Warsaw Offense Clicks Against NorthWood
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Last year in Chicago, most commonly when rookie pitching sensation Kerry Wood was on the mound, the Wrigley Field faithful would hold up poster boards bearing the letter "K" to signify a strikeout.
In one game fans held 20 of these signs.
Though it's unofficial, had this been done in Monday's Warsaw/NorthWood girls softball game, there might not have been enough fans to hold up these signs for Warsaw's right-handed ace Michelle Liebsch.
With just a few fans in attendance, Liebsch struck out 13 batters and gave up four hits en route to the Tigers' 14-4 Northern Lakes Conference win over NorthWood.
The win moves Warsaw's overall record to 4-6 and, more importantly, to 3-0 in Northern Lakes Conference play. The Panthers fell to 1-4 overall on the season.
"We played two hard teams in Valparaiso and Lowell on Saturday," said Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich. "Now we're 3-0 in the NLC. We're capable of doing this.
"We hit the ball hard tonight, and we scored 14 runs. We're not a high-octane offense. Usually four or five runs will win a game for us. It feels good to be 3-0 in the conference. Michelle pitched a good game tonight."
Not only was the pitching there for the Tigers last night, but so was the offense.
Warsaw out-hit NorthWood 14-4. Laura Overton went 3 for 3 at the plate for Warsaw, scoring two runs and batting in four. Teammate Christy Colt was 2 for 4 at the plate, scoring once with four RBIs. NorthWood's Joanna Bove was 1 for 3 at the plate scoring twice and driving in one run.
After three innings of play, Warsaw was already on top of the Panthers 5-1, and Liebsch had seven strikeouts.
Liebsch retired the first two NorthWood batters in the top of the fourth, Jessica Speed and Natalie Will, before Angie Zentz singled to right field. Heather Zentz followed that up with a double that scored her sister to cut the Warsaw lead to 5-2. The top half of the inning ended when April Flickinger grounded out.
Warsaw's Marie Brown and Amie Poling were walked to start the home half of the fourth inning before Melissa Himes singled to load the bases. Singles by Jacquie Burns and Overton knocked in runs to push the Tiger advantage to 8-2, and when the inning ended, Warsaw had pushed its lead to 10-2.
"We had a couple of walks toward the end, and our defense sort of had a lapse," said Helfrich. "But we have a good defense. Our pitchers have confidence in their team.
"With Liebsch and (Ashley) Wyatt on the mound, pitching is big for us."
The Tigers won the game in the bottom of the sixth inning when Brown stole home to push the lead to 14-4, ending the game by the 10-run mercy rule.
NorthWood hosts Jimtown Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
Warsaw will host conference foe Northridge Wednesday at 5 p.m. as it tries to keep its conference record unblemished.
"We could start out 4-0 in the conference and play Concord on Friday," said Helfrich. "Plymouth is the team to beat.
"We're knocking on the door. We can't lose NLC games at home. They give 100 percent and that's all I can ask as a coach."
"I hope tonight's effort carries over to Wednesday."
WARSAW 14, NORTHWOOD 4
NorthWood ab r h rbi
Bove ss 3 2 1 1
S. Mast lf 3 0 1 0
Speed c 3 0 1 0
Will 2b 3 0 0 0
A. Zentz p 3 1 1 0
H. Zentz 3b 3 0 0 1
Flickinger 1b 3 0 0 0
Jones cf 2 1 0 0
J. Mast rf 2 0 0 0
Totals 25 4 4 2
Warsaw ab r h rbi
Brown cf 3 4 1 1
Poling ss 3 1 2 3
Himes 2b 3 1 1 0
Burns 3b 4 1 2 0
Overton lf 3 2 3 3
Kurosky dh 3 1 0 0
Colt c 4 1 2 4
Fribley rf 3 0 1 0
Liebsch p 4 2 1 0
Hatch 2 0 0 1
Wyatt 1 0 0 0
Jones 1b 1 0 0 0
Ellis 1 1 0 0
Totals 37 14 13 13
NorthWood 001 120 - 4 4 5
Warsaw 122 504 - 14 13 5
E - NorthWood 5, Warsaw 5. 2B - Poling, Bove.
