Panthers Top Warriors In Title Tilt
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Playing as the visiting team, the Panthers scored twice in the top of the first after two outs, and never trailed again in a 3-1 3A Sectional 21 championship win over Wawasee at NorthWood Monday evening.
Chad Sellers grounded a two-out single between short and third, then Vincent Herschberger doubled over the head of centerfielder Drew Anderson to score Sellers. Brock Beehler then singled to drive in Herschberger for the early lead.
Wawasee battled back with a pair of two-out singles of its own in the bottom of the first, but didn’t score. From that point, the game was a pitchers’ duel between Panther sophomore Vincent Miranda and the Warriors’ Aaron Voirol.
“The resiliency of those kids is amazing. We could have folded after being down 2-0 in the first; with two outs they get two runs. They showed it last year, and they showed it this year,” said Warrior head coach Brent Doty. “We’re going to miss the heck out of 13 seniors next year.”
After the first inning, Voirol retired 12 of 14 hitters through the fifth inning, and Miranda 13 of 14.
In the fourth, the Panthers tried to take advantage of Warrior second baseman Gage Reinhard’s injured right shoulder that twill require summer surgery. The injury lingers from a hit he took against NorthWood last fall in football.
Herschberger had led off with a single, and after Beehler’s sacrifice bunt, Voirol threw to Reinhard covering first. Herschberger tried to take third, but Reinhard’s sidearm throw was in time. The throw paid off when Beehler followed with a single, and the Panthers would get nothing in the inning.
NorthWood added a third run when Cleveland’s grounder squirted just past first baseman Nate Prescott, and Reinhard came up with the ball but couldn’t beat Cleveland to the bag. After failing to bunt twice, Sellers drove a 0-2 pitch down the right field line for an RBI double.
The Warriors’ best chance to rally came in the sixth. Anderson led off with a sharp single past the Panther shortstop, but was caught stealing on the next pitch. The play loomed large when Reinhard followed with a soft double down the right field line.
“It was a fake bunt/steal we had on. Trying to delay (Panther catcher Tanner) Cleveland back there from throwing a missile like he did before,” explained Doty. “I think (Anderson) got a bad jump. It’s just one of those things; we’ve been good on bases all year. The pressure was on; we needed to make a play and get it done. Maybe I shouldn’t have made the move there because Gage hits it to the right side. But, it’s just one of those things.”
Reinhard scored on Caleb Dingeldein’s line single to center. One out later Chase Rookstool reached on an error, but the rally would end there.
NorthWood tried for some additional insurance runs, but the policy was rejected. After two outs, Andrew Minnich singled and tried to go to third on Dominic Miranda’s single to center. Anderson made a strong throw to third baseman Dingeldein for the final out of the inning.
The Warriors were retired in order in their half of the seventh.
Voirol needed just 79 pitches to complete his nine innings, walking none and striking out one. Doty said he was impressed with Voirol and the other 12 seniors for the effort put forth this season.
“You can’t say enough about (Voirol), not only athletically on the mound for us but a great, stand-up man. I told all the seniors, ‘I have two young kids over there, and I told every senior if they turned out like them, I’d be the happiest dad in the world.’ I’m so proud of the men they are. Not just as baseball players who compete like heck, but as men.
“To me, we had a good conference season. If a couple of things go differently for us, we’re in the middle of the pack. It’s a testament to the 13 seniors. There was a lot of one-run games we were losing in conference. It’s all on them; it’s nothing special that I’m doing, I’m just a guy that’s trying to help them out. It’s the senior class, those juniors that are stepping up and those sophomores that are going to fill it next year.”
Wawasee finished the 2015 season at 12-14, while NorthWood, 20-3, moves on to the Bellmont regional in Decatur where the Panthers will take on Heritage at 1 p.m. Saturday.
NORTHWOOD 3, WAWASEE 1
NW 200 001 0 - 3 9 2
W 000 001 0 - 1 6 1
NorthWood – V. Miranda (W, 71IP, 6H, 1R, 0BB, 3K)
Wawasee – Voirol (L, 7IP, 9H, 3R, 0BB, 1K)
2B – V. Herschberger (NW), C. Sellers (NW), Reinhard (W)
Records: Wawasee 12-14, NorthWood 20-3[[In-content Ad]]
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Playing as the visiting team, the Panthers scored twice in the top of the first after two outs, and never trailed again in a 3-1 3A Sectional 21 championship win over Wawasee at NorthWood Monday evening.
