Warsaw Baseball Team Wins Season Opener
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
In more ways than one, the sun set on South Bend St. Joe High School's varsity baseball team Tuesday.
With the sun setting in the sky, it set on the Indians on the scoreboard as well, as Warsaw junior Matt Ransbottom scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a long out by teammate Bryan Brumbaugh.
St. Joe's batters went three-up, three-down in the top of the sixth, and the game was then called because of darkness, giving the host Tigers a 3-2 win in the season opener for both teams.
"That was our goal," Warsaw coach Will Shepherd said of winning the game. "I didn't care how pretty it was, I wanted the kids to battle and compete. It wasn't the prettiest, but they did that. We made a couple mental mistakes, but they didn't kill us. And we took advantage of a couple of our opponent's mistakes."
Tuesday afternoon's game at Tiger Field was scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. Because St. Joe arrived late, the first pitch was thrown about 50 minutes late, leading to the game being called early because of darnkness.
Warsaw's field does not have lights. High school games, which are normally seven innings, are official after five innings.
After Warsaw starting pitcher Mark Sudhoff faced just four batters in the first inning - walking one and getting three others to ground out - the Tigers put two runs on the board in the home half of the inning.
Senior Tyler Stouder, Warsaw's second batter in the lineup, singled and was joined on the bases by classmate Ryan Cox, who reached on an error.
Sophomore Derek Freds, who started at third base last year as a freshman, played the role of the designated hitter last night as he is still recovering from a broken leg during the football season.
In his first attempt Tuesday, Freds ripped a single that scored Stouder. Sudhoff then stepped to the plate and ripped a double to the right-centerfield fence that scored Cox, but Sudhoff got caught trying to steal third, ending the inning.
Sudhoff pitched 2-1/3 innings for the Tigers, giving up one hit, one run and four walks. Sudhoff struck out four Indian batters.
"Overall, I was happy with Mark," said Shepherd. "He was able to mix it up and had good stuff on his fastball. We got off to a good start. And I'm proud of the way Matt Ransbottom came in and pitched."
Ransbottom pitched the final 2-2/3 innings and was awarded the win. Ransbottom gave up two hits and one run, while striking out one.
St. Joe scored its first run in the third inning after Sudhoff walked the bases loaded.
Sudhoff faced four batters in the inning, striking out one and walking four.
John Davis scored for the Indians when Campbell grounded him in.
St. Joe tied the game at 2-all in the fifth inning when Ryan Neuland hit a home run.
In all, Warsaw pounded out five hits, while St. Joe had three.
Stouder led Warsaw with two hits, while Cox, Sudhoff and Jordan Williams had one hit each.
The Tigers are in action again today when they host South Bend Clay at 4:30 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]
In more ways than one, the sun set on South Bend St. Joe High School's varsity baseball team Tuesday.
With the sun setting in the sky, it set on the Indians on the scoreboard as well, as Warsaw junior Matt Ransbottom scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a long out by teammate Bryan Brumbaugh.
St. Joe's batters went three-up, three-down in the top of the sixth, and the game was then called because of darkness, giving the host Tigers a 3-2 win in the season opener for both teams.
"That was our goal," Warsaw coach Will Shepherd said of winning the game. "I didn't care how pretty it was, I wanted the kids to battle and compete. It wasn't the prettiest, but they did that. We made a couple mental mistakes, but they didn't kill us. And we took advantage of a couple of our opponent's mistakes."
Tuesday afternoon's game at Tiger Field was scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. Because St. Joe arrived late, the first pitch was thrown about 50 minutes late, leading to the game being called early because of darnkness.
Warsaw's field does not have lights. High school games, which are normally seven innings, are official after five innings.
After Warsaw starting pitcher Mark Sudhoff faced just four batters in the first inning - walking one and getting three others to ground out - the Tigers put two runs on the board in the home half of the inning.
Senior Tyler Stouder, Warsaw's second batter in the lineup, singled and was joined on the bases by classmate Ryan Cox, who reached on an error.
Sophomore Derek Freds, who started at third base last year as a freshman, played the role of the designated hitter last night as he is still recovering from a broken leg during the football season.
In his first attempt Tuesday, Freds ripped a single that scored Stouder. Sudhoff then stepped to the plate and ripped a double to the right-centerfield fence that scored Cox, but Sudhoff got caught trying to steal third, ending the inning.
Sudhoff pitched 2-1/3 innings for the Tigers, giving up one hit, one run and four walks. Sudhoff struck out four Indian batters.
"Overall, I was happy with Mark," said Shepherd. "He was able to mix it up and had good stuff on his fastball. We got off to a good start. And I'm proud of the way Matt Ransbottom came in and pitched."
Ransbottom pitched the final 2-2/3 innings and was awarded the win. Ransbottom gave up two hits and one run, while striking out one.
St. Joe scored its first run in the third inning after Sudhoff walked the bases loaded.
Sudhoff faced four batters in the inning, striking out one and walking four.
John Davis scored for the Indians when Campbell grounded him in.
St. Joe tied the game at 2-all in the fifth inning when Ryan Neuland hit a home run.
In all, Warsaw pounded out five hits, while St. Joe had three.
Stouder led Warsaw with two hits, while Cox, Sudhoff and Jordan Williams had one hit each.
The Tigers are in action again today when they host South Bend Clay at 4:30 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]