WATERLOO -ÊIt wasn't the outcome the Warsaw softball team had hoped for at the DeKalb Sectional, but Tiger coach Scott Freds was pleased with his team's effort against the (4A) No. 4 team in the state.

"Our girls were not scared to play DeKalb," said Freds after his team's 7-1 loss Wednesday evening. "We are a young team. We have no seniors. At one point we had four freshmen out in the field."

The Barons struck early, producing four runs on three hits in the top of the first inning.

In the second inning, DeKalb threatened again, loading the bases, but the Tigers kept their composure. Sophomore pitcher Ericka Kurosky pitched out of the situation, striking out Baron clean-up hitter Jenny Stein to end the inning.

"Ericka Kurosky struck out (Jenny) Stein twice," said Freds. "Stein is one of the best hitters I've seen. And to strike her out with runners on base is very good."

The Barons produced two more runs in the third frame to take a 6-0 lead. That's where the score remained until the top of the seventh inning when DeKalb added a run to that lead, making the score 7-0.

"DeKalb is very sound fundamentally," said Freds. "They know what to do and they do it. Our girls are very athletic and make some great plays, but we are still working on the fundamentals. We need to work on that."

Down seven runs going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Tigers went to work. Leadoff batter Star Gonzalez walked to first and moved to second on a groundout by Ashley Shafer. After Britany Clark stepped to the plate, Gonzalez stole third base.

Clark pounded the ball near the right-field line to send Gonzalez home. However, Clark was robbed of a single when DeKalb's rightfielder threw the ball to first, just beating Clark to the bag.

"Our freshmen went up there and got some good cut," said Freds. "Britany Clark drove in our run. The girls came out and took some good cuts against a great pitcher tonight."

Warsaw was unable to score again in the bottom of the seventh and finished the game with a 7-1 loss.

The Tigers scattered two hits in the game. Kurosky hit a single in the second inning, while Rachel Braddock had a single in the fourth frame.

DeKalb's Krysten Shumaker struck out 11 Tiger batters and allowed just one earned run to get the win.

The Barons pounded out 17 hits against Kurosky. The Tiger sophomore hurler struck out four batters and walked two.

Warsaw finishes the season 9-18. DeKalb moves on to play in tonight's sectional championship game.

DEKALB SECTIONAL

DEKALB 7, WARSAW 1

DeKalb 402 000 1 - 7 17 0

Warsaw 000 000 1 - 1 2 4

DeKalb AB R H RBI

Barna 4 1 2 0

Wilhelm 1 1 0 0

McHenry 5 0 5 0

Ruse 0 0 0 0

C.McPherson 4 1 2 1

Piniero 0 0 0 0

Stein 3 1 1 0

Heffelfinger 3 1 0 0

Pinkerton 1 0 1 0

Bjurstrom 3 0 2 1

R. McPherson 1 0 0 0

Wagoner 4 1 1 1

Bercaw 0 0 0 0

Beerbower 3 1 0 0

Purdy 1 0 1 0

Estle 4 0 2 0

Brummett 0 0 0 0

Shumaker 0 0 0 0

Totals 37 7 17 3

Warsaw AB R H RBI

Rader 3 0 0 0

Braddock 3 0 1 0

Gonzalez 2 1 0 0

Shafer 3 0 0 0

Clark 3 0 0 1

Shepherd 3 0 0 0

Kurosky 2 0 1 0

Kiser 2 0 0 0

Conley 2 0 0 0

Wood 0 0 0 0

Parker 0 0 0 0

Conley 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 1 2 1

IP R ER H BB K

DeKalb

Shumaker, W 7 1 1 2 1 11

Warsaw

Kurosky, L 7 7 3 17 2 4 [[In-content Ad]]