Tigers Fall To Raiders In Baseball Sectional Final
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
After losing 19-5 and 12-2 to Northridge in Northern Lakes Conference play, Warsaw looked like a completely different team this time around, though the final result was a 3-0 loss in the championship game of Class 4A Sectional 4 at Elkhart Memorial High School.
Warsaw displayed strong pitching and great defense, holding Northridge to just four hits.
The Tigers, who pounded out five hits in the game, just never found their stride offensively.
“Our kids played hard,” said Hepler, whose team finished the season with a 9-19 record. “We just didn’t get a break on offense. Another base hit here or there and the outcome could have changed a little bit.
“You gotta credit Northridge for making good pitches when the pressure was on, turning a double play, that’s tough to do. We messed up a squeeze play. We picked the wrong day to hit a lot of pop-ups and fly balls. The ball wasn’t going anywhere, as the wind was showing. The left-on-base was the story of our season, and it came back and got us again today.”
The Tigers, who left seven runners on base, had a pair of golden opportunities to score in the contest.
With the contest still scoreless, Warsaw had runners on first and third base with no outs in the top of the third inning.
A popup resulted in the first out, and then a missed squeeze bunt attempt ended in a double play.
Warsaw later had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning, but saw its rally attempt thwarted with another double play.
“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” said Hepler. “We tried to keep the pressure on them, and they just kept making plays, kept making pitches. Credit Northridge, they won it. Sometimes you just run up against that, and unfortunately that was today for us.”
The Raiders, who improved to 23-5 with their first sectional title since 2002, scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning.
Nick Hooley walked to start Northridge’s half of the inning, stole second and third, and then scored what turned out to be the winning run on a balk.
Landon Fisher and Payton Carson then plated runs with consecutive RBI singles to account for the final score.
With the win, Northridge advanced to Saturday’s LaPorte Regional, where it will play Chesterton in the day’s second semifinal.
The first semifinal game will pit the winner of the Munster Sectional against the winner of the Plymouth Sectional.
Plymouth and Penn battle in tonight’s title tilt in Plymouth, while Hammond Morton and Lake Central square off tonight at Munster.
Cole Baker had two hits for the Tigers Monday, while Brad Christenberry, Marselo Rodriguez and Blake Foreman had one each.
Rodriguez’s double was the game’s only extra-base hit.
Hooley, Fisher, Carson and Grant Miller had one hit each for the Raiders, who left six runners stranded.
Despite a strong outing on the mound, Kevin Hawley was charged with the pitching loss.
Hawley gave up three hits, three runs and two walks while striking out three in three innings of work.
He was replaced by Tyler LaFollette, who gave up one hit and three walks in three innings.
“I felt like Kevin and Tyler pitched great, kept us in the game,” said Hepler. “Things just kind of went a little haywire in the fourth inning, and I just felt like for momentum’s sake we needed to make a change, and Tyler stepped right in and did a good job shutting them down. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”
Southpaw Andy Ross was credited with the win after giving up five hits and four walks while striking out six in six innings of work.
Andrew Kennedy pitched the final inning and earned the save after striking out two and not giving up a hit or a walk.
With their season now over, the Tigers bid farewell to seven seniors – Brad Christenberry, Ethyn Bradley, Ryan Marshall, Jonathan Murphy, Hawley and LaFollette.
NORTHRIDGE 3, WARSAW 0
War 000 000 0 – 0
NR 000 300 X – 3
Warsaw – Kevin Hawley (L, 3IP, 3H, 3R, 2BB, 3K), Tyler LaFollette (3IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 0K)
Northridge – Andy Ross (W, 6IP, 5H, 0R, 4BB, 6K), Andrew Kennedy (S, 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K)
2B – Marselo Rodriguez (War)
Records: Warsaw 9-19, Northridge 23-5[[In-content Ad]]
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After losing 19-5 and 12-2 to Northridge in Northern Lakes Conference play, Warsaw looked like a completely different team this time around, though the final result was a 3-0 loss in the championship game of Class 4A Sectional 4 at Elkhart Memorial High School.
Warsaw displayed strong pitching and great defense, holding Northridge to just four hits.
The Tigers, who pounded out five hits in the game, just never found their stride offensively.
“Our kids played hard,” said Hepler, whose team finished the season with a 9-19 record. “We just didn’t get a break on offense. Another base hit here or there and the outcome could have changed a little bit.
“You gotta credit Northridge for making good pitches when the pressure was on, turning a double play, that’s tough to do. We messed up a squeeze play. We picked the wrong day to hit a lot of pop-ups and fly balls. The ball wasn’t going anywhere, as the wind was showing. The left-on-base was the story of our season, and it came back and got us again today.”
The Tigers, who left seven runners on base, had a pair of golden opportunities to score in the contest.
With the contest still scoreless, Warsaw had runners on first and third base with no outs in the top of the third inning.
A popup resulted in the first out, and then a missed squeeze bunt attempt ended in a double play.
Warsaw later had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning, but saw its rally attempt thwarted with another double play.
“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” said Hepler. “We tried to keep the pressure on them, and they just kept making plays, kept making pitches. Credit Northridge, they won it. Sometimes you just run up against that, and unfortunately that was today for us.”
The Raiders, who improved to 23-5 with their first sectional title since 2002, scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning.
Nick Hooley walked to start Northridge’s half of the inning, stole second and third, and then scored what turned out to be the winning run on a balk.
Landon Fisher and Payton Carson then plated runs with consecutive RBI singles to account for the final score.
With the win, Northridge advanced to Saturday’s LaPorte Regional, where it will play Chesterton in the day’s second semifinal.
The first semifinal game will pit the winner of the Munster Sectional against the winner of the Plymouth Sectional.
Plymouth and Penn battle in tonight’s title tilt in Plymouth, while Hammond Morton and Lake Central square off tonight at Munster.
Cole Baker had two hits for the Tigers Monday, while Brad Christenberry, Marselo Rodriguez and Blake Foreman had one each.
Rodriguez’s double was the game’s only extra-base hit.
Hooley, Fisher, Carson and Grant Miller had one hit each for the Raiders, who left six runners stranded.
Despite a strong outing on the mound, Kevin Hawley was charged with the pitching loss.
Hawley gave up three hits, three runs and two walks while striking out three in three innings of work.
He was replaced by Tyler LaFollette, who gave up one hit and three walks in three innings.
“I felt like Kevin and Tyler pitched great, kept us in the game,” said Hepler. “Things just kind of went a little haywire in the fourth inning, and I just felt like for momentum’s sake we needed to make a change, and Tyler stepped right in and did a good job shutting them down. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”
Southpaw Andy Ross was credited with the win after giving up five hits and four walks while striking out six in six innings of work.
Andrew Kennedy pitched the final inning and earned the save after striking out two and not giving up a hit or a walk.
With their season now over, the Tigers bid farewell to seven seniors – Brad Christenberry, Ethyn Bradley, Ryan Marshall, Jonathan Murphy, Hawley and LaFollette.
NORTHRIDGE 3, WARSAW 0
War 000 000 0 – 0
NR 000 300 X – 3
Warsaw – Kevin Hawley (L, 3IP, 3H, 3R, 2BB, 3K), Tyler LaFollette (3IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 0K)
Northridge – Andy Ross (W, 6IP, 5H, 0R, 4BB, 6K), Andrew Kennedy (S, 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K)
2B – Marselo Rodriguez (War)
Records: Warsaw 9-19, Northridge 23-5[[In-content Ad]]
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