SYRACUSE - Acccording to Warsaw varsity softball coach Craig Helfrich, his ace pitcher, junior Michelle Liebsch, had everthing she needed in her first two starts. The only problem was the offense couldn't back her, and she tallied an 0-2 record.

Monday night, at Northern Lakes Conference rival Wawasee, the Tigers had their bats working. And, oh yeah, Liebsch had her stuff, too.

In a 2-0 Tiger win, the right-handed junior pitched all seven innings, striking out 10, walking one and giving up one hit

"Michelle pitched a good game," said Helfrich. "She was 0-2 coming into tonight (Monday) because we haven't scored any runs for her."

The Tigers scored the only run they needed in the first inning. Senior left fielder Laura Overton led the game off with a single, and was eventually drove in on a ground out by senior second baseman Melissa Himes.

The win pushes Warsaw's overall season record to 3-2, while it's NLC record stands at 1-0. Wawasee, losers of two consecutive, falls to 3-4 and 0-1.

"It's always good to start out with a win in the conference," said Helfrich, whose Tigers were one game away from last year's state finals.

Liebsch's counterpart, right-handed senior Andrea Gingerich, also went the distance, giving up seven hits, while walking and striking out none.

Senior first baseman Tara Hymer had the Warriors' lone hit, a two-out single in the first inning.

Seniors Ryann Jones and Kari Fribley led the Tigers at the plate with two hits apiece. Each had a single and a double. Fribley also had and RBI.

After scoring in the first inning, the Tigers didn't put another run across until the seventh. After senior catcher Christy Colt popped out to right field, Jones laced a double to right field. Fribley followed that with a double of her own that scored Jones.

"I told her we needed and insurance run," said Helfrich. "She's a senior she should be able to hit a ball like that in a game. It was a huge run, now it's 2-0. She needed to hit that ball."

Any comeback attempt by the Warriors in the seventh was quickly shot down. Hymer popped out to third base for the first out, followed by a ground out by Gingerich. Junior third baseman Kim Morgan went down swinging for the final out of the game.

"This team can win a lot of games," said Helfrich of his Tigers. "We're gonna shut people down but we have to score runs. Give Wawasee credit, Gingerich pitched a good game. She got a lot of ground outs."

Wawasee will be on the diamond again Wednesday when it hosts Tippecanoe Valley at 4:30 p.m. Warsaw, who has started the past to seasons 0-4 before starting 3-2 this year, will host NLC rivals Goshen Wednesday and Plymouth Friday. Both games start at 4:30 p.m.

WARSAW 2, WAWASEE 0

Warsaw 100 000 1 - 2 7 0

Wawasee 000 000 0 - 0 1 1

Warsaw (3-2) ab r h rbi

Overton lf 4 1 1 0

Poling ss 3 0 1 0

Himes 2b 3 0 0 1

Burns 3b 3 0 0 0

Kurosky cf 3 0 0 0

Colt c 3 0 1 0

Jones 1b 3 1 2 0

Fribley rf 3 0 2 1

Liebesch p 3 0 0 0

Totals 28 2 7 2

Wawasee (3-5) ab r h rbi

Krull c 3 0 0 0

Likens ss 3 0 0 0

Hymer 1b 3 0 1 0

Gingerich p 3 0 0 0

Morgan3b 3 0 0 0

Beer dh 2 0 0 0

Mason rf 2 0 0 0

Weybright 2 0 0 0

Karns lf 2 0 0 0

Totals 23 0 1 0

2B - Jones (War), Fribley (War).

IP H R ER BB SO

Warsaw

Liebsch, W 7 1 0 0 1 10

Wawasee

Gingerich, L 7 7 2 2 0 0 [[In-content Ad]]