Lady Warriors Complete Perfect NLC Season
May 18, 2017 at 3:47 p.m.
Lady Warriors Complete Perfect NLC Season
By Dale [email protected]
After giving up two runs in the first inning, the Class 3A No. 4 Lady Warriors settled in and scored three runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the second on senior day, pushing them to their 25th consecutive NLC victory.
Wawasee improved to 21-3 overall this season and 14-0 in the NLC. The Lady Warriors, led by a strong senior class that includes nine on the varsity team, is 27-1 in conference play the last two seasons.
For the senior class, which produced all five of Wawasee’s hits and all five of the team’s runs Wednesday, it was the third conference championship of their prep careers.
“This senior class is a special class,” said first year Wawasee coach Mike Barger, who was given a watercooler bath after the win. “To win 25 consecutive conference games, to run the table and go 14-0 this year, that’s very special.
“This conference is always strong. It’s like I’ve said, even if a team is down, they still give you a fight no matter what, and everybody is itching to beat you. So, it’s a matter of do you want them to come in here and beat you, or are you gonna step up and say nobody’s beating us? And that’s what my senior class did.”
Madie Wilson led Wawasee offensively with two hits, three RBIs and a run scored.
Senior classmates Kayla White and Meghan Fretz hit doubles and had one RBI each, while Riley Kunkle ripped an RBI single.
Senior Ale Brito drew two walks and scored two runs in the win.
Trailing 2-0, Brito led off Wawasee’s half of the first inning with a walk, advanced to third base on White’s sacrifice bunt, and then scored the Lady Warriors’ first run on a single by Wilson.
Wilson scored on Fretz’s RBI double, and then Fretz scored what turned out to be the game-winning run on Kunkle’s RBI single.
Brito and White drew walks in the second inning and scored on a single by Wilson to account for the final score.
“They settled down, and they fought,” Barger said of how his players responded to Concord’s two early runs, which were scored by freshman Yadi Gomez and senior Audrey D’Arcy.
“I thought they fought hard, and they made defensive plays. We gave up the two runs, and we came right back at them to get three. We played a little small ball, we played a little hit-and-run, we played a little bit of everything today. The seniors, it was their day, and they stepped up in the moment. As we got closer to the fifth, sixth and seventh innings I kind of put our lineup back to normal, but everyone did their part today.”
Senior Amber Lemberg got the win in the circle, giving up six hits and a walk while striking out one in seven innings of work.
Mayla Herman, Skylar Decker, Tiara Marcin, Alysa Marcin, Gomez and D’Arcy had one hit each for Concord.
Decker and Alysa Marcin’s hits were doubles.
Alexis Kern was charged with the pitching loss after giving up four runs, three hits and three walks in 1-1/3 innings. She struck out one Wawasee batter.
Kern was replaced by Karlie Myers, who pitched the rest of the game and gave up two hits, one run and one walk. She struck out four.
The Lady Warriors close the regular season Friday when they host Class 2A No. 5 Bremen.
WAWASEE 5, CONCORD 2
C 200 000 0 – 2 6 3
W 320 000 X – 5 5 0
Concord – Alexis Kern (L, 1.1IP, 3H, 4R, 3BB, 1K), Karlie Myers (4.2IP, 2H, 1R, 1BB, 4K)
Wawasee – Amber Lemberg (W, 7IP, 6H, 2R, 1BB, 1K)
2B – Alysa Marcin (C), Skylar Decker (C), Kayla White (W), Meghan Fretz (W)
Records: Wawasee 21-3 (14-0 NLC)
JV – Wawasee 9, Concord 7
After