South Warren first baseman Gray Pearson reaches to catch a pop fly during the Spartans' 9-4 loss to McCracken County in the KHSAA state baseball tournament quarterfinals Sunday at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington. (KHSAA)

LEXINGTON – One more comeback wasn’t in the cards for the South Warren baseball team, which fell 9-4 to McCracken County in the quarterfinals of the KHSAA state tournament on Sunday at Kentucky Proud Park.

Without senior shortstop Griffin Rardin, serving a KHSAA mandated one-game suspension, South Warren fell behind by eight runs but nearly got the tying run to the plate in its final at-bat but was unable to complete another improbable postseason comeback.

South Warren coach Chris Gage said it was another amazing effort by a team that erased a three-run lead against Highlands in the opening round and a five-run deficit to Warren East in the Region 4 championship game.

“This was a great team,” Gage said. “I don’t know if any team could weather the injuries we weathered and of course the suspension at the end, which was not called for. All year long I thought that these guys could be the best team in the state. They very well might be the best team in the state, but this kind of a setup – the one-and-done setup – and all these injuries. It’s tough.”

South Warren was hopeful to have Rardin available after he was ejected for “malicious contact” with the catcher on a play at the plate in Friday’s win against Highlands. Originally Rardin was suspended for two games, but after an appeal the KHSAA reduced it to one late Saturday night – still making him unavailable for Sunday’s game.

“I’m not smart enough to understand why you reduce it to one game,” Gage said. “Obviously that means you know he didn’t lower his shoulder and the video shows he didn’t. I don’t understand it and I am not smart enough. The KHSAA do what they do. That’s fine, but I am going to defend my players.”

Without its leading hitter, South Warren struggled to get going early. The Spartans left runners at second and third in the first inning and stranded two more in the second.

McCracken County took advantage, with a two-out RBI single from Brady Thompson in the bottom of the second that got the Mustangs going.

It was the start of a flurry of two-out runs for McCracken County.

The Mustangs stretched the lead to 4-0 on a two-out, two-run error with the bases loaded in the third and made the score 5-0 after a two-out RBI double from Lucas Gagnon in the fourth.

The lead grew to 8-0 in the fifth with three more two-out runs, including a two-run double from Caden Kern.

South Warren finally got on the board in the sixth with an RBI groundout from Joseph Fentress and an RBI single by Gray Pearson.

McCracken County added a run in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 9-2 before South Warren nearly mounted an epic rally in the seventh to keep its season alive.

The Spartans scored twice – on a sac fly from John Mosley and a bases-loaded walk to Fentress.

Pearson was next to extend the inning and hit a comebacker to the pitcher – who nearly threw the ball over the first baseman, but he was able to recover and get his foot on the bag just in time to get the out.

“There has been magic in this team for the last couple of years,” Gage said. “They don’t quit. I quit before they do. The last two games they have been down four runs and five runs multiple times and come back and won those games, so I don’t count these guys out.”

South Warren finished with nine hits, two each from Pearson, Ty Croghan and Jaxen Decker. Rardin was named to the all-tournament team.

South Warren ends its season 31-9, in a year full of adversity. In addition to Rardin’s unavailability, Ethan Reynolds missed significant time with an injury, with outfielder Junior Perkins lost in the last few weeks and pitcher Mikey Coradini’s state tournament status was in doubt before he pitched in Friday’s win.

“I can’t be more proud of these guys,” Gage said. “The week before we lose Mikey, but he was able to come back after being shut down for the season. And then we lose our center fielder and our four-hole hitter Junior Perkins the beginning of last week with an appendectomy and he wasn’t able to get back. And then a very unfortunate bad call takes our quarterback out of the middle of our infield. The best all-around player in the state and it shows. We didn’t play as well today defensively without Griff out there and of course he’s our two-hole hitter. He’s been our offensive leader all year long and KHSAA took that away.”

Gage said the way this team handled all the adversity is a testament to their success on and off the field.

“This was one of the best,” Gage said. “Maybe the most skilled. And again that never quit stuff. To lose Ethan Reynolds for most of the year, to lose Junior Perkins for the first half of the year and then before the state tournament you lose him. Mikey Coradini with shoulder problems the last few weeks. Guys with bad backs. Our catcher is playing with a broken foot. He was shut down but came back. That kind of defines our team, which I am extremely proud of.”

Reynolds, one of nine seniors, said he was proud of the way the Spartans battled on Sunday.

“We had our backs against the wall,” Reynolds said. “We knew it was going to be a hard game. I think in the early stages of the game, we really let the adversity get to us. But then at the end, we were fighting and fighting. It didn’t go our way, but that’s fine. We put a lot of work into this year and it was a successful outcome. Not what we wanted, but a great team.”

He added he is proud of the legacy left by this senior class.

“We left two region championships, two elite eights,” Reynolds said. “I think we did a great job of showing the hard work it takes. The work ethic during the game – off the field. Just being a family as a team was a big thing. We all got together. We all enjoyed late nights.”

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WP: Kern LP: Lobb