Typically the words of Warren athletic director Jeff White, his son and Warren assistant baseball coach Johnny White got to use them after the Dragons’ 8-3 win over Erie High on Wednesday at Legion Field.

“(We) showed a lot of perseverance with our head coach being unavailable to getting down early,” said coach White. “A ton of great things to build off of going into next week. Overall, I think it’s a great day to be a Dragon.”

The newest Dragon is Viviana Nicole Morrison, born to Warren head baseball coach Andrew Morrison and mom, Allison Blackmon, on Wednesday.

In their head coach’s absence, Warren’s baseball team (2-1) overcame a 2-0 deficit after a half inning.

Warren first baseman Anthony Errett holds the tag on an Erie High runner. Photo courtesy of Mark Evans

“I’ll start with (starting pitcher) Brady (Berdine),” said coach White. “He showed a lot of guts today after struggling in the pouring rain in the first and second innings. (He) found a way to pitch around a few walks and did a great job of coming back and getting ahead.”

Berdine finished with one earned run over four innings for the win. Carson Farr relieved Berdine and allowed an earned run over the final three innings. They combined to walk 10 batters and strike out 15.

Last season, Erie High pitcher Jose Quinones out-dueled Berdine, 2-0. This year, Quinones battled walks and was chased early. All three batters he walked in the second inning came around to score on Gio Elinsky’s sacrifice fly and Ben Sowa’s RBI single. Erie is 0-4 overall, and 0-1 in Region 5.

Sowa and Konnor Hoffman added hits in a two-run fourth to up Warren’s lead to 6-2. Sowa again added an RBI single in a two-run fifth inning.

“The entire lineup did a great job, too. Top to bottom,” said coach White, whose Dragons are 2-0 in Region 5. “Konner had another great day at the plate, Sowa came up clutch in a couple points, and we kept the energy up the entire way through.”

Sowa finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs from the leadoff spot, and Hoffman 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Archie Teconchuk reached base all four times with two walks, hit by pitch, and error.

“We put together some really gutsy at bats against (Quinones),” said coach White. (We) really put the ball in play and made them make plays and, when we ended up chasing him in the fourth, we rode that momentum. Brady went four (innings) with 10 Ks on one hit. Carson came in in relief and went the other three. He did a great job, too. When you hold a team to three hits and only have one error, you’re going to win a lot of games. Overall, really proud of the perseverance this ballclub showed tonight.”