Concord Ends Warsaw's Softball Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
The hits, however, weren’t there for the Lady Tigers, as they pounded out just three in an 8-1 season-ending loss to the Lady Minutemen.
“They beat us today,” said Warsaw coach Jim Speicher, whose team also lost to Concord twice during the regular season. “I thought we gave it away the last time we played them. They earned it today. We had some chances early, we just couldn’t get a key hit.”
The Lady Tigers, who lost their last three games of the season and finished their campaign with an 8-19 mark, left 11 runners on base, including two in the first inning, two more in the second and left the bases loaded in the fourth.
While Warsaw struggled putting the bat on the ball, when they weren’t striking out they were able to draw walks.
Concord junior pitcher Rae Ann Miller struck out 12 in six innings of work and gave up just three hits – singles to senior Whitney Sleeth and junior Sidney Hernandez, and a double to senior Ashley Ousley.
Miller’s downfall, however, was her control at times, as she issued eight walks.
“She made good pitches and got strikeouts when she needed to,” Speicher said of Miller, who improved her pitching record to 14-4 this season. “I thought we were patient and had some good at-bats, we just had too many strikeouts. If we get a hit early in the game we’re right there with them. We just never got the big hit we really needed.”
Sophomore Kiley Austin replaced Miller for the seventh inning and retired the Lady Tigers in order, as Concord improved to 20-8 and advanced to Friday’s sectional championship game.
Concord will play the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal game between No. 4 Northridge (24-2) and Elkhart Central (12-14).
Central beat city rival Memorial 3-2 in 10 innings Monday, while Northridge handled Goshen 10-0 in six innings.
In beating Warsaw for the third time this season, Concord scored two runs in the first inning Monday, added another in the third and took control of the contest with five runs in the fourth.
Warsaw scored its lone run in the sixth.
The Lady Minutemen pounded out eight hits in the win, including two each from seniors Jennifer Miller and Olivia Hess.
Jennifer Miller and sophomore McKenzie Loge ripped triples in the win, while Austin and Hess had doubles.
Sleeth was charged with the pitching loss for the Lady Tigers after giving up eight hits and eight runs in 3-2/3 innings of work.
Sleeth struck out three and walked two.
Freshman Abby Glass replaced Sleeth and retired all seven batters she faced.
CONCORD 8, WARSAW 1
(Class 4A Elkhart Sectional)
W 000 001 0 – 1 3 1
C 201 500 X – 8 8 1
Warsaw – Whitney Sleeth (L, 3-2/3IP, 8H, 8R, 2BB, 3K), Abby Glass (2-1/3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K).
Concord – Rae Ann Miller (W, 6IP, 3H, 1R, 8BB, 12K), Kiley Austin (1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K).
2B – Ashley Ousley (W), Austin (C), Olivia Hess (C).
3B – Jennifer Miller (C), McKenzie Loge (C)
Records: Warsaw 8-19, Concord 20-8
Other games: Elkhart Central 3, Elkhart Memorial 2 (10 innings); Northridge 10, Goshen 0 (6 innings)[[In-content Ad]]
The hits, however, weren’t there for the Lady Tigers, as they pounded out just three in an 8-1 season-ending loss to the Lady Minutemen.
“They beat us today,” said Warsaw coach Jim Speicher, whose team also lost to Concord twice during the regular season. “I thought we gave it away the last time we played them. They earned it today. We had some chances early, we just couldn’t get a key hit.”
The Lady Tigers, who lost their last three games of the season and finished their campaign with an 8-19 mark, left 11 runners on base, including two in the first inning, two more in the second and left the bases loaded in the fourth.
While Warsaw struggled putting the bat on the ball, when they weren’t striking out they were able to draw walks.
Concord junior pitcher Rae Ann Miller struck out 12 in six innings of work and gave up just three hits – singles to senior Whitney Sleeth and junior Sidney Hernandez, and a double to senior Ashley Ousley.
Miller’s downfall, however, was her control at times, as she issued eight walks.
“She made good pitches and got strikeouts when she needed to,” Speicher said of Miller, who improved her pitching record to 14-4 this season. “I thought we were patient and had some good at-bats, we just had too many strikeouts. If we get a hit early in the game we’re right there with them. We just never got the big hit we really needed.”
Sophomore Kiley Austin replaced Miller for the seventh inning and retired the Lady Tigers in order, as Concord improved to 20-8 and advanced to Friday’s sectional championship game.
Concord will play the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal game between No. 4 Northridge (24-2) and Elkhart Central (12-14).
Central beat city rival Memorial 3-2 in 10 innings Monday, while Northridge handled Goshen 10-0 in six innings.
In beating Warsaw for the third time this season, Concord scored two runs in the first inning Monday, added another in the third and took control of the contest with five runs in the fourth.
Warsaw scored its lone run in the sixth.
The Lady Minutemen pounded out eight hits in the win, including two each from seniors Jennifer Miller and Olivia Hess.
Jennifer Miller and sophomore McKenzie Loge ripped triples in the win, while Austin and Hess had doubles.
Sleeth was charged with the pitching loss for the Lady Tigers after giving up eight hits and eight runs in 3-2/3 innings of work.
Sleeth struck out three and walked two.
Freshman Abby Glass replaced Sleeth and retired all seven batters she faced.
CONCORD 8, WARSAW 1
(Class 4A Elkhart Sectional)
W 000 001 0 – 1 3 1
C 201 500 X – 8 8 1
Warsaw – Whitney Sleeth (L, 3-2/3IP, 8H, 8R, 2BB, 3K), Abby Glass (2-1/3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K).
Concord – Rae Ann Miller (W, 6IP, 3H, 1R, 8BB, 12K), Kiley Austin (1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K).
2B – Ashley Ousley (W), Austin (C), Olivia Hess (C).
3B – Jennifer Miller (C), McKenzie Loge (C)
Records: Warsaw 8-19, Concord 20-8
Other games: Elkhart Central 3, Elkhart Memorial 2 (10 innings); Northridge 10, Goshen 0 (6 innings)[[In-content Ad]]
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