Warren’s Aidan Morrison had a triple and four RBI as the Dragons scored a huge win over Cathedral Prep to close the regular season.

A day after their toughest loss of the season, it would have been easy for Warren to hang their heads.

Instead, they knocked off the number one ranked 5A team in the state.

The Dragons got a complete game performance from Colby Johnson and some timely hitting in a 9-7 win over Cathedral Prep on Tuesday at Old Legion Field.

“This was a good one to get,” said Warren coach Rick Eaton. “We were in the same situation we were yesterday, but today we closed it out. It was another day, the kids responded well. It just was an inning that wouldn’t end yesterday. It was good to get back on the field today. After the disappointment of last night it was good for them to put it behind them. They fought through it, kept working, and got a 9-7 win over a good ball team.”

Prep entered the game 16-1 overall and ranked number one in the Max Preps 5A PIAA baseball rankings. The Ramblers were undefeated in District 10 play prior to Monday’s game, with their only loss of the season coming to District 7’s Blackhawk.

Early on, it seemed as if Prep would continue to roll. The Ramblers went up 2-0 in the top of the first after a deep fly ball by Rockne Seidel was misplayed in center.

But Warren (15-4) bounced back in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Austyn Cummings bounced a single through the right side and Seth Baldensperger drew a walk. That set the table for Aidan Morrison, who hammered a two-run triple to deep center to tie the score at two. It was part of a big day for the sophomore Morrison, who drove in four runs.

“Aidan knocked in four runs today, he stepped up for us,” Eaton said.

Prep re-took the lead in the top of the third with two more unearned runs, but again, Warren was able to tie the game in the bottom half. Johnson led off the inning with a bloop single, and Cummings followed with a walk. After a lineout and a balk, Morrison drove in courtesy runner Ryan Arnold with a groundout to the right side. Nate Betts was up next and he drove in Cummings to tie the game when he reached on an error.

“The first four runs we gave them were unearned,” Eaton said. “We kept our composure, kept working and had good at-bats and clutch hits. Everybody stepped up.”

The Dragons took the lead for good in the fourth, scoring two more runs.

Matt Leonard led off the inning and reached on an error and Derek Knapp singled two batters later to move Braidy Blair to third. Johnson then drove in Blair with a ground out and Cummings roped a double to score Knapp.

Prep added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly, but, yet again, Warren answered when Betts scored on an error. Prep then cut into the lead one more time in the sixth when Trent Robison tucked a homer just inside the left field foul pole to make it 7-6 Warren.

The Dragons were able to add a pair of huge insurance runs in the seventh. Johnson led off the inning with a single, and Cummings reached on a booted ground ball that advanced courtesy runner Arnold to third. Seth Baldensperger then reached on yet another Prep error, which scored Arnold and advanced Cummings to third. Morrison then drove in Cummings with a deep fly ball to left that was hauled in for a sacrifice fly.

Prep threatened in the top of the seventh when Tyler Oedekoven tripled to start the inning and Nick Hess singled him in. But Johnson was able to get a ground ball that Betts and Knapp turned for a double play to put out the fire and seal the win.

Johnson, as he has been all season, was a workhorse in the win. The junior allowed only three earned runs while striking out three and walking two to improve his record to 5-1.

“Colby Johnson was in command out there,” Eaton said. “He was throwing strikes and mixing it up. One kid (Oedekoven) had four hits and the rest of the team had four hits I think. This gave us some good momentum to get us going into the playoffs.”

Johnson, Cummings, Seth Baldensperger, Morrison and Leonard all reached base multiple times for the Dragons.

Unofficially, it appears the Dragons will face Sharon (5-12) in a first round playoff game on Saturday at Old Legion Field. The winner of that game would face either Meadville or Corry – both teams that Warren has defeated this season.

Warren’s JV squad dropped their second game of the season, falling 9-5. Arnold had two hits for the Dragons.

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PREP (7)

Robison 3-1-1-1, Hess, 3-1-1-1, Oedekoven, 4-3-4-0., Douds, 2-0-1-0, Kelly, 1-0-0-0, Scutella, 3-0-0-0, Williams, 3-2-1-1, Seidel, 3-0-0-1, Orlando, 3-0-0-0, Smith, 3-0-0-1. Totals: 28-7-8-4.

WARREN (9)

Knapp, 2B, 4-1-1-0, Johnson, P, 4-0-2-1, Cummings, RF, 3-3-2-1, S. Baldensperger, DH, 2-1-0-0, Morrison, C, 2-0-1-4, Betts, SS, 4-1-1-0, L. Baldensperger, CF, 4-0-0-0, Leonard, 3B, 3-0-2-0, Blair, 1B, 3-1-0-0, Arnold, CR, 0-2-0-0, Grosch, 3B, 0-0-0-0, Tremblay, LF, 1-0-0-0, Balas, LF, 0-0-0-0, White, CR, 0-0-0-0. Totals: 30-9-9-6.

Prep 202 011 1 – 7 8 5

Warren 202 212 x – 9 8 2

2B: Cummings (W). 3B: Oedekoven (P), Morrison (W). HR- Robison (P). WP- Johnson, LP- Kelly.