Tiger Baseball Team Shuts Out Panthers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
A game in which 80-degree temperatures and sunny skies gave way to windy conditions and darkening clouds, senior pitcher Nathaniel Fitzsimmons was a constant bright spot for Warsaw's varsity baseball team Wednesday afternoon.
Fitzsimmons has struggled on the mound this season as a reliever, so Tiger skipper Will Shepherd decided to try him as a starter against visiting Northern Lakes Conference opponent NorthWood.
Shepherd got the response he was looking for, as Fitzsimmons, who missed his sophomore and junior seasons with a knee injury, scattered five hits in seven innings of work and pitched the Tigers to a 4-0 win over the Panthers.
"In relief, he just walked too many people," said Shepherd, whose Tigers improved to 7-11 overall and 6-4 in the NLC. "His control was questionable. I wanted to see if starting him was better than him being in a relief situation. He had great command from the first pitch on."
Fitzsimmons retired the first six NorthWood batters he faced and didn't give up a hit until junior Kyle Lehman led off the fourth inning with a single.
In pitching the complete game and getting his first decision of the year, Fitzsimmons walked one and struck out five.
"He missed two seasons with a bad knee injury," said Shepherd. "It was bone on bone. They had to do some serious stuff. He was really fortunate to be able to play football this past fall. I knew he had a chance to help us out playing baseball in the spring. I'm really proud of him for sticking with it."
The Tigers put what turned out to be the winning run on the board in the first inning.
Ryan Cox led off the bottom of the first with a single, but found himself in a double play when Kyler Mylin's bunt attempt turned into a pop-up.
Tyler Stouder, Warsaw's catcher and third batter in the lineup, pounded out a double and then scored when designated hitter Derek Freds followed suit with a double.
Senior first baseman Jordan Williams had Warsaw's only other extra-base hit, a double in the third inning, an inning in which the Tigers scored three runs.
Mylin reached on an error with one out in the third for the Tigers, and then scored to make it to 2-0 when Stouder pounded out a single.
Freds then reached on an error, and Stouder stole home to up Warsaw's lead to 3-0.
Mark Sudhoff tallied the game's final RBI, using a sacrifice fly to score Freds.
While the Tigers pounded out three doubles in the win, they could have scored even more runs but two bunts turned into pop-ups that were caught.
"We got a few hits to let us off the hook," said Shepherd. "We just didn't execute early. We didn't execute a couple bunt-and-runs, but we came back and made some plays."
Complimenting Fitzsimmons' performance on the mound was Warsaw's defensive play.
An area that the Tigers have struggled with this season, their defense continued to show improvement Wednesday afternoon.
Warsaw, which earlier in the season was averaging nearly four errors per contest, committed just one against NorthWood.
"We're improved defensively," said Shepherd. "It's not where we want to be, but it's a step up from where we've been."
Sudhoff, playing shortstop, set the tone early for Warsaw's defensive play, making a diving stop and then throwing out Brock Armington for the second out of the game.
Mylin also made an impressive out from his rightfield position, running down a flyball and making the catch.
Shepherd also noted the defensive play around first base by Williams.
"Jordan Williams has given us good defense around first base all year," said Shepherd. "Defensively, at first base, he's as good as we've had around here. We've had some good ones around here, Jamie Bowers, Hoss Knepper. His defense is as good as any of them."
Warsaw tallied seven hits in the win, while NorthWood had five.
Derek Burnett had NorthWood's only extra-base hit of the game, a double in the fifth inning.
Lehman took the loss on the mound for the Panthers. He pitched six innings, giving up seven hits and three walks. He struck out two.
The Tigers are in action again Friday at NLC foe Northridge, and then travel to Carroll for a doubleheader Saturday.
WARSAW 4, NORTHWOOD 0
NorthWood
AB R H RBI
Lehman p 3 0 1 0
Armington lf 3 0 1 0
Sheetz dh 3 0 1 0
Hollar 2b 3 0 0 0
Flickinger cf 3 0 1 0
Burnett ss 3 0 1 0
Estep c 1 0 0 0
Mast 1b 2 0 0 0
Chamberlin 3b 2 0 0 0
Yoder rf 0 0 0 0
Totals 23 0 5 0
Warsaw
AB R H RBI
Cox cf 3 0 1 0
Mylin rf 4 1 0 0
Stouder c 3 2 2 1
Freds dh 3 1 1 1
Sudhoff ss 2 0 1 1
Williams 1b 2 0 1 0
Lancaster 3b 2 0 0 0
Brumbaugh 2b 2 0 0 0
Chapman lf 3 0 1 0
Fitzsimmons p 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 4 7 3
NorthWood (7-10, 3-7) 000 000 0 - 0 5 3
Warsaw (#7-11, 6-4) 103 000 X - 4 7 1
2B - Burnett, Stouder, Freds, Williams.
