NAPPANEE - In a baseball game that saw five double plays, two home runs and some out-of-the-ordinary rulings, Warsaw topped NorthWood 6-3 in Nappanee Monday evening.

After a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, the Panthers stepped to the plate ready to hit. Brock Doty pounded the first pitch for a stand-up double. Then Todd McDonald hit a two-out single to bring Doty home.

With a runner on first, Dustin Potts stepped to the plate and hit a two-run homer to put NorthWood up 3-0 going into the second inning.

"I was disappointed in the way we came out in the first inning," said Warsaw coach Will Shepherd. "We were not ready to play and they jumped on us. They (NorthWood) hit the ball hard and went up 3-0 after the first."

"We had faced Lankford before so we knew what to expect," said NorthWood coach Alan Burt. "We wanted to sit back and attack the ball early. We just seemed to get out of our rhythm as the game went on."

Steve Siebenmorgen started the Tiger second inning with a single, but his progress was stopped when Craig Lankford hit a ground ball to the shortstop. Siebenmorgen was called for interference on the play, and Warsaw suddenly had two outs and no runners on base. NorthWood successfully got the next out and headed for the bottom of the second still holding a three-run lead.

After a scoreless bottom of the second, Jon Leininger walked to start the third inning for Warsaw. Zach Nelson then hit a single and Jon Walmer hit a sacrifice bunt to move Leininger to thrid and Walmer to second.

A Pat Riley double scored two, and the Tigers were within one run of a tied ball game. Joe Stanley took one for the team to reach first, and Siebenmorgen hit a single to drive Riley across and tie the game at 3-3.

The Panthers got out of the inning without relinquishing the lead, but as they headed into the bottom of the inning, they had their work cut out for them. Doty started the bottom of the third with a single, but that would be the only NorthWood hit of the inning as the Tigers sat the next three batters down 1-2-3.

Warsaw threatened to take the lead in the fourth inning after Leininger and Nelson both hit singles and advanced on another Walmer sacrifice. However, the Panthers had other plans as Nate Brown caught a pop fly by Riley and relayed the throw to home to tag Mike VanLaeken out at the plate. NorthWood had turned its second double play of the game and ended the inning without allowing Warsaw to score.

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth, Warsaw was up again. Jason Barrett hit a single and moved to second after Stanley was hit by another pitch. The Panthers turned yet another double play after a line drive was caught by Doty, who then stepped on second to send Seibenmorgen back into the dugout. NorthWood held Warsaw off for the rest of the inning and the score remained tied at three.

After Brown hit a single for NorthWood, Warsaw turned its first double play of the game when Doty hit a grounder to second base. Walmer fielded the ball and tossed it to Brandon Grubbs who relayed it to Nelson for the double play.

Nelson then stepped to the plate for Warsaw in the top of the sixth and hit a solo homerun to give the Tigers their first lead of the game. Walmer reached second after a two-base error by NorthWood, and RIley drove him in with a single to put Warsaw up 5-3.

The Tigers held the Panthers scoreless again in the second and came back to score one more run in the seventh to go up 6-3. Jesse Hoover walked for with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but the game ended, fittingly enough, on Warsaw's second double play of the game after a fly ball was fielded and Hoover was thrown out at first.

NorthWood is now 4-5 overall and 1-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference while Warsaw improves to 7-2-1 and 3-0 in the NLC.

WARSAW 6, NORTHWOOD 3

Warsaw ab r h rbi

Riley cf 4 1 2 3

Barrett rf 4 0 1 0

Koser rf 0 0 0 0

Stanley 3b 2 1 1 0

Siebenmorgen c 3 0 2 1

Lankford p 3 0 0 0

Kennedy lf 4 0 1 1

Leininger dh 3 1 1 0

VanLaeken pr 0 0 0 0

Kennedy lf 3 1 2 1

Vanlaeken pr 1 0 1 0

Nelson 3 2 3 1

Walmer 1 1 0 0

Totals 27 6 11 6

NorthWood ab r h rbi

Doty ss 3 1 2 0

Pires lf 3 0 0 0

Yoder 3b 3 0 1 0

McDonald 1b 3 1 2 1

Potts c 3 1 1 2

Mattern dh 3 0 0 0

Hoover p 2 0 1 0

Hill pr 0 0 0 0

Snyder 2b 3 0 0 0

Brown rf 2 0 1 0

Totals 25 3 8 3

NorthWood 300 000 0 -Ê3 8 1

Warsaw 003 002 1 -Ê6 11 1

E - Hoover, Stanley. 2B - Doty, Riley, Stanley, Kennedy. HR -ÊPotts, Nelson. Sac -ÊWalmer (2). DP - NorthWood 3, Warsaw 2.

IP H R ER BB SO

NorthWood

Hoover L, 5.2 8 5 4 2 1

Yoder 1.1 3 2 1 0 0

Warsaw

Lankford, W 7.0 8 3 3 1 4

HB -ÊHoover (2). PK -ÊLankford 1. [[In-content Ad]]