Gators blank South Warren for second straight district title
Published 9:50 am Thursday, May 22, 2025
The Greenwood baseball team staked its claim to another District 14 crown with a 6-0 win over South Warren in Wednesday’s championship game at Greenwood High School.
The Gators took control with an early power surge and Nathan Howard took it from there – flirting with a no-hitter – as Greenwood (27-6) made it two straight district tournament titles.
“It’s a tough district,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said. “It’s always special. I thought our kids played great and played a complete game. It’s not the end goal, but it was a goal, so we are glad we accomplished that.”
After splitting the two games in the regular season with both teams scoring four runs total, Greenwood was able to use the long ball to put up four runs in Wednesday’s title game.
Zach Davis reached on an error and Andy Jolly followed with a two-run homer to right, his team-leading third of the season, to make the score 2-0 two batters into the bottom of the first.
“It felt great to jump-start it like that,” Jolly said. “I don’t think there was a better way to start the game, honestly. It was a two-strike swing. I was just trying to put it in play, find a barrel. I just got ahold of it.”
Greenwood added two more runs with two outs when Jackson Lee singled and Easton Talley followed with his first homer of the season that made the score 4-0.
Jolly added an RBI single in the second and Davis delivered an RBI double in the fourth to make it 6-0. Howard took it from there.
The right-hander, whose only two losses this season came against district foes, retired the first 12 batters he faced. South Warren (27-8) got a runner on with an error to start the fifth, but was quickly erased on a double play.
The Spartans were still without a hit with two outs in the sixth when Tucker Sears reached on an infield hit.
“After the fourth is when I think I started thinking about it,” Howard said. “They weren’t talking to me, but I heard someone mention a perfect game and then I gave up the infield hit. It sucked. I wish I had it, but we got the win.”
South Warren added two more hits from Camden Page in the sixth and Griffin Rardin to open the seventh, but Howard was able to complete the shutout – catching a pop up by Jaxen Decker to clinch it.
Howard struck out seven with no walks, needing 82 pitches for the complete game.
“My fastball was my go-to today,” Howard said. “Early, my curveball was working well and I just naturally transitioned into slider. I threw a couple of change-ups in there and they were pretty effective too. I had my full arsenal.”
Greenwood finished with eight hits – two each from Jolly and Davis.
“That’s the way it is in our crazy district, where three of us tie for first place,” South Warren coach Chris Gage said. “They were able to keep their ace back. We had a really tough game with Bowling Green. It’s hard to come back two games in a row. It’s tough on high school kids to be able to respond like that, but we have to be tougher and come out a little stronger after a tough game.”
Both teams advance to the region tournament, which begins on Monday at Nick Denes Field. Pairings will be determined on Saturday.
Greenwood will face a district runner-up – Franklin-Simpson, Warren East or Monroe County.
“Everybody is 0-0 now going into the region tournament,” Jaggers said. “We still have to play complete games and do the things that we have been doing all year long.”
South Warren will face a district champion – Logan County, Barren County or Russell County.
“Our kids have done it before,” Gage said. “I believe it was two years ago that we did it. It’s not impossible by any stretch of the imagination.”
SWHS 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
GHS 410 100 X – 6 8 1
WP: Howard LP: Allen
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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