IP H R BB SO
NorthWood
A. Zentz, L 6 13 14 5 1
Warsaw
Liebsch, W 6 4 4 1 13 [[In-content Ad]]
Last year in Chicago, most commonly when rookie pitching sensation Kerry Wood was on the mound, the Wrigley Field faithful would hold up poster boards bearing the letter "K" to signify a strikeout.
In one game fans held 20 of these signs.
Though it's unofficial, had this been done in Monday's Warsaw/NorthWood girls softball game, there might not have been enough fans to hold up these signs for Warsaw's right-handed ace Michelle Liebsch.
With just a few fans in attendance, Liebsch struck out 13 batters and gave up four hits en route to the Tigers' 14-4 Northern Lakes Conference win over NorthWood.
The win moves Warsaw's overall record to 4-6 and, more importantly, to 3-0 in Northern Lakes Conference play. The Panthers fell to 1-4 overall on the season.
"We played two hard teams in Valparaiso and Lowell on Saturday," said Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich. "Now we're 3-0 in the NLC. We're capable of doing this.
"We hit the ball hard tonight, and we scored 14 runs. We're not a high-octane offense. Usually four or five runs will win a game for us. It feels good to be 3-0 in the conference. Michelle pitched a good game tonight."
Not only was the pitching there for the Tigers last night, but so was the offense.
Warsaw out-hit NorthWood 14-4. Laura Overton went 3 for 3 at the plate for Warsaw, scoring two runs and batting in four. Teammate Christy Colt was 2 for 4 at the plate, scoring once with four RBIs. NorthWood's Joanna Bove was 1 for 3 at the plate scoring twice and driving in one run.
After three innings of play, Warsaw was already on top of the Panthers 5-1, and Liebsch had seven strikeouts.
Liebsch retired the first two NorthWood batters in the top of the fourth, Jessica Speed and Natalie Will, before Angie Zentz singled to right field. Heather Zentz followed that up with a double that scored her sister to cut the Warsaw lead to 5-2. The top half of the inning ended when April Flickinger grounded out.
Warsaw's Marie Brown and Amie Poling were walked to start the home half of the fourth inning before Melissa Himes singled to load the bases. Singles by Jacquie Burns and Overton knocked in runs to push the Tiger advantage to 8-2, and when the inning ended, Warsaw had pushed its lead to 10-2.
"We had a couple of walks toward the end, and our defense sort of had a lapse," said Helfrich. "But we have a good defense. Our pitchers have confidence in their team.
"With Liebsch and (Ashley) Wyatt on the mound, pitching is big for us."
The Tigers won the game in the bottom of the sixth inning when Brown stole home to push the lead to 14-4, ending the game by the 10-run mercy rule.
NorthWood hosts Jimtown Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
Warsaw will host conference foe Northridge Wednesday at 5 p.m. as it tries to keep its conference record unblemished.
"We could start out 4-0 in the conference and play Concord on Friday," said Helfrich. "Plymouth is the team to beat.
"We're knocking on the door. We can't lose NLC games at home. They give 100 percent and that's all I can ask as a coach."
"I hope tonight's effort carries over to Wednesday."
WARSAW 14, NORTHWOOD 4
NorthWood ab r h rbi
Bove ss 3 2 1 1
S. Mast lf 3 0 1 0
Speed c 3 0 1 0
Will 2b 3 0 0 0
A. Zentz p 3 1 1 0
H. Zentz 3b 3 0 0 1
Flickinger 1b 3 0 0 0
Jones cf 2 1 0 0
J. Mast rf 2 0 0 0
Totals 25 4 4 2
Warsaw ab r h rbi
Brown cf 3 4 1 1
Poling ss 3 1 2 3
Himes 2b 3 1 1 0
Burns 3b 4 1 2 0
Overton lf 3 2 3 3
Kurosky dh 3 1 0 0
Colt c 4 1 2 4
Fribley rf 3 0 1 0
Liebsch p 4 2 1 0
Hatch 2 0 0 1
Wyatt 1 0 0 0
Jones 1b 1 0 0 0
Ellis 1 1 0 0
Totals 37 14 13 13
NorthWood 001 120 - 4 4 5
Warsaw 122 504 - 14 13 5
E - NorthWood 5, Warsaw 5. 2B - Poling, Bove.
IP H R BB SO
NorthWood
A. Zentz, L 6 13 14 5 1
Warsaw
Liebsch, W 6 4 4 1 13 [[In-content Ad]]