Tigers Down NorthWood For Seventh Straight Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
He said his team's play was sluggish and its base running was lousy, yet Warsaw varsity baseball coach Will Shepherd was answering questions about how his Tigers won their seventh straight game Wednesday.
Answering questions about how his team hit four towering home runs.
Answering questions about how his team hasn't lost a Northern Lakes Conference game since his current senior players were sophomores.
On a day when the wind gave the center field flags a work out, wrestling them back and forth, Warsaw overcame that sluggish play and lousy base running with their four towering home runs and a pair of Major League-like defensive stops by seniors Brandon LaFollette and Jeremy Sharp to pick up an 8-3 win over NLC foe NorthWood.
After NorthWood left the bases loaded in the third inning and then left two stranded on base in the fourth, the Panthers failed to produce a base runner in the fifth inning with the host Tigers leading 5-1.
Junior center fielder Andy Flickinger, the clean up hitter, led off the fifth by pop fly that was caught, and then Tiger second baseman Sharp made a diving stop of a hot ground ball from T.J. Pugh and threw him out at first.
Not to be outdone was LaFollette, Warsaw's strong-armed, heavy-hitting center fielder who will play at Purdue next season. Sophomore Kyle Lehman sent a line shot to the outfield but the speedy LaFollette robbed him of a hit with a brilliant diving catch that drew much applause from those in attendance.
"We were looking for a momentum change, and we got that when Jeremy Sharp and Brandon LaFollette made those plays," said Shepherd, whose Tigers improved to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in the NLC. "NorthWood was knocking on the door, they put a lot of people on base, and we were able to stop them."
NorthWood came knocking in the sixth inning as Cody Burkholder and Cody Yerger led off the inning with singles and then scored to cut Warsaw's lead to 5-3, but after a pitching change put left-handed senior Hans Griepentrog on the mound the Tigers put NorthWood's comeback to rest and tacked on three runs of their own.
Senior Mark Sherman, who got the win on the mound for the Tigers after going five innings and giving up 10 hits and three runs, led off the bottom of the sixth with a single.
Freshman third baseman Derek Freds batted next and reached on a fielder's choice. Freds then scored his third run of the game when Griepentrog sent a two-run blast over the center field fence off starting pitcher Kiser Chamberlin for a 7-3 Warsaw lead.
Tiger senior Samuel Weaver, who came off the bench to play first base, then sent the first pitch of his only at-bat towering over the center field fence to account for the final 8-3 score.
After Flickinger replaced Chamberlin on the mound and the Panthers found their way out of the inning, Griepentrog struck out Pugh, Lehman popped out and Burkholder fell victim to another Griepentrog strike out to give the Tigers their 19th straight NLC win.
The last conference team to beat the Tigers was Northridge, the very team Warsaw will host Wednesday.
"I told the kids at the start of the year that the championship goes through Warsaw," Shepherd said. "Until someone beats us we're the champions. I take pride in the NLC, and it means a lot to me to win in the NLC. I've been around a while, and any time you're labeled a champion, that deserves respect. I hope the kids take things seriously, we're gonna get a major test from Northridge Wednesday. They're a solid club."
NorthWood, which left 10 runners stranded on base, fell to 2-9 overall and 0-3 in the NLC.
Griepentrog had a double and a home run for Warsaw, while Sean Alderfer, Jordan Williams and Freds also had two hits each.
Williams led off the Tiger half of the third inning with a first-pitch home run that made the score 2-1, while Alderfer led off the fourth with a first-pitch home run to make it 3-1.
All totaled, the Tigers pounded out 12 hits and had two errors in the field.
NorthWood, which had 10 hits and no errors in the field, were led at the plate by two singles each from Yerger and Chamberlin.
Chamberlin took the loss for NorthWood, pitching 5 1/3 innings and giving up 12 hits and eight runs.
WARSAW 8, NORTHWOOD 3
NorthWood AB R H RBI
Burnett ss 4 0 1 1
Mast 2b 1 0 0 0
Brown c 3 0 1 1
Flickinger cf 4 0 1 0
Pugh 1b 4 0 1 0
Lehman lf 4 1 1 0
Burkholder rf 4 1 1 0
Yerger dh 2 1 2 1
Chamberlin p 3 0 2 0
Yoder 3b 0 0 0 0
Totals 29 3 10 3
Warsaw AB R H RBI
Cox lf 3 0 1 0
Sharp 2b 4 0 0 0
Alderfer ss 3 1 2 1
LaFollette cf 3 1 1 0
Sherman p 3 0 1 0
Freds 3b 2 3 2 1
Griepentrog rf 3 1 2 3
Williams 1b 2 1 2 2
Stouder c 2 0 0 0
Weaver 1 1 1 1
Chapman 0 0 0 0
Totals 26 8 12 8
NW 010 002 0 - 3 10 0
War 011 303 X - 8 12 2
2B - Griepentrog. HR - Williams, Alderfer, Griepentrog, Weaver.
IP H R BB SO
NorthWood
Chamberlin (L, 1-3) 5.1 12 8 0 0
Flickinger (6) .2 0 0 2 1
Warsaw
Sherman (W, 3-1) 5 10 3 2 1
Griepentrog (6) 1 0 0 0 2 [[In-content Ad]]
He said his team's play was sluggish and its base running was lousy, yet Warsaw varsity baseball coach Will Shepherd was answering questions about how his Tigers won their seventh straight game Wednesday.