Chad Sellers grounded a two-out single between short and third, then Vincent Herschberger doubled over the head of centerfielder Drew Anderson to score Sellers. Brock Beehler then singled to drive in Herschberger for the early lead.
Wawasee battled back with a pair of two-out singles of its own in the bottom of the first, but didn’t score. From that point, the game was a pitchers’ duel between Panther sophomore Vincent Miranda and the Warriors’ Aaron Voirol.
“The resiliency of those kids is amazing. We could have folded after being down 2-0 in the first; with two outs they get two runs. They showed it last year, and they showed it this year,” said Warrior head coach Brent Doty. “We’re going to miss the heck out of 13 seniors next year.”
After the first inning, Voirol retired 12 of 14 hitters through the fifth inning, and Miranda 13 of 14.
In the fourth, the Panthers tried to take advantage of Warrior second baseman Gage Reinhard’s injured right shoulder that twill require summer surgery. The injury lingers from a hit he took against NorthWood last fall in football.
Herschberger had led off with a single, and after Beehler’s sacrifice bunt, Voirol threw to Reinhard covering first. Herschberger tried to take third, but Reinhard’s sidearm throw was in time. The throw paid off when Beehler followed with a single, and the Panthers would get nothing in the inning.
NorthWood added a third run when Cleveland’s grounder squirted just past first baseman Nate Prescott, and Reinhard came up with the ball but couldn’t beat Cleveland to the bag. After failing to bunt twice, Sellers drove a 0-2 pitch down the right field line for an RBI double.
The Warriors’ best chance to rally came in the sixth. Anderson led off with a sharp single past the Panther shortstop, but was caught stealing on the next pitch. The play loomed large when Reinhard followed with a soft double down the right field line.
“It was a fake bunt/steal we had on. Trying to delay (Panther catcher Tanner) Cleveland back there from throwing a missile like he did before,” explained Doty. “I think (Anderson) got a bad jump. It’s just one of those things; we’ve been good on bases all year. The pressure was on; we needed to make a play and get it done. Maybe I shouldn’t have made the move there because Gage hits it to the right side. But, it’s just one of those things.”
Reinhard scored on Caleb Dingeldein’s line single to center. One out later Chase Rookstool reached on an error, but the rally would end there.
NorthWood tried for some additional insurance runs, but the policy was rejected. After two outs, Andrew Minnich singled and tried to go to third on Dominic Miranda’s single to center. Anderson made a strong throw to third baseman Dingeldein for the final out of the inning.
The Warriors were retired in order in their half of the seventh.
Voirol needed just 79 pitches to complete his nine innings, walking none and striking out one. Doty said he was impressed with Voirol and the other 12 seniors for the effort put forth this season.
“You can’t say enough about (Voirol), not only athletically on the mound for us but a great, stand-up man. I told all the seniors, ‘I have two young kids over there, and I told every senior if they turned out like them, I’d be the happiest dad in the world.’ I’m so proud of the men they are. Not just as baseball players who compete like heck, but as men.
“To me, we had a good conference season. If a couple of things go differently for us, we’re in the middle of the pack. It’s a testament to the 13 seniors. There was a lot of one-run games we were losing in conference. It’s all on them; it’s nothing special that I’m doing, I’m just a guy that’s trying to help them out. It’s the senior class, those juniors that are stepping up and those sophomores that are going to fill it next year.”
Wawasee finished the 2015 season at 12-14, while NorthWood, 20-3, moves on to the Bellmont regional in Decatur where the Panthers will take on Heritage at 1 p.m. Saturday.
NORTHWOOD 3, WAWASEE 1
NW 200 001 0 - 3 9 2
W 000 001 0 - 1 6 1
NorthWood – V. Miranda (W, 71IP, 6H, 1R, 0BB, 3K)
Wawasee – Voirol (L, 7IP, 9H, 3R, 0BB, 1K)
2B – V. Herschberger (NW), C. Sellers (NW), Reinhard (W)
Records: Wawasee 12-14, NorthWood 20-3[[In-content Ad]]
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