ELKHART -ÊWhen it comes to good timing, Warsaw's Joe Stanley has it.

Stanley, a senior co-captain of the baseball team, hit his first home run of the season Monday in the Elkhart Memorial Sectional. However, his home run was not just special because it was his first of the season.

Stanley's home run was special because it came on the first pitch of the bottom of the 10th inning to end Warsaw's four-inning standoff with Elkhart Central and win the game for the Tigers 7-6.

"I was just hoping it would stay fair," said Stanley. "At first I thought it was going foul, but it stayed in."

"Joe's hit three or four that went foul this season, and I was a little nervous on this one," said Warsaw coach Will Shepherd. "As a senior co-captain, he was very deserving of having a play like that, especially in a big sectional game for us."

Warsaw jumped out to an early lead against the Blue Blazers by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning.

After Pat Riley was hit by a pitch to start the first inning for the Tigers, Jon Walmer hit a double to knock him in. Then Jason Barrett was hit by a pitch and Steve Siebenmorgen walked to load the bases for Warsaw.

A double play eliminated two runners for Warsaw, but Zach Nelson stepped up to the plate and sent a rocket over the centerfield fence to make the score 4-0 in Warsaw's favor.

The score remained 4-0 until the top of the fourth inning when Elkhart Central manufactured one run to end their scoreless drought.

However, the Blue Blazers were not content with just one run, and they scored two more in the top of the fifth to reduce Warsaw's lead to one run, 4-3.

Warsaw answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth after Stanley knocked in Walmer and Barrett on a single.

But Elkhart Central was not about to go down without a fight. The Blue Blazers came back to get four hits and three runs to tie the score at six in the sixth.

Then the Tigers and the Blue Blazers engaged in a defensive battle that lasted through the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings until Stanley's home run in the bottom of the 10th broke the stalemate.

After the game, Shepherd had one thing to say: "Man oh man, what a game."

Elkhart Central's Greg Kloosterman went the distance for the Blue Blazers, pitching 10 innings with 13 strikeouts and just five hits.

"I'm very impressed with the left-hander from Elkhart Central (Kloosterman)," said Shepherd. "His guts and determination are the best I've seen all season. He took the momentum away from us when he was down 4-0. That doesn't happen very often."

Warsaw came out on top to defeat the Elkhart Central squad 7-6. The Tigers hope to continue their winnings ways as they advance to the championship game of the Elkhart Memorial Sectional Saturday at 11 a.m.

WARSAW 7, ELKHART CENTRAL 6

10 INNINGS

Warsaw ab r h rbi

Riley cf 3 1 0 0

Walmer ss 4 2 1 1

Koser pr 0 0 0 0

Barrett rf 4 1 1 0

Siebenmorgen c 3 0 0 0

Richardson pr 0 1 0 0

Stanley 3b 3 1 2 4

Simmons pr 0 0 0 0

Nelson 1b 2 1 1 2

Lankford p 2 0 0 0

Augustine p 1 0 0 0

VanLaeken lf 1 0 0 0

Leininger dh 4 0 0 0

Sherman 2b 3 0 0 0

Totals 30 7 5 7

Elkhart Central ab r h rbi

Taylor 3b 4 1 1 1

Martin lf 4 0 0 0

Kloosterman p 5 0 2 2

Walters 1b 5 1 2 0

Lovely ss 5 0 1 0

Kinsie 2b 4 1 3 0

Morgan pr 0 0 0 0

McSorely pr 0 1 0 0

Cooper rf 4 1 2 2

Montiel dh 4 1 2 0

Walker c 4 0 1 0

Totals 41 6 14 5

Elkhart Central 000 123 000 0 - 6 14 2

Warsaw 400 020 000 1 - 7 5 1

E - Walker, Lovely, Riley. 2B - Kloosterman, Walker, Walmer. HR -ÊCooper, Nelson, Stanley. CS - Montiel, Siebenmorgen. SB -ÊRiley. Sac - Cooper, Walker. PB -ÊSiebenmorgen.

IP H R ER BB SO

Warsaw

Lankford 4.0 4 3 3 4 1

Augustine 1.0 4 3 3 1 1

Grimm 2.0 3 0 0 0 2

Nelson, W 3.0 3 0 0 0 2

Elkhart Central

Kloosterman, L 9.0 7 7 5 7 13

WP - Kloosterman, Lankford. HB -ÊKloosterman 3. [[In-content Ad]]