SYRACUSE - The Warsaw Tigers got the prescription they needed on Wednesday. The Tigers had lost four games in a row, dating back to April 21 when they defeated Wawasee 10-1. So, facing the Warriors again seemed to be just what Warsaw needed, and, although it was not as easy as the first time, the Tigers won 10-4.

Wawasee, despite winning just three games all year, had come off of a 7-6 win over Concord and seemed to be playing much more solidly defensively. But it was the defense that spelled doom for the Warriors.

Warsaw jumped out to an early 5-1 lead through two innings with a four-run second and continued to add to that.

Shanna Smith walked, stole second, and scored on two wild pitches in the third to give the Tigers a 6-1 advantage.

Still leading 6-1 in the fifth, Warsaw had two baserunners on with two outs. Shannon Barger hit a hard grounder toward third base that got under the glove of Carly Beer and plated two more runs, but Wawasee was not done.

Megan King doubled with one out and Sara Frantz singled to center field, but King was thrown out at the plate. Warsaw then had back-to-back errors, and Angie Hoover singled to score one run. Heather Levernier hit a grounder to second base, but Rachel Liebsch overthrew first baseman, Barger. Barger scampered to get the ball, but two runs scored before she threw Hoover out at the plate for the second out of the inning to keep Wawasee four runs back.

Warsaw added two more runs in the seventh inning on three hits, an error and a hit batter to close out the scoring.

"Any win's a good win," Warsaw coach Rod Yoder said. "We had one inning where we let up three runs. We're not as strong with this rotation, with Shanna Smith on the mound. But, we're OK."

Wawasee dropped to 3-9 on the year, and Yoder can empathize.

"No disrespect, but Wawasee is not having a typical Wawasee type year. We went through it the last couple of years. When you lose and lose and lose, and even if you're playing well, it's easy to figure here comes another one," Yoder said. "You get to the point where you expect to lose, or you figure out ways to lose, or it just happens. For some reason, they're just not up this year."

Wawasee head coach Bo O'Dell was left scratching his head.

"We've been working on some things, and for some unknown reason, we just didn't get the job done tonight," O'Dell said. "Warsaw didn't hit anything hard, we just didn't make the simple, routine plays that we've been able to make the last four or five games."

The improvement, however, is still very evident as this Wawasee squad continues to try to get ready for the sectional.

"We have been playing very good ball the last four or five games," O'Dell said. "The last four innings, we played really great ball. It just took too much energy to try to get back into the game. As individuals, we had some players really shine and continue to improve. As long as we have players improving, we'll be OK. This might get us refocused to start that stretch drive."

Warsaw (6-8) will host Goshen Friday at 4:30 p.m. Wawasee (3-9) will be at Elkhart Memorial for the Charger Invitational Saturday at 9 a.m.

Warsaw's game with Concord on May 2 was called after seven innings and the game tied at 11. The game will be continued May 19 when Concord travels to Warsaw. [[In-content Ad]]