been practicing. Now if we can just carry over what we have been doing in practice to games we feel like we will be OK.”

Warren Central (10-20 last season)

Noah Thornberry and JM Lyle are the most experienced returning players for the Dragons.

Jordan Miller, Ethan Stephens, Peyton Eversole, De Corion Rigsby and Justin Alvey are among the younger players looking to contribute.

“There is a lot of new faces in the district, but the talent level hasn’t dropped off,” Warren Central coach Adam Biller said. “We are going to be young all around. We are going to give plenty of guys plenty of opportunities to pitch (in the next two weeks). Pitching deep into ball games is going to be important for us. JM will be the leader of our pitching staff. We’ve got some good young talent in our freshman and sophomore classes that will help to fill some of the voids on the mound.”{&end}