Warsaw No Match For Elkhart Memorial
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
In semifinal action of Class 4A Sectional 4, hosted by the Warsaw Tigers, the 17th-ranked Crimson Chargers hit three home runs in an 11-1, five-inning victory over the hosts.[[In-content Ad]]The win was Memorial's third over Warsaw this year, but this one was much different than the previous two.
Back on May 4, in a game between two undefeated Northern Lakes Conference teams, Memorial prevailed 4-2 in Elkhart. In Warsaw, on May 21, the teams met up again, with Memorial eeking out a 6-5 win.
"It's very hard, I don't care what sport you're playing, to beat a team three times in a row," Memorial coach Craig Sears said. "(Warsaw) played a good game. Our bats just got hot, and that was the difference."
Warsaw junior pitcher Sam Snider made her third start against the Chargers, but unluckily for her, it was on a day when all the Memorial bats were hot.
"I thought we would play right with them, and could take them," Warsaw coach Tanya Kempton said. "They came with their sticks. They were all on. We hit them, we just didn't produce like they did."
The first seven girls in Memorial's lineup are either all-conference or honorable mention, and they played that way.
In a 1-0, 12-inning victory over Goshen in the first round Monday, Memorial struck out 20 times, giving Sears, the NLC coach of the year, something to work on during Tuesday's practice.
"After striking out 20 times, you gotta do something to try to get yourself a little bit better hitting," he said. "One thing is, we really focused on hitting the ball where it was pitched. Tonight, we did a pretty good job of doing that."
"I was really happy with the way everybody swung the bat tonight," he added.
In a game where every starter reached base, and the first seven hitters each had at least one hit, one might think it would be hard to find a standout, but it wasn't.
Going 3 for 3, Memorial junior Callie Selner hit a two-run homer in the first inning and a three-run dinger in the second, helping her rack up six RBIs in just three at-bats.
"Callie's pretty good," Sears said. "She's coming into her own. She's one of those kids that we stayed with and talked about her hitting yesterday. We looked a little bit of her videotape, and she's a smart kid, she's a hungry kid. For any (college) coach out there looking, NAIA or whatever, nobody is even sniffing right now, but they'd better take a look. Somebody's going to find a jewel in the rough."
On top of getting the win inside the circle, Chargers senior Erin Burleson also went 2 for 3 in the game, while sophomore Tayler Miller chipped in with a three-run home run.
For Warsaw, things didn't always look bad.
After giving up two runs in the first inning, freshman Kelsey Dotson ripped a shot over the bleachers in center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the second.
Junior Kaitlin Gruenewald followed the Dotson blast with a single, and following an out on a popped up bunt, Snider also hit a single.
However, with runners at first and second with one out, bad luck hit when a line drive off the bat of sophomore Paige Wood went right to Memorial first baseman Madisyn Schenk, who proceeded to step on first for the inning-killing double play.
"I would have liked to of hit the ball better," Kempton said. "We hit the ball, we just hit it where they were. Dotson had a nice home run. We had a couple good hits, (Memorial) was just pounding the ball. They're a very good team."
Warsaw managed just one hit after the second inning, as Memorial advanced to face Northridge in the 6 p.m. championship game Friday. Northridge qualified for the title game by defeating Concord 6-2 in Wednesday's second game.
While Memorial's playing for a sectional title, the senior-less Tigers will look to come back next year.
"We have everyone coming back, and some good incoming freshmen," Kempton said. "That will be good for us."
And Sears is also aware of Warsaw's situation.
"They're going to be good," he said. "They don't have any seniors, so they'll all be back with experience. We're going to have some good battles in the future."
ELKHART MEMORIAL 11, WARSAW 1 (5 innings)
W 010 00 - 1 4 1
M 263 0X - 11 10 0
Burleson (3IP, 1R, 1ER, 3H, 2K), Selner (4, 2IP, 0R, 0H, 3K) and Boomershire, Artley (5); Snider (L, 1-2/3IP, 8R, 8ER, 9H, 2K, 3BB), Gruenewald (2, 2-1/3IP, 3R, 3ER, 1H, 1K, 1BB) and Dotson
2B - Sappington (EM)
HR - Selner (EM) 2, Miller (EM), Dotson (W)
Records: Memorial 22-6, Warsaw 15-11
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In semifinal action of Class 4A Sectional 4, hosted by the Warsaw Tigers, the 17th-ranked Crimson Chargers hit three home runs in an 11-1, five-inning victory over the hosts.[[In-content Ad]]The win was Memorial's third over Warsaw this year, but this one was much different than the previous two.
