Tiger Baseball Team Falls To Penn In Home Opener
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Cut short because of darkness, Warsaw's home opener Monday was anything but short on action.
A game that featured 10 extra-base hits, a thrilling rally by the home team and an ejection of the visting team's coach, Warsaw fell 12-10 to Penn in five innings.
After giving up eight runs in the first inning and trailing 9-0 in the second, the host Tigers got singles from Kyle Conrad, Hans Griepentrog and Tyler Stouder to load the bases with one out.
Senior short stop Sean Alderfer then stepped up to the plate and ripped a triple that cleared the bases and started a Tiger rally that produced five hits and four runs in the inning.
After giving up just one hit in the third, the Tigers started the home half of the inning with back-to-back doubles from junior first baseman Jordan Williams and freshman third baseman Derek Freds. Conrad followed with a single and Alderfer later hit a double as the Tigers cut Penn's lead to one, 9-8.
"We showed a lot of toughness," said Warsaw coach Will Shepherd. "They showed character and hung in there and battled with a top five team. We're really trying to play at a high level, and we need to work on a lot of little things."
As if things weren't going bad enough at that point for the Kingsmen, skipper Greg Dikos was ejected after an argument with the home plate official and the Tigers knotted the game at nine when Jeremy Sharp drove in Alderfer.
All totaled, the Tigers scored five runs on five hits in the third.
The two teams combined for three hits in the fourth inning but didn't produce a run until Kingsmen senior second baseman Wade Iams broke the tie with a shot over the leftfield fence off Conrad, who replaced starting pitcher Brandon LaFollette with two outs in the first.
Penn added two more runs in the inning and held the Tigers to one score in the home half before the game was called due to darkness.
"It was a tale of two cities," said Shepherd. "Give our kids credit. The easiest thing to do when you're down 9-0 is to pack it up and quit, but they showed toughness and hung in there. Give Penn credit, they were flat out hitting line drives. They wanted to come here and win and they showed that. They got off the bus and hit the ball from the get-go."
The Kingsmen went through the entire batting order in the first inning, producing seven hits, including three doubles, to get their eight runs off LaFollette.
LaFollette, who later made two running catches in center field, made his first pitching start of the year after a forearm injury two weeks ago.
"Obviously, we were all excited for Brandon," said Shepherd. "He injured his forearm a couple weeks ago, and we wanted to do the right thing so we waited and let him pitch the home opener. He was throwing strikes, it was just one of those things where Penn got off the bus and hit the ball and we weren't."
Conrad took the loss for Warsaw, pitching 3 2-3 innings. He gave up four hits, two runs and walked three. Sharp pitched the last two outs of the game, giving up three hits and two runs.
LaFollette was 3 for 4 at the plate for Warsaw, which fell to 1-2 on the season. Freds, Conrad, Williams and Alderfer all had two hits for the Tigers, who pounded out four doubles and a triple.
Chad Emberton pitched the final three innings of the game, giving up five hits and three runs, and got the win on the mound for the Kingsmen, who were ranked No. 3 to start the season but improved to just 1-2 with last night's victory.
Senior Brian Forray pitched the first two innings for Penn, giving up 10 hits and seven runs. He also gave up one walk and struck out one.
Junior Kyle Schultz led the Kingsmen at the plate, going 3 for 3 and scoring two runs. Brenden Stines and Daniel Becraft had two hits each.
The Tigers now hit the road for a four-game stretch that starts Wednesday at South Bend Clay and then takes them to Huntington North Thursday and to Columbia City Saturday for a doubleheader.
PENN 12, WARSAW 10 (5 innings)
Penn AB R H RBI
Iams 2b 3 2 1 1
Schultz 1b 3 2 3 1
Strefling ss 2 1 1 0
Spitaels 2 3 1 2
Stines 4 0 2 1
Becraft dh 2 1 2 1
Lilley lf 2 1 1 2
Moody c 3 1 1 1
O'Connell cf 3 1 1 0
Forray p 0 0 0 0
Emberton 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 12 13 9
Warsaw AB R H RBI
Alderfer ss 3 2 2 4
Sharp 2b 2 0 1 2
LaFollette p 4 0 3 0
Sherman cf 2 0 0 0
Williams 1b 3 1 2 0
Freds 3b 3 1 2 1
Conrad lf 3 2 2 1
Griepentrog rf 2 2 1 0
Stouder c 3 2 2 0
Totals 25 10 15 8
Penn (1-2) 810 03 - 12 13 3
Warsaw (1-2) 045 01 - 10 15 3
2B - Lilley, Moody, Schultz, Williams, Freds, Alderfer, Stouder. 3B - Alderfer. HR - Iams.
IP H R BB SO
Penn
Forray 2 10 7 1 1
Emberton (3) (W, 1-0) 3 5 3 0 0
Warsaw
LaFollette 2/3 6 8 1 1
Conrad (1, L) 3 2/3 4 2 3 0
Sharp (5) 2/3 3 2 0 0 [[In-content Ad]]
Cut short because of darkness, Warsaw's home opener Monday was anything but short on action.
