Lady Tigers Fall To NorthWood
April 25, 2017 at 4:11 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
The Lady Tigers fell into the deep hole after NorthWood sent 19 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In the two-inning stretch Warsaw had four errors, all on throws that were offline. Three of those throws were to bases where there was little to no chance of recording an out.
NorthWood’s Summer Stillson also proved to be a thorn in Warsaw’s side. In five trips to the plate the Lady Panther leadoff hitter singled three times, walked twice, and scored four runs.
Warsaw was able to make the game a slugfest by outhitting NorthWood 15-14 and collecting more extra-base hits. Saylor Bradley doubled twice, Lauren Shaffner had an RBI double and Abby Glass homered to straightaway left in the third inning.
Courtney Chookie, Glass, Adara Frey, Katie Anderson and Morgan Ashtari all had two hits Monday, and the Lady Tigers were retired in order just once in the game.
The seventh-inning rally by Warsaw began with one-out singles by Frey and Anderson. Ashtari then blooped a soft liner into short right-center. Anderson was caught in a quandry, not wanting to get doubled up if the ball was caught, and she was forced out at second on a close play.
Chookie then singled in a run, and after a walk to Isabelle Dittmar, Glass dropped a two-run single into right to close the gap to three. Cleanup hitter Shaffner battled back from an 0-2 count but flew out to leftfield to end the game.
Lady Tiger head coach Kevin Dishman said he holds a short team meeting in the dugout after each game, and the primary subject of Monday’s session was about making smart plays in the field.
“Tonight a little bit of it was about our defense,” he said. “We cannot continue to give up runs because of mental errors we’ve had lately.
“Our hitting is fine. We strike the ball well, and when you get 15 hits in a game you should win every time. But we’re not making the correct play in the field, and we have to fix that.”
As team captain, Glass said she tries to help her teammates understand the mental side of the game and the communication needed to play solid defense.
“Whenever we have an error out there, we talk real quick about it,” she said. “We talk about not letting it bother you, and making sure you’re listening to your teammates on where to throw the ball.”
The Lady Tigers fell to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference. They will host Northridge at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, then play their next five games on the road.
NORTHWOOD 13, WARSAW 10
NW 105 610 0 – 13 14 1
W 021 301 3 – 10 15 1
NorthWood – Hannah Stickley (W, 7IP, 15H, 10R, 9ER, 2BB, 3K)
Warsaw – Courtney Chookie (L, 7IP, 14H, 13R, 12ER, 3BB, 6K)
2B – Saylor Bradley 2 (W), Gracie Clark (NW), Becca Stacey (NW), Stickley (NW), Lauren Shaffner (W),
HR – Abby Glass (W)
Records – NorthWood 4-5 (1-3 NLC), Warsaw 4-5 (2-2 NLC)
The Lady Tigers fell into the deep hole after NorthWood sent 19 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In the two-inning stretch Warsaw had four errors, all on throws that were offline. Three of those throws were to bases where there was little to no chance of recording an out.
NorthWood’s Summer Stillson also proved to be a thorn in Warsaw’s side. In five trips to the plate the Lady Panther leadoff hitter singled three times, walked twice, and scored four runs.
Warsaw was able to make the game a slugfest by outhitting NorthWood 15-14 and collecting more extra-base hits. Saylor Bradley doubled twice, Lauren Shaffner had an RBI double and Abby Glass homered to straightaway left in the third inning.
Courtney Chookie, Glass, Adara Frey, Katie Anderson and Morgan Ashtari all had two hits Monday, and the Lady Tigers were retired in order just once in the game.
The seventh-inning rally by Warsaw began with one-out singles by Frey and Anderson. Ashtari then blooped a soft liner into short right-center. Anderson was caught in a quandry, not wanting to get doubled up if the ball was caught, and she was forced out at second on a close play.
Chookie then singled in a run, and after a walk to Isabelle Dittmar, Glass dropped a two-run single into right to close the gap to three. Cleanup hitter Shaffner battled back from an 0-2 count but flew out to leftfield to end the game.
Lady Tiger head coach Kevin Dishman said he holds a short team meeting in the dugout after each game, and the primary subject of Monday’s session was about making smart plays in the field.
“Tonight a little bit of it was about our defense,” he said. “We cannot continue to give up runs because of mental errors we’ve had lately.
“Our hitting is fine. We strike the ball well, and when you get 15 hits in a game you should win every time. But we’re not making the correct play in the field, and we have to fix that.”
As team captain, Glass said she tries to help her teammates understand the mental side of the game and the communication needed to play solid defense.
“Whenever we have an error out there, we talk real quick about it,” she said. “We talk about not letting it bother you, and making sure you’re listening to your teammates on where to throw the ball.”
The Lady Tigers fell to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference. They will host Northridge at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, then play their next five games on the road.
NORTHWOOD 13, WARSAW 10
NW 105 610 0 – 13 14 1
W 021 301 3 – 10 15 1
NorthWood – Hannah Stickley (W, 7IP, 15H, 10R, 9ER, 2BB, 3K)
Warsaw – Courtney Chookie (L, 7IP, 14H, 13R, 12ER, 3BB, 6K)
2B – Saylor Bradley 2 (W), Gracie Clark (NW), Becca Stacey (NW), Stickley (NW), Lauren Shaffner (W),
HR – Abby Glass (W)
Records – NorthWood 4-5 (1-3 NLC), Warsaw 4-5 (2-2 NLC)
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