Back on May 4, in a game between two undefeated Northern Lakes Conference teams, Memorial prevailed 4-2 in Elkhart. In Warsaw, on May 21, the teams met up again, with Memorial eeking out a 6-5 win.
"It's very hard, I don't care what sport you're playing, to beat a team three times in a row," Memorial coach Craig Sears said. "(Warsaw) played a good game. Our bats just got hot, and that was the difference."
Warsaw junior pitcher Sam Snider made her third start against the Chargers, but unluckily for her, it was on a day when all the Memorial bats were hot.
"I thought we would play right with them, and could take them," Warsaw coach Tanya Kempton said. "They came with their sticks. They were all on. We hit them, we just didn't produce like they did."
The first seven girls in Memorial's lineup are either all-conference or honorable mention, and they played that way.
In a 1-0, 12-inning victory over Goshen in the first round Monday, Memorial struck out 20 times, giving Sears, the NLC coach of the year, something to work on during Tuesday's practice.
"After striking out 20 times, you gotta do something to try to get yourself a little bit better hitting," he said. "One thing is, we really focused on hitting the ball where it was pitched. Tonight, we did a pretty good job of doing that."
"I was really happy with the way everybody swung the bat tonight," he added.
In a game where every starter reached base, and the first seven hitters each had at least one hit, one might think it would be hard to find a standout, but it wasn't.
Going 3 for 3, Memorial junior Callie Selner hit a two-run homer in the first inning and a three-run dinger in the second, helping her rack up six RBIs in just three at-bats.
"Callie's pretty good," Sears said. "She's coming into her own. She's one of those kids that we stayed with and talked about her hitting yesterday. We looked a little bit of her videotape, and she's a smart kid, she's a hungry kid. For any (college) coach out there looking, NAIA or whatever, nobody is even sniffing right now, but they'd better take a look. Somebody's going to find a jewel in the rough."
On top of getting the win inside the circle, Chargers senior Erin Burleson also went 2 for 3 in the game, while sophomore Tayler Miller chipped in with a three-run home run.
For Warsaw, things didn't always look bad.
After giving up two runs in the first inning, freshman Kelsey Dotson ripped a shot over the bleachers in center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the second.
Junior Kaitlin Gruenewald followed the Dotson blast with a single, and following an out on a popped up bunt, Snider also hit a single.
However, with runners at first and second with one out, bad luck hit when a line drive off the bat of sophomore Paige Wood went right to Memorial first baseman Madisyn Schenk, who proceeded to step on first for the inning-killing double play.
"I would have liked to of hit the ball better," Kempton said. "We hit the ball, we just hit it where they were. Dotson had a nice home run. We had a couple good hits, (Memorial) was just pounding the ball. They're a very good team."
Warsaw managed just one hit after the second inning, as Memorial advanced to face Northridge in the 6 p.m. championship game Friday. Northridge qualified for the title game by defeating Concord 6-2 in Wednesday's second game.
While Memorial's playing for a sectional title, the senior-less Tigers will look to come back next year.
"We have everyone coming back, and some good incoming freshmen," Kempton said. "That will be good for us."
And Sears is also aware of Warsaw's situation.
"They're going to be good," he said. "They don't have any seniors, so they'll all be back with experience. We're going to have some good battles in the future."
ELKHART MEMORIAL 11, WARSAW 1 (5 innings)
W 010 00 - 1 4 1
M 263 0X - 11 10 0
Burleson (3IP, 1R, 1ER, 3H, 2K), Selner (4, 2IP, 0R, 0H, 3K) and Boomershire, Artley (5); Snider (L, 1-2/3IP, 8R, 8ER, 9H, 2K, 3BB), Gruenewald (2, 2-1/3IP, 3R, 3ER, 1H, 1K, 1BB) and Dotson
2B - Sappington (EM)
HR - Selner (EM) 2, Miller (EM), Dotson (W)
Records: Memorial 22-6, Warsaw 15-11
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