St. Joe Indians Edge Warsaw Tigers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The last kind of game Will Shepherd wanted to see at Warsaw's baseball opener was a close one where one mistake decided the outcome.
Of course that's just the kind of game the coach and his players got.
South Bend St. Joseph edged Warsaw 1-0 Tuesday. South Bend St. Joseph's improves to 3-1, while Warsaw falls to 0-1.
"We lost that game, didn't we?" Shepherd said. "It wasn't a dream or a nightmare."
Shepherd fretted about this kind of game because the Tigers are in a transition period with four returning lettermen on the varsity roster. Compare that with St. Joe, which features 10 seniors on its 13-player roster.
The inexperienced Tigers made the one critical mistake, and the veteran Indians made them pay for it.
With one out in the sixth inning, Oliver Keultjes singled to right field, sending Mike Towner from second to third. Michael Barger fielded the ball cleanly, and Towner appeared ready to stop at third.
Problem was, Barger had no cut-off man to throw the ball to as Warsaw sophomore first baseman William Knepper didn't get in position to receive the relay. Seeing Barger still holding the ball as he rounded third, Towner bolted for home after briefly slowing to score the winning run.
"One mental error against a team experienced as St. Joe," Shepherd said, "can be enough to get you beat."
Breakdowns didn't occur only in the field for Warsaw. They happened at the plate, too.
Senior left-hander Adam Augustine turned in a sterling pitching performance and was a tough-luck loser as Warsaw's bats snoozed and snored during key moments.
The Tigers had runners on second and third with one out in the second but failed to score when Josh Stork popped out to the pitcher on the first pitch and Jeff Polding struck out swinging.
Tigers stood on first and third with two outs in the fifth inning, but Augustine didn't help himself when he ended the inning with a check-swing popout to second base.
Warsaw stranded seven runners in the game.
"What we needed to do is take advantage of early opportunities," Shepherd said. "We didn't do that when we had runners on second and third. We have to put the baseball in play, but we didn't do that."
Augustine did his part on the mound.
Augustine, featuring a circle change, curve and fastball, struck out seven and walked one in 5 1/3 innings. The senior retired the first nine in order and allowed but three hits, all singles. Barger followed him with 1 2/3 perfect innings.
"Even though we lost, there were a lot of positives, and they all stemmed from Adam," Shepherd said. "I was really pleased with him.
"We played with a team I consider one of the top two teams in South Bend, a team with three- and four-year players. St. Joe had played three games already. They were ready to rock and roll coming to Warsaw."
Only four balls hit by St. Joe left the infield, while Warsaw sent 10 balls to the outfield.
But St. Joe had the timely hitting and avoided the key mistake, something Warsaw couldn't do.
The Tigers played and lost the last kind of game Shepherd wanted to see, one where one glaring breakdown magnifies the loss.
"There's no getting around the question of our inexperience," he said. "There's no easy way to make sophomores into veterans except to throw them into the fire.
"Tonight was a classic example of [the inexperience]. If we scratch out a few runs early, Augie cruises. Tonight was the worst-case scenario for us. One mental error by us gave them the game-winning run."
SB St. JOE 1, WARSAW 0
St. Joe 000 001 0 - 1 3 2
Warsaw 000 000 0 - 0 4 1
St. Joe AB R H RBI
Towner cf 3 1 1 0
Chamberlin rf 3 0 0 0
Keultjes lf 3 0 1 1
Siery 1b-p 3 0 0 0
Pajakowski c 3 0 0 0
Smolinski 3b 3 0 1 0
Vanderheyden p 0 0 0 0
Karabek dh 3 0 0 0
Dahms 2b 1 0 0 0
Verhiley ph 1 0 0 0
Blair ss 2 0 0 0
Totals 24 1 3 1
Warsaw AB R H RBI
J. Milton ss 4 0 2 0
Stogsdill cf 1 0 0 0
Augustine p-rf 3 0 0 0
Barger rf-p 3 0 1 0
Moore pr 0 0 0 0
DeGeeter 3b 2 0 1 0
Knepper 1b 2 0 0 0
Wilson ph 1 0 0 0
N. Milton lf 2 0 0 0
Stork c 2 0 0 0
Nycz ph 1 0 0 0
Polding 2b 2 0 0 0
Walmer ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 24 0 4 0
E - Vanderheyden, Siery, J. Milton. LOB - Warsaw 7, St. Joe 4. 2B - J. Milton. SB -ÊTowner 2, Keultjes. S -ÊN. Milton.
IP H R ER BB SO
St. Joe
Vanderheyden 4 2 0 0 1 2
Siery W 3 2 0 0 1 5
Warsaw
Augustine L 5 1-3 3 1 0 1 7
Barger 1 2-3 0 0 0 0 1
HBP - DeGeeter (by Vanderheyden). [[In-content Ad]]
The last kind of game Will Shepherd wanted to see at Warsaw's baseball opener was a close one where one mistake decided the outcome.
