Lafayette Jeff Ends Warsaw's Softball Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
COLUMBIA CITY - Warsaw, a girls softball team that started the season 0-4, saw its season end at 21-12 with a 3-2 regional loss to No. 3 Lafayette Jeff, a 28-3 team.
"I don't care what anybody says," Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich said. "Playing this No. 3 team in the state to 3-2, that shows a lot about our program. We showed up. We're not ranked, but we should be."
Said seventh-year Lafayette Jeff coach Lamar Simmons: "People are into this ranking thing. There are a lot of good teams that aren't ranked. They've won 21 games. When you've won 21 games, you can play. When you get to this level, you are always expecting a close game. I was hoping it wouldn't be, but it was."
The Columbia City 3A Regional championship game was played Monday afternoon after Saturday's rainout. The postponement allowed Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich to pitch his ace, right-hander Michelle Liebsch.
But Liebsch could not outduel Lafayette Jeff left-handed starter Leighanne Burke.
Burke, playing out her senior year, overwhelmed Warsaw's hitters with a fastball that has been clocked at 65 mph. She pitched a complete-game two hitter, striking out 15, to up her record to 24-3. If runners reached base, she reached back and threw harder.
The Tigers were facing high school softball's version of Monica Seles. Burke grunted - she even sounded like Seles, except quieter - each time she threw the ball.
"I was taught by a man named Frank Knox ever since I was 10 to throw as hard as you can and grunt, because it intimidates the batters," Burke said.
Helfrich said Burke was one of the two best pitchers Warsaw faced this year.
"She's up there with (Plymouth's) Lisa Mattke," he said.
Burke's bat was just as important as her arm.
Thanks to Burke's bat, a lead-off walk turned into the winning run.
With the game tied 2-2, Liebsch walked No. 9 hitter Brooke Mitchell to start the fifth inning. Julie Shirley sacrificed her to second with a bunt. Burke then delivered the only extra-base hit of the day, a double to the left-field gap to score pinch-runner Kristy Stafford to make the score 3-2.
Lafayette Jeff took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on some good fortune.
With two outs, Shirley reached first on a bunt for a hit. Natalie McDaniel walked, then Burke kept the inning alive by lining a ball off Liebsch's shoe for a single to load the bases. Heather Frederick followed with a bloop single that fell in between the center fielder, right fielder and second baseman, scoring Shirley.
After the ball dropped in, Warsaw center fielder Marie Brown misplayed the bounce for an error, allowing McDaniel to score for the 2-0 lead.
Warsaw tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning.
The Tigers had only two hits - back-to-back hits that turned into runs.
Warsaw No. 9 hitter Chris Kurosky, who has started several key rallies in the postseason, started another when she singled with one out. The next hitter, Brown, singled to left field. Laura Overton then reached first on a routine groundball that got under the first baseman's glove for an error.
This loaded the bases for Melissa Himes, who struck out. With two outs, Jacquie Burns reached first when second baseman Shirley misplayed a groundball for an error. Kurosky and Brown scored on the error to tie the game at 2-2. Burke struck out Amie Poling to end the inning.
"(Burke) doesn't like anybody getting hits off of her," Simmons said. "She goes to another level when they do. You can see it in her eyes."
"I think maybe we came in here a little too confident," Burke said. "Sometimes the defense tends to relax. We can't let that happen. I'm not perfect. I'm not gonna strike everybody out. I want my defense to be more ready sometimes than they are."
No Warsaw batter reached base again as Burke retired the last 13 in a row. Six of the last seven struck out.
"People always tell me I throw harder as the game goes on," Burke said. "Last week we had a 16-inning game. They told me I was throwing harder in the 16th inning than I was in the first inning.
"I think the adrenaline gets flowing through me, and I get mad. When hitters get hits, I throw harder, because I don't like them getting hits off me."
Lafayette Jeff faces 25-8 Penn in Friday's state semifinals at Cherry Tree Complex in Carmel. The winner would meet the Decatur Central (31-1)/Boonville (31-2) winner in Saturday's state finals.
"All I can think about is that feeling I felt last year after we lost at semistate," Burke said. "I don't want that feeling again. I'm going to do everything I can to take this team to the state finals."
Liebsch allowed seven hits and two earned runs in seven innings. She finished the season 12-6.
Warsaw loses only one senior, center fielder Brown.
"We've come a long way this year," Helfrich said. "There's no reason we can't compete for state next year."
No. 3 LAFAYETTE JEFF 3, WARSAW 2
Warsaw ab r h rbi
Brown cf 3 1 1 0
Overton lf 2 0 0 0
Himes 2b 3 0 0 0
Burns 3b 3 0 0 0
Poling ss 3 0 0 0
Colt c 3 0 0 0
Fribley rf 3 0 0 0
Jones 1b 3 0 0 0
Kurosky dh 2 1 1 0
Totals 25 2 2 0
Laf. Jeff ab r h rbi
Shirley 3 1 2 0
McDaniel lf 2 1 0 0
Burke p 4 0 2 1
Frederick rf 3 0 1 1
Kennedy ss 3 0 2 0
Clendenning 1b 2 0 0 0
Witter cf 3 0 0 0
Stone 3b 3 0 0 0
Mitchell c 2 0 0 0
Stafford pr 0 1 0 0
Totals 25 3 7 2
E-Brown, Clendenning, Shirley. LOB-Lafayette Jeff 6, Warsaw 3. 2B-Burke. SB-Kennedy, Shirley. CS-Shirley. S-Clendenning, Shirley.