Answering questions about how his team hit four towering home runs.
Answering questions about how his team hasn't lost a Northern Lakes Conference game since his current senior players were sophomores.
On a day when the wind gave the center field flags a work out, wrestling them back and forth, Warsaw overcame that sluggish play and lousy base running with their four towering home runs and a pair of Major League-like defensive stops by seniors Brandon LaFollette and Jeremy Sharp to pick up an 8-3 win over NLC foe NorthWood.
After NorthWood left the bases loaded in the third inning and then left two stranded on base in the fourth, the Panthers failed to produce a base runner in the fifth inning with the host Tigers leading 5-1.
Junior center fielder Andy Flickinger, the clean up hitter, led off the fifth by pop fly that was caught, and then Tiger second baseman Sharp made a diving stop of a hot ground ball from T.J. Pugh and threw him out at first.
Not to be outdone was LaFollette, Warsaw's strong-armed, heavy-hitting center fielder who will play at Purdue next season. Sophomore Kyle Lehman sent a line shot to the outfield but the speedy LaFollette robbed him of a hit with a brilliant diving catch that drew much applause from those in attendance.
"We were looking for a momentum change, and we got that when Jeremy Sharp and Brandon LaFollette made those plays," said Shepherd, whose Tigers improved to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in the NLC. "NorthWood was knocking on the door, they put a lot of people on base, and we were able to stop them."
NorthWood came knocking in the sixth inning as Cody Burkholder and Cody Yerger led off the inning with singles and then scored to cut Warsaw's lead to 5-3, but after a pitching change put left-handed senior Hans Griepentrog on the mound the Tigers put NorthWood's comeback to rest and tacked on three runs of their own.
Senior Mark Sherman, who got the win on the mound for the Tigers after going five innings and giving up 10 hits and three runs, led off the bottom of the sixth with a single.
Freshman third baseman Derek Freds batted next and reached on a fielder's choice. Freds then scored his third run of the game when Griepentrog sent a two-run blast over the center field fence off starting pitcher Kiser Chamberlin for a 7-3 Warsaw lead.
Tiger senior Samuel Weaver, who came off the bench to play first base, then sent the first pitch of his only at-bat towering over the center field fence to account for the final 8-3 score.
After Flickinger replaced Chamberlin on the mound and the Panthers found their way out of the inning, Griepentrog struck out Pugh, Lehman popped out and Burkholder fell victim to another Griepentrog strike out to give the Tigers their 19th straight NLC win.
The last conference team to beat the Tigers was Northridge, the very team Warsaw will host Wednesday.
"I told the kids at the start of the year that the championship goes through Warsaw," Shepherd said. "Until someone beats us we're the champions. I take pride in the NLC, and it means a lot to me to win in the NLC. I've been around a while, and any time you're labeled a champion, that deserves respect. I hope the kids take things seriously, we're gonna get a major test from Northridge Wednesday. They're a solid club."
NorthWood, which left 10 runners stranded on base, fell to 2-9 overall and 0-3 in the NLC.
Griepentrog had a double and a home run for Warsaw, while Sean Alderfer, Jordan Williams and Freds also had two hits each.
Williams led off the Tiger half of the third inning with a first-pitch home run that made the score 2-1, while Alderfer led off the fourth with a first-pitch home run to make it 3-1.
All totaled, the Tigers pounded out 12 hits and had two errors in the field.
NorthWood, which had 10 hits and no errors in the field, were led at the plate by two singles each from Yerger and Chamberlin.
Chamberlin took the loss for NorthWood, pitching 5 1/3 innings and giving up 12 hits and eight runs.
WARSAW 8, NORTHWOOD 3
NorthWood AB R H RBI
Burnett ss 4 0 1 1
Mast 2b 1 0 0 0
Brown c 3 0 1 1
Flickinger cf 4 0 1 0
Pugh 1b 4 0 1 0
Lehman lf 4 1 1 0
Burkholder rf 4 1 1 0
Yerger dh 2 1 2 1
Chamberlin p 3 0 2 0
Yoder 3b 0 0 0 0
Totals 29 3 10 3
Warsaw AB R H RBI
Cox lf 3 0 1 0
Sharp 2b 4 0 0 0
Alderfer ss 3 1 2 1
LaFollette cf 3 1 1 0
Sherman p 3 0 1 0
Freds 3b 2 3 2 1
Griepentrog rf 3 1 2 3
Williams 1b 2 1 2 2
Stouder c 2 0 0 0
Weaver 1 1 1 1
Chapman 0 0 0 0
Totals 26 8 12 8
NW 010 002 0 - 3 10 0
War 011 303 X - 8 12 2
2B - Griepentrog. HR - Williams, Alderfer, Griepentrog, Weaver.
IP H R BB SO
NorthWood
Chamberlin (L, 1-3) 5.1 12 8 0 0
Flickinger (6) .2 0 0 2 1
Warsaw
Sherman (W, 3-1) 5 10 3 2 1
Griepentrog (6) 1 0 0 0 2 [[In-content Ad]]