IP H R ER BB SO
NorthWood
Lehman (2-4) 6 7 4 2 3 2
Warsaw
Fitzsimmons (1-0) 7 5 0 0 1 5 [[In-content Ad]]
A game in which 80-degree temperatures and sunny skies gave way to windy conditions and darkening clouds, senior pitcher Nathaniel Fitzsimmons was a constant bright spot for Warsaw's varsity baseball team Wednesday afternoon.
Fitzsimmons has struggled on the mound this season as a reliever, so Tiger skipper Will Shepherd decided to try him as a starter against visiting Northern Lakes Conference opponent NorthWood.
Shepherd got the response he was looking for, as Fitzsimmons, who missed his sophomore and junior seasons with a knee injury, scattered five hits in seven innings of work and pitched the Tigers to a 4-0 win over the Panthers.
"In relief, he just walked too many people," said Shepherd, whose Tigers improved to 7-11 overall and 6-4 in the NLC. "His control was questionable. I wanted to see if starting him was better than him being in a relief situation. He had great command from the first pitch on."
Fitzsimmons retired the first six NorthWood batters he faced and didn't give up a hit until junior Kyle Lehman led off the fourth inning with a single.
In pitching the complete game and getting his first decision of the year, Fitzsimmons walked one and struck out five.
"He missed two seasons with a bad knee injury," said Shepherd. "It was bone on bone. They had to do some serious stuff. He was really fortunate to be able to play football this past fall. I knew he had a chance to help us out playing baseball in the spring. I'm really proud of him for sticking with it."
The Tigers put what turned out to be the winning run on the board in the first inning.
Ryan Cox led off the bottom of the first with a single, but found himself in a double play when Kyler Mylin's bunt attempt turned into a pop-up.
Tyler Stouder, Warsaw's catcher and third batter in the lineup, pounded out a double and then scored when designated hitter Derek Freds followed suit with a double.
Senior first baseman Jordan Williams had Warsaw's only other extra-base hit, a double in the third inning, an inning in which the Tigers scored three runs.
Mylin reached on an error with one out in the third for the Tigers, and then scored to make it to 2-0 when Stouder pounded out a single.
Freds then reached on an error, and Stouder stole home to up Warsaw's lead to 3-0.
Mark Sudhoff tallied the game's final RBI, using a sacrifice fly to score Freds.
While the Tigers pounded out three doubles in the win, they could have scored even more runs but two bunts turned into pop-ups that were caught.
"We got a few hits to let us off the hook," said Shepherd. "We just didn't execute early. We didn't execute a couple bunt-and-runs, but we came back and made some plays."
Complimenting Fitzsimmons' performance on the mound was Warsaw's defensive play.
An area that the Tigers have struggled with this season, their defense continued to show improvement Wednesday afternoon.
Warsaw, which earlier in the season was averaging nearly four errors per contest, committed just one against NorthWood.
"We're improved defensively," said Shepherd. "It's not where we want to be, but it's a step up from where we've been."
Sudhoff, playing shortstop, set the tone early for Warsaw's defensive play, making a diving stop and then throwing out Brock Armington for the second out of the game.
Mylin also made an impressive out from his rightfield position, running down a flyball and making the catch.
Shepherd also noted the defensive play around first base by Williams.
"Jordan Williams has given us good defense around first base all year," said Shepherd. "Defensively, at first base, he's as good as we've had around here. We've had some good ones around here, Jamie Bowers, Hoss Knepper. His defense is as good as any of them."
Warsaw tallied seven hits in the win, while NorthWood had five.
Derek Burnett had NorthWood's only extra-base hit of the game, a double in the fifth inning.
Lehman took the loss on the mound for the Panthers. He pitched six innings, giving up seven hits and three walks. He struck out two.
The Tigers are in action again Friday at NLC foe Northridge, and then travel to Carroll for a doubleheader Saturday.
WARSAW 4, NORTHWOOD 0
NorthWood
AB R H RBI
Lehman p 3 0 1 0
Armington lf 3 0 1 0
Sheetz dh 3 0 1 0
Hollar 2b 3 0 0 0
Flickinger cf 3 0 1 0
Burnett ss 3 0 1 0
Estep c 1 0 0 0
Mast 1b 2 0 0 0
Chamberlin 3b 2 0 0 0
Yoder rf 0 0 0 0
Totals 23 0 5 0
Warsaw
AB R H RBI
Cox cf 3 0 1 0
Mylin rf 4 1 0 0
Stouder c 3 2 2 1
Freds dh 3 1 1 1
Sudhoff ss 2 0 1 1
Williams 1b 2 0 1 0
Lancaster 3b 2 0 0 0
Brumbaugh 2b 2 0 0 0
Chapman lf 3 0 1 0
Fitzsimmons p 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 4 7 3
NorthWood (7-10, 3-7) 000 000 0 - 0 5 3
Warsaw (#7-11, 6-4) 103 000 X - 4 7 1
2B - Burnett, Stouder, Freds, Williams.
IP H R ER BB SO
NorthWood
Lehman (2-4) 6 7 4 2 3 2
Warsaw
Fitzsimmons (1-0) 7 5 0 0 1 5 [[In-content Ad]]