Raiders battle past Gators for 2-0 regional semifinal win
Published 11:53 pm Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Wes Sanford prepared his team for Tuesday night all season long.
Warren East’s baseball team played a rigorous schedule – the toughest in Region 4, by RPI standards.
Sanford’s squad took a few lumps along the way – maybe a few more than intended, even – but it was all with an eye toward being ready for the challenge it faced against Greenwood in the Region 4 Tournament semifinals at Nick Denes Field.
Facing a loaded Gators lineup of future college hitters and Greenwood ace right-hander Nathan Howard on the mound, East never flinched as it claimed a 2-0 win to earn a return trip to the regional championship game to face South Warren in Wednesday’s final.
Warren East (12-19) delivered its second straight nail-biting victory a night after dethroning defending Region 4 champion Russell County by a tight 4-3 margin.
“There’s no expectations on us,” Sanford said. “We came in here, we hadn’t beat anybody at the top of our region beside Logan County. We had gotten walked off earlier in the year by Greenwood, we’d gotten walked off by South and Bowling Green walked us off earlier in the year. So we had been in all three of those games.
“We knew we could beat (Greenwood). We played them close both games – 3-0 and 4-3 on that walk-off win they had. And the 3-0 game they hit a home run and that was it, that was the only way they scored. So we knew we had a chance if we could just find a way to hit.”
The Raiders didn’t hit much – just two hits, both by senior Brenden Bratcher – but that was still enough to double the hits total for Greenwood (28-7). The Gators started the night on an eight-game win streak, but simply couldn’t get anything going offensively against Raiders junior starting pitcher Brooks Vincent.
Vincent, who closed out East’s win against Russell County on Monday to earn the save, pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and walked three while striking out nine batters.
“I didn’t know how long I was going to be able to go tonight, but I knew if I filled it up … we’ve played them close the past two times and I feel like it’s a real good matchup,” Vincent said. “I threw really well.”
The Raiders tallied the only runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Bratcher led off with a triple to right field, then William Alexander worked a full count for a walk. The Raiders’ senior first baseman was the catalyst for the first run when he broke for second base on a steal attempt but stopped, drawing a errant throw that sailed into the outfield as Bratcher scored from third on what turned out to be a delayed double steal.
“I don’t know what Will was doing – you never know about Will, he’s a little wild,” Sanford said. ” … It worked out great. That was not called by me. Luckily it worked out.”
The Raiders proceeded to load the bases with two outs, but Howard appeared to have escaped trouble by inducing a ground ball that was misplayed for an error to allow the final run to score.
Vincent had all the run support he would need. Despite dealing with base runners in four of the six innings he pitched, the right-hander wouldn’t budge as he and Howard went head-to-head. Howard ended up pitching six innings for the Gators, giving up no earned runs and just two hits and a pair of walks while striking out nine.
After tossing a 1-2-3 scoreless sixth, Vincent was up to 114 pitches – the KHSAA-mandated limit is 120, so the Raiders had to make a pitching change after going scoreless in the bottom of the sixth.
Senior Matthew Escalera got the call. After inducing a fly out against the first batter, Escalera walked Greenwood’s Easton Talley on four pitches to bring the tying run up to the plate with one out. Escalera got a strikeout, then closed out the win by getting a fielder’s choice ground ball to third.
“Knowing when my time was to come, being in that bullpen, having the right mindset – being ready to go out on that mound for that moment,” Escalera said of his mindset before pitching the seventh. “And just having the composure to settle down, not overthink or get ahead of myself. Just calm down and breathe and just play baseball.”
The Raiders earned the right to play baseball at least one more day.
“We’re postseason ready – our schedule is the hardest in the region,” Bratcher said. “There’s no doubt. Anytime you have that kind of schedule, you’re always ready.”
It was a disappointing finish to a fantastic season for the Gators, who saw Jason Jaggers win Region 4 Coach of the Year honors and Joey Talley named Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year after the game.
“These guys here, they’ve poured their hearts and soul into the program,” Jaggers said of his team. “They work hard. A guy just pitches light-out … I thought Brooks did an outstanding job on the mound. I do think he fell behind, but he did a good job attacking the zone even when he got behind and he made it pretty easy on their defense tonight.”
GHS 000 000 0 – 0 1 2
WEHS 200 000 x – 2 2 1
WP: Vincent. LP: Howard. SV: Escalera.
