In a season where the Warren East softball team has been perfect to date, the Lady Raiders faced something they hadn’t faced all season long in Tuesday’s District 14 clash with South Warren at Phil Burkeen Field – a deficit.

Warren East responded quickly and kept adding on with five unanswered runs to beat the Spartans 5-1 and get the season sweep over South Warren.

The Lady Raiders beat South Warren 7-3 on April 11, leading by as much as 7-1 before the Spartans got a pair of runs in the final at-bat.

South Warren (14-10 overall, 3-4 District 14) struck first in Tuesday’s rematch, with Lexi Isable’s no-doubt homer over the batter’s eye in center field that made the score 1-0. It was the first deficit of the season for the Lady Raiders.

Warren East (22-0, 6-0) didn’t trail for long. Kelsey Sparks singled with one out, stole second, and Lucy Patterson reached on an error. The extra out proved to be important as Olivia Price lined a two-out, two-run double into the gap in left center that scored both runners and gave the Lady Raiders a 2-1 advantage.

“I’m very proud of our girls the way they came in, got on base and Olivia gets the big hit,” Warren East coach Philip McKinney said. “I told our coaches that the biggest hit during that at-bat was the foul ball because the foul ball set up a full count with two outs so the runners can go on the pitch … and Lucy can score from first.”

The Lady Raiders kept adding to the lead. Jeyda Bays’ RBI single in the third made the score 3-0. Warren East added a run on an RBI double by Hailey Hymer in the fourth and Katie Gardner capped the scoring with a homer to center in the sixth.

“I really wasn’t trying to hit a home run at that point,” Gardner said. “I was just trying to put the ball in play.”

Gardner earned the win on the mound, settling in after the homer in the first. The right-hander threw 117 pitches, 73 for strikes, allowing four hits and two walks with 12 strikeouts. South Warren’s biggest threat after the first came in the third, when the Spartans had runners at second and third with two out, but Gardner got Madison Stumbo to pop out.

“Lexi hitting that home run in the first inning was a little nerve-wracking at first, but I knew I had to settle down and keep pitching,” Gardner said. “At first my change-up wasn’t really working, so I stick with my rise. Then we threw a few back doors and some curveballs outside.”

Sparks, Bays and Price had two hits each for the Lady Raiders.

Emily Reynolds took the loss, allowing four runs – two earned – in four innings.

After committing six errors in a 7-6 loss to Barren County on Monday, South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds said the first inning miscue was a big turning point in Tuesday’s game.

“We told the girls that you take away those two unearned runs and it’s a 3-1 ballgame,” Reynolds said. “At that point, we are still fighting back. We had runners at second and third there at one point with two outs and we didn’t score those runs. There were some key things, but the errors right there put us in it.”

Warren East will host Bowling Green at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. South Warren hosts Warren Central at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

SWHS 100 000 0 – 1

WEHS 201 101 X – 5

WP: Gardner LP: Reynolds{&end}