Sectional Special For Wawasee Seniors
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - It was a long time coming.
Wawasee's first baseball sectional title in five years was a welcome sight for the team's four seniors (now graduates), who had only known disappointment in three previous trips to the first round of the IHSAA state tourney.
In fact, the Warriors had not even come close to the title, having lost in the first game of the sectional the past three years.
"It feels great to win the sectional as a senior, especially after getting beat out in the first round the last few years," senior pitcher Rod Holterman said.
Wawasee got the sectional title after watching an old nemesis, Churubusco, rally from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score at two in the championship game Monday. The Warriors got the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. Churubusco had knocked off the Warriors in the sectional two of the past three seasons.
"It is definitely nice to get over that hill," senior shortstop/pitcher Josh Mitchell said of the sectional title. "We did a good job of keeping our composure in the sectional championship after giving up the two unearned runs."
"Winning the sectional title was something we have worked on since I was a freshman," senior catcher Rob Burke said. "We really haven't had as much talent this year as we have had in the past, but we have a lot more heart."
The key for Wawasee and its sectional title was not hard to figure out. The Warriors scored three runs in each of their three sectional wins, but gave up a total of five runs.
Holterman and Mitchell combined to hold opponent's bats down.
"All four years of high school, this is my first sectional title," senior center fielder Shawn Johnson said. "This means a lot to me."
Even this year has been a long, tough road for the Warriors. Wawasee has battled internal strife, lack of hitting and sometimes erratic defense.
"It was really good, because throughout the season, our team had some quarrels and such," Johnson said. "We pulled together toward the end of the season and came close as a family. We came to a peak point at the right time."
All of it has been worth it as the Warriors have ran up a school record 18 wins (18-12).
"We weren't sure at the beginning of the year what kind of season we would have," Holterman said. "So far, it has been great, and hopefully it is not over for a few more weeks."
Round one of the Plymouth Regional will provide Wawasee with a challenge it has not faced in the postseason. The host Pilgrims (24-4-1) come into the regional with one of their traditionally strong teams.
Wawasee has one advantage of the rest of the regional field (Culver Community and Wabash) in the fact the Warriors have already beaten the Pilgrims once this season, splitting their two regular season games with Plymouth.
"Plymouth is tough," Mitchell said. "I am sure that (Wawasee's win) is still the back of their minds."
Mitchell was the only Northern Lakes Conference pitcher to have win against the Pilgrims, who went 10-1-1 in winning the NLC title.
"We have to be set on executing the plays, that will win it for us," Mitchell said.
Getting some offense against Plymouth will be big for Wawasee. With Holterman (11-3, 1.14 ERA) and Mitchell (4-2, 4.20) on the mound, the Warriors should be able to keep the game low scoring and thus, close. Plymouth beat a good Bremen team 1-0 to win the Plymouth Sectional.
"We need solid defense, and we have to hit the ball because they hit the ball too," Johnson said. "If we can match them hitting-wise, we should do all right because if we have the pitching with Rod and Josh."
Plymouth will counter with a pretty good pitcher of its own in Mike Layman. Layman pitched Plymouth to the sectional title by shutting out Bremen for seven innings. He also owns a one-hitter against Wawasee earlier in the season, a game won 3-0 by Plymouth.
"The first time he pitched against us, we just didn't hit the ball," Holterman said. "Our guys were a little bit intimidated because they had never seen a guy like him. This time, I think we will be ready to go after him.
"It will probably take the best game of our lives," he said. "If we are nervous, we won't do so well. If we are loose, I think we will be able to all right against them."
"I am very confident that we can come out of the regional," Burke said. "We played Plymouth tough in both games, it should be a good game, but I think we can beat them." [[In-content Ad]]
SYRACUSE - It was a long time coming.
Wawasee's first baseball sectional title in five years was a welcome sight for the team's four seniors (now graduates), who had only known disappointment in three previous trips to the first round of the IHSAA state tourney.
In fact, the Warriors had not even come close to the title, having lost in the first game of the sectional the past three years.
"It feels great to win the sectional as a senior, especially after getting beat out in the first round the last few years," senior pitcher Rod Holterman said.
Wawasee got the sectional title after watching an old nemesis, Churubusco, rally from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score at two in the championship game Monday. The Warriors got the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. Churubusco had knocked off the Warriors in the sectional two of the past three seasons.
"It is definitely nice to get over that hill," senior shortstop/pitcher Josh Mitchell said of the sectional title. "We did a good job of keeping our composure in the sectional championship after giving up the two unearned runs."
"Winning the sectional title was something we have worked on since I was a freshman," senior catcher Rob Burke said. "We really haven't had as much talent this year as we have had in the past, but we have a lot more heart."
The key for Wawasee and its sectional title was not hard to figure out. The Warriors scored three runs in each of their three sectional wins, but gave up a total of five runs.
Holterman and Mitchell combined to hold opponent's bats down.
"All four years of high school, this is my first sectional title," senior center fielder Shawn Johnson said. "This means a lot to me."
Even this year has been a long, tough road for the Warriors. Wawasee has battled internal strife, lack of hitting and sometimes erratic defense.
"It was really good, because throughout the season, our team had some quarrels and such," Johnson said. "We pulled together toward the end of the season and came close as a family. We came to a peak point at the right time."
All of it has been worth it as the Warriors have ran up a school record 18 wins (18-12).
"We weren't sure at the beginning of the year what kind of season we would have," Holterman said. "So far, it has been great, and hopefully it is not over for a few more weeks."
Round one of the Plymouth Regional will provide Wawasee with a challenge it has not faced in the postseason. The host Pilgrims (24-4-1) come into the regional with one of their traditionally strong teams.
Wawasee has one advantage of the rest of the regional field (Culver Community and Wabash) in the fact the Warriors have already beaten the Pilgrims once this season, splitting their two regular season games with Plymouth.
"Plymouth is tough," Mitchell said. "I am sure that (Wawasee's win) is still the back of their minds."
Mitchell was the only Northern Lakes Conference pitcher to have win against the Pilgrims, who went 10-1-1 in winning the NLC title.
"We have to be set on executing the plays, that will win it for us," Mitchell said.
Getting some offense against Plymouth will be big for Wawasee. With Holterman (11-3, 1.14 ERA) and Mitchell (4-2, 4.20) on the mound, the Warriors should be able to keep the game low scoring and thus, close. Plymouth beat a good Bremen team 1-0 to win the Plymouth Sectional.
"We need solid defense, and we have to hit the ball because they hit the ball too," Johnson said. "If we can match them hitting-wise, we should do all right because if we have the pitching with Rod and Josh."
Plymouth will counter with a pretty good pitcher of its own in Mike Layman. Layman pitched Plymouth to the sectional title by shutting out Bremen for seven innings. He also owns a one-hitter against Wawasee earlier in the season, a game won 3-0 by Plymouth.
"The first time he pitched against us, we just didn't hit the ball," Holterman said. "Our guys were a little bit intimidated because they had never seen a guy like him. This time, I think we will be ready to go after him.
"It will probably take the best game of our lives," he said. "If we are nervous, we won't do so well. If we are loose, I think we will be able to all right against them."
"I am very confident that we can come out of the regional," Burke said. "We played Plymouth tough in both games, it should be a good game, but I think we can beat them." [[In-content Ad]]