Of course that's just the kind of game the coach and his players got.
South Bend St. Joseph edged Warsaw 1-0 Tuesday. South Bend St. Joseph's improves to 3-1, while Warsaw falls to 0-1.
"We lost that game, didn't we?" Shepherd said. "It wasn't a dream or a nightmare."
Shepherd fretted about this kind of game because the Tigers are in a transition period with four returning lettermen on the varsity roster. Compare that with St. Joe, which features 10 seniors on its 13-player roster.
The inexperienced Tigers made the one critical mistake, and the veteran Indians made them pay for it.
With one out in the sixth inning, Oliver Keultjes singled to right field, sending Mike Towner from second to third. Michael Barger fielded the ball cleanly, and Towner appeared ready to stop at third.
Problem was, Barger had no cut-off man to throw the ball to as Warsaw sophomore first baseman William Knepper didn't get in position to receive the relay. Seeing Barger still holding the ball as he rounded third, Towner bolted for home after briefly slowing to score the winning run.
"One mental error against a team experienced as St. Joe," Shepherd said, "can be enough to get you beat."
Breakdowns didn't occur only in the field for Warsaw. They happened at the plate, too.
Senior left-hander Adam Augustine turned in a sterling pitching performance and was a tough-luck loser as Warsaw's bats snoozed and snored during key moments.
The Tigers had runners on second and third with one out in the second but failed to score when Josh Stork popped out to the pitcher on the first pitch and Jeff Polding struck out swinging.
Tigers stood on first and third with two outs in the fifth inning, but Augustine didn't help himself when he ended the inning with a check-swing popout to second base.
Warsaw stranded seven runners in the game.
"What we needed to do is take advantage of early opportunities," Shepherd said. "We didn't do that when we had runners on second and third. We have to put the baseball in play, but we didn't do that."
Augustine did his part on the mound.
Augustine, featuring a circle change, curve and fastball, struck out seven and walked one in 5 1/3 innings. The senior retired the first nine in order and allowed but three hits, all singles. Barger followed him with 1 2/3 perfect innings.
"Even though we lost, there were a lot of positives, and they all stemmed from Adam," Shepherd said. "I was really pleased with him.
"We played with a team I consider one of the top two teams in South Bend, a team with three- and four-year players. St. Joe had played three games already. They were ready to rock and roll coming to Warsaw."
Only four balls hit by St. Joe left the infield, while Warsaw sent 10 balls to the outfield.
But St. Joe had the timely hitting and avoided the key mistake, something Warsaw couldn't do.
The Tigers played and lost the last kind of game Shepherd wanted to see, one where one glaring breakdown magnifies the loss.
"There's no getting around the question of our inexperience," he said. "There's no easy way to make sophomores into veterans except to throw them into the fire.
"Tonight was a classic example of [the inexperience]. If we scratch out a few runs early, Augie cruises. Tonight was the worst-case scenario for us. One mental error by us gave them the game-winning run."
SB St. JOE 1, WARSAW 0
St. Joe 000 001 0 - 1 3 2
Warsaw 000 000 0 - 0 4 1
St. Joe AB R H RBI
Towner cf 3 1 1 0
Chamberlin rf 3 0 0 0
Keultjes lf 3 0 1 1
Siery 1b-p 3 0 0 0
Pajakowski c 3 0 0 0
Smolinski 3b 3 0 1 0
Vanderheyden p 0 0 0 0
Karabek dh 3 0 0 0
Dahms 2b 1 0 0 0
Verhiley ph 1 0 0 0
Blair ss 2 0 0 0
Totals 24 1 3 1
Warsaw AB R H RBI
J. Milton ss 4 0 2 0
Stogsdill cf 1 0 0 0
Augustine p-rf 3 0 0 0
Barger rf-p 3 0 1 0
Moore pr 0 0 0 0
DeGeeter 3b 2 0 1 0
Knepper 1b 2 0 0 0
Wilson ph 1 0 0 0
N. Milton lf 2 0 0 0
Stork c 2 0 0 0
Nycz ph 1 0 0 0
Polding 2b 2 0 0 0
Walmer ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 24 0 4 0
E - Vanderheyden, Siery, J. Milton. LOB - Warsaw 7, St. Joe 4. 2B - J. Milton. SB -ÊTowner 2, Keultjes. S -ÊN. Milton.
IP H R ER BB SO
St. Joe
Vanderheyden 4 2 0 0 1 2
Siery W 3 2 0 0 1 5
Warsaw
Augustine L 5 1-3 3 1 0 1 7
Barger 1 2-3 0 0 0 0 1
HBP - DeGeeter (by Vanderheyden). [[In-content Ad]]