Wawasee Comes Up Big With Small Ball
May 4, 2017 at 4:22 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
In a home game Tuesday against Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Warsaw, the Lady Warriors bunted four straight times in the third inning.
Class 3A No. 7 Wawasee, already leading 2-0, plated three runs in the third and went on to win 5-2.
“We just aren’t hitting the ball right now,” said Barger, whose team improved to 15-3 overall and 8-0 in the NLC. “I felt like we needed to move some runners, and then (Warsaw) made some mistakes and we started capitalizing. We started running, and then next thing you know we’re gonna do it again. And we’re gonna do it again, until they figured it out and we had to back off.
“We’re still looking for that big hit, and we just couldn’t get it today.”
Wawasee finished the game with five hits off Warsaw pitcher Courtney Chookie and benefitted from three Lady Tiger errors, mainly in the third inning.
“We were chasing five runs, but that inning could have been a whole lot worse,” said Warsaw coach Kevin Dishman, whose team fell to 5-8 overall and 3-5 in the NLC. “We got out of it, and we maintained our positive attitude, and we’re still working at getting good at-bats.”
The Lady Tigers had three hits against Wawasee’s Meghan Fretz, as Isabelle Dittmar, Abby Glass and Lauren Shaffner all had a single.
Ale Brito, Madie Wilson, Hannah Haines, Grace Anne Kerlin and Aubrey Kuhn each hit a single for Wawasee.
While the Lady Warriors are piling up wins, Barger said there are still things his team is “trying to figure out.”
“We’ve always done a good job of capitalizing on teams’ mistakes,” said Barger. “But offensively, we move the runners into scoring position and we can’t get that big hit.
“I thought when we scored the two runs in the first inning we were gonna start rolling, and we were, but then it seems like we run into a train and it stops. We just haven’t figured that part out yet.”
Warsaw scored a run in the fourth inning when a single by Shaffner plated Dittmar.
A sacrifice by Shaffner scored Dittmar in the sixth inning, trimming the deficit to 5-2.
“I was pleased with our at-bats tonight,” said Dishman. “They worked into good swings, making contact, and we didn’t have too many strikeouts. I mean, you’re gonna strikeout, (Fretz) leads the conference in strikeouts.
“I was really pleased with our approach at the plate, and we put the ball in play. It’d be nice to hit a few of those a little more solid, but I was pleased with our approach.”
Fretz pitched all seven innings for Wawasee, giving up three hits, two runs and a walk. She struck out six Warsaw batters.
Chookie was charged with five hits and five runs. She didn’t issue a walk and struck out four Lady Warriors.
WAWASEE 5, WARSAW 2
War 000 101 0 – 2 3 3
Wawa 203 000 X – 5 5 2
Warsaw – Courtney Chookie (L, 6IP, 5H, 5R, 0BB, 4K)
Wawasee – Meghan Fretz (W, 7IP, 3H, 2R, 1BB, 6K).
Records: Warsaw 5-8 (3-5 NLC), Wawasee 15-3 (8-0 NLC)
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In a home game Tuesday against Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Warsaw, the Lady Warriors bunted four straight times in the third inning.
Class 3A No. 7 Wawasee, already leading 2-0, plated three runs in the third and went on to win 5-2.
“We just aren’t hitting the ball right now,” said Barger, whose team improved to 15-3 overall and 8-0 in the NLC. “I felt like we needed to move some runners, and then (Warsaw) made some mistakes and we started capitalizing. We started running, and then next thing you know we’re gonna do it again. And we’re gonna do it again, until they figured it out and we had to back off.
“We’re still looking for that big hit, and we just couldn’t get it today.”
Wawasee finished the game with five hits off Warsaw pitcher Courtney Chookie and benefitted from three Lady Tiger errors, mainly in the third inning.
“We were chasing five runs, but that inning could have been a whole lot worse,” said Warsaw coach Kevin Dishman, whose team fell to 5-8 overall and 3-5 in the NLC. “We got out of it, and we maintained our positive attitude, and we’re still working at getting good at-bats.”
The Lady Tigers had three hits against Wawasee’s Meghan Fretz, as Isabelle Dittmar, Abby Glass and Lauren Shaffner all had a single.
Ale Brito, Madie Wilson, Hannah Haines, Grace Anne Kerlin and Aubrey Kuhn each hit a single for Wawasee.
While the Lady Warriors are piling up wins, Barger said there are still things his team is “trying to figure out.”
“We’ve always done a good job of capitalizing on teams’ mistakes,” said Barger. “But offensively, we move the runners into scoring position and we can’t get that big hit.
“I thought when we scored the two runs in the first inning we were gonna start rolling, and we were, but then it seems like we run into a train and it stops. We just haven’t figured that part out yet.”
Warsaw scored a run in the fourth inning when a single by Shaffner plated Dittmar.
A sacrifice by Shaffner scored Dittmar in the sixth inning, trimming the deficit to 5-2.
“I was pleased with our at-bats tonight,” said Dishman. “They worked into good swings, making contact, and we didn’t have too many strikeouts. I mean, you’re gonna strikeout, (Fretz) leads the conference in strikeouts.
“I was really pleased with our approach at the plate, and we put the ball in play. It’d be nice to hit a few of those a little more solid, but I was pleased with our approach.”
Fretz pitched all seven innings for Wawasee, giving up three hits, two runs and a walk. She struck out six Warsaw batters.
Chookie was charged with five hits and five runs. She didn’t issue a walk and struck out four Lady Warriors.
WAWASEE 5, WARSAW 2
War 000 101 0 – 2 3 3
Wawa 203 000 X – 5 5 2
Warsaw – Courtney Chookie (L, 6IP, 5H, 5R, 0BB, 4K)
Wawasee – Meghan Fretz (W, 7IP, 3H, 2R, 1BB, 6K).
Records: Warsaw 5-8 (3-5 NLC), Wawasee 15-3 (8-0 NLC)
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