It was another down-to-the-wire victory for the Warren East baseball team, which rallied past Bowling Green 5-4 on Tuesday at Warren East High School.

Baylor signee Davion Downey’s walk-off, two-run homer capped a comeback for Warren East (13-4 overall, 4-2 District 14). The win was the seventh straight for the Raiders, five of those wins by one run.

“That swing felt amazing,” Downey said. “As soon as I made contact, I knew it was gone. That feeling of relief coming out of my body was amazing. I couldn’t be any happier.”

Bowling Green (11-7, 3-1) jumped on Warren East starter Ryan Hawks, with Nick Meyer’s RBI single following Luke Brown’s leadoff triple in the first inning.

Warren East tied the score in the second when Ty Stringfield scored on a balk by Tyler Stahl, but Stahl and Logan Bowen answered with RBI singles in the third to make the score 3-1.

Meyer’s second RBI single of the day made the score 4-1 in the fourth before rain halted play for about 30 minutes.

Hawks settled in after the delay, allowing three hits the rest of the way.

“He was really flat early,” Warren East coach Wes Sanford said. “I think if (the rain delay) helped anybody, it helped Hawks more than anybody. It really helped settle him down.”

With Hawks settling in, the Warren East offense started the climb back.

The Raiders got an unearned run in the fourth and cut the deficit to 4-3 on an RBI single from Ty Colson in the sixth.

That set the stage for the seventh-inning heroics, with Dakota Basham blooping a single to right off reliever Luke Brown.

Downey followed and worked the count full, including a 2-2 pitch on the inside corner that the BG dugout and fans thought was strike three, before connecting with a no-doubt home run to right field.

“We struck him out the pitch before,” Purples coach Matt Myers said. “The guy has got to make that call. Every call tonight went against us on those opportunities. That was bad. That game is on the line.

“Davion is a great player. I think the world of him. I had a great relationship with him when I was at Western. He’s a first-class young man. There is some really good boys over there. I am just really upset the zone changed that much in the last inning. You can’t do that in a game like this.”

Bowling Green outhit Warren East 10-6 but stranded nine runners.

Meyer finished with three hits, while Bowen and Charlie Key had two hits each.

“The game should have never had been close,” Myers said. “Twice, we ran ourselves out of innings. It should have been 6-1 in the seventh. They know it and we know it. It didn’t happen that way. They got Davion to the plate and he did what he’s supposed to do.”

Hawks went the distance and earned the win, scattering 10 hits and walking two with six strikeouts.

Downey paced the offense with a hit, a run scored and two RBIs.

“I’m really proud of them,” Sanford said. “Obviously you’ve got a big district win (in the series opener). I’m proud of them for that. I just want them to understand that we can’t bank on coming back every day. We’re not gonna be good enough every day to come back and beat everybody in the last inning.”

The series will continue at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Warren East.

BGHS 102 100 0 – 4

WEHS 010 101 2 – 5

WP: Hawks. LP: Brown.{&end}