Warsaw ip h r er bb so
Liebsch L, 12-6 7 7 3 2 3 6
Laf. Jeff ip h r er bb so
Burke W, 24-3 7 2 2 0 1 14 [[In-content Ad]]
COLUMBIA CITY - Warsaw, a girls softball team that started the season 0-4, saw its season end at 21-12 with a 3-2 regional loss to No. 3 Lafayette Jeff, a 28-3 team.
"I don't care what anybody says," Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich said. "Playing this No. 3 team in the state to 3-2, that shows a lot about our program. We showed up. We're not ranked, but we should be."
Said seventh-year Lafayette Jeff coach Lamar Simmons: "People are into this ranking thing. There are a lot of good teams that aren't ranked. They've won 21 games. When you've won 21 games, you can play. When you get to this level, you are always expecting a close game. I was hoping it wouldn't be, but it was."
The Columbia City 3A Regional championship game was played Monday afternoon after Saturday's rainout. The postponement allowed Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich to pitch his ace, right-hander Michelle Liebsch.
But Liebsch could not outduel Lafayette Jeff left-handed starter Leighanne Burke.
Burke, playing out her senior year, overwhelmed Warsaw's hitters with a fastball that has been clocked at 65 mph. She pitched a complete-game two hitter, striking out 15, to up her record to 24-3. If runners reached base, she reached back and threw harder.
The Tigers were facing high school softball's version of Monica Seles. Burke grunted - she even sounded like Seles, except quieter - each time she threw the ball.
"I was taught by a man named Frank Knox ever since I was 10 to throw as hard as you can and grunt, because it intimidates the batters," Burke said.
Helfrich said Burke was one of the two best pitchers Warsaw faced this year.
"She's up there with (Plymouth's) Lisa Mattke," he said.
Burke's bat was just as important as her arm.
Thanks to Burke's bat, a lead-off walk turned into the winning run.
With the game tied 2-2, Liebsch walked No. 9 hitter Brooke Mitchell to start the fifth inning. Julie Shirley sacrificed her to second with a bunt. Burke then delivered the only extra-base hit of the day, a double to the left-field gap to score pinch-runner Kristy Stafford to make the score 3-2.
Lafayette Jeff took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on some good fortune.
With two outs, Shirley reached first on a bunt for a hit. Natalie McDaniel walked, then Burke kept the inning alive by lining a ball off Liebsch's shoe for a single to load the bases. Heather Frederick followed with a bloop single that fell in between the center fielder, right fielder and second baseman, scoring Shirley.
After the ball dropped in, Warsaw center fielder Marie Brown misplayed the bounce for an error, allowing McDaniel to score for the 2-0 lead.
Warsaw tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning.
The Tigers had only two hits - back-to-back hits that turned into runs.
Warsaw No. 9 hitter Chris Kurosky, who has started several key rallies in the postseason, started another when she singled with one out. The next hitter, Brown, singled to left field. Laura Overton then reached first on a routine groundball that got under the first baseman's glove for an error.
This loaded the bases for Melissa Himes, who struck out. With two outs, Jacquie Burns reached first when second baseman Shirley misplayed a groundball for an error. Kurosky and Brown scored on the error to tie the game at 2-2. Burke struck out Amie Poling to end the inning.
"(Burke) doesn't like anybody getting hits off of her," Simmons said. "She goes to another level when they do. You can see it in her eyes."
"I think maybe we came in here a little too confident," Burke said. "Sometimes the defense tends to relax. We can't let that happen. I'm not perfect. I'm not gonna strike everybody out. I want my defense to be more ready sometimes than they are."
No Warsaw batter reached base again as Burke retired the last 13 in a row. Six of the last seven struck out.
"People always tell me I throw harder as the game goes on," Burke said. "Last week we had a 16-inning game. They told me I was throwing harder in the 16th inning than I was in the first inning.
"I think the adrenaline gets flowing through me, and I get mad. When hitters get hits, I throw harder, because I don't like them getting hits off me."
Lafayette Jeff faces 25-8 Penn in Friday's state semifinals at Cherry Tree Complex in Carmel. The winner would meet the Decatur Central (31-1)/Boonville (31-2) winner in Saturday's state finals.
"All I can think about is that feeling I felt last year after we lost at semistate," Burke said. "I don't want that feeling again. I'm going to do everything I can to take this team to the state finals."
Liebsch allowed seven hits and two earned runs in seven innings. She finished the season 12-6.
Warsaw loses only one senior, center fielder Brown.
"We've come a long way this year," Helfrich said. "There's no reason we can't compete for state next year."
No. 3 LAFAYETTE JEFF 3, WARSAW 2
Warsaw ab r h rbi
Brown cf 3 1 1 0
Overton lf 2 0 0 0
Himes 2b 3 0 0 0
Burns 3b 3 0 0 0
Poling ss 3 0 0 0
Colt c 3 0 0 0
Fribley rf 3 0 0 0
Jones 1b 3 0 0 0
Kurosky dh 2 1 1 0
Totals 25 2 2 0
Laf. Jeff ab r h rbi
Shirley 3 1 2 0
McDaniel lf 2 1 0 0
Burke p 4 0 2 1
Frederick rf 3 0 1 1
Kennedy ss 3 0 2 0
Clendenning 1b 2 0 0 0
Witter cf 3 0 0 0
Stone 3b 3 0 0 0
Mitchell c 2 0 0 0
Stafford pr 0 1 0 0
Totals 25 3 7 2
E-Brown, Clendenning, Shirley. LOB-Lafayette Jeff 6, Warsaw 3. 2B-Burke. SB-Kennedy, Shirley. CS-Shirley. S-Clendenning, Shirley.
Warsaw ip h r er bb so
Liebsch L, 12-6 7 7 3 2 3 6
Laf. Jeff ip h r er bb so
Burke W, 24-3 7 2 2 0 1 14 [[In-content Ad]]