A game that featured 10 extra-base hits, a thrilling rally by the home team and an ejection of the visting team's coach, Warsaw fell 12-10 to Penn in five innings.
After giving up eight runs in the first inning and trailing 9-0 in the second, the host Tigers got singles from Kyle Conrad, Hans Griepentrog and Tyler Stouder to load the bases with one out.
Senior short stop Sean Alderfer then stepped up to the plate and ripped a triple that cleared the bases and started a Tiger rally that produced five hits and four runs in the inning.
After giving up just one hit in the third, the Tigers started the home half of the inning with back-to-back doubles from junior first baseman Jordan Williams and freshman third baseman Derek Freds. Conrad followed with a single and Alderfer later hit a double as the Tigers cut Penn's lead to one, 9-8.
"We showed a lot of toughness," said Warsaw coach Will Shepherd. "They showed character and hung in there and battled with a top five team. We're really trying to play at a high level, and we need to work on a lot of little things."
As if things weren't going bad enough at that point for the Kingsmen, skipper Greg Dikos was ejected after an argument with the home plate official and the Tigers knotted the game at nine when Jeremy Sharp drove in Alderfer.
All totaled, the Tigers scored five runs on five hits in the third.
The two teams combined for three hits in the fourth inning but didn't produce a run until Kingsmen senior second baseman Wade Iams broke the tie with a shot over the leftfield fence off Conrad, who replaced starting pitcher Brandon LaFollette with two outs in the first.
Penn added two more runs in the inning and held the Tigers to one score in the home half before the game was called due to darkness.
"It was a tale of two cities," said Shepherd. "Give our kids credit. The easiest thing to do when you're down 9-0 is to pack it up and quit, but they showed toughness and hung in there. Give Penn credit, they were flat out hitting line drives. They wanted to come here and win and they showed that. They got off the bus and hit the ball from the get-go."
The Kingsmen went through the entire batting order in the first inning, producing seven hits, including three doubles, to get their eight runs off LaFollette.
LaFollette, who later made two running catches in center field, made his first pitching start of the year after a forearm injury two weeks ago.
"Obviously, we were all excited for Brandon," said Shepherd. "He injured his forearm a couple weeks ago, and we wanted to do the right thing so we waited and let him pitch the home opener. He was throwing strikes, it was just one of those things where Penn got off the bus and hit the ball and we weren't."
Conrad took the loss for Warsaw, pitching 3 2-3 innings. He gave up four hits, two runs and walked three. Sharp pitched the last two outs of the game, giving up three hits and two runs.
LaFollette was 3 for 4 at the plate for Warsaw, which fell to 1-2 on the season. Freds, Conrad, Williams and Alderfer all had two hits for the Tigers, who pounded out four doubles and a triple.
Chad Emberton pitched the final three innings of the game, giving up five hits and three runs, and got the win on the mound for the Kingsmen, who were ranked No. 3 to start the season but improved to just 1-2 with last night's victory.
Senior Brian Forray pitched the first two innings for Penn, giving up 10 hits and seven runs. He also gave up one walk and struck out one.
Junior Kyle Schultz led the Kingsmen at the plate, going 3 for 3 and scoring two runs. Brenden Stines and Daniel Becraft had two hits each.
The Tigers now hit the road for a four-game stretch that starts Wednesday at South Bend Clay and then takes them to Huntington North Thursday and to Columbia City Saturday for a doubleheader.
PENN 12, WARSAW 10 (5 innings)
Penn AB R H RBI
Iams 2b 3 2 1 1
Schultz 1b 3 2 3 1
Strefling ss 2 1 1 0
Spitaels 2 3 1 2
Stines 4 0 2 1
Becraft dh 2 1 2 1
Lilley lf 2 1 1 2
Moody c 3 1 1 1
O'Connell cf 3 1 1 0
Forray p 0 0 0 0
Emberton 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 12 13 9
Warsaw AB R H RBI
Alderfer ss 3 2 2 4
Sharp 2b 2 0 1 2
LaFollette p 4 0 3 0
Sherman cf 2 0 0 0
Williams 1b 3 1 2 0
Freds 3b 3 1 2 1
Conrad lf 3 2 2 1
Griepentrog rf 2 2 1 0
Stouder c 3 2 2 0
Totals 25 10 15 8
Penn (1-2) 810 03 - 12 13 3
Warsaw (1-2) 045 01 - 10 15 3
2B - Lilley, Moody, Schultz, Williams, Freds, Alderfer, Stouder. 3B - Alderfer. HR - Iams.
IP H R BB SO
Penn
Forray 2 10 7 1 1
Emberton (3) (W, 1-0) 3 5 3 0 0
Warsaw
LaFollette 2/3 6 8 1 1
Conrad (1, L) 3 2/3 4 2 3 0
Sharp (5) 2/3 3 2 0 0 [[In-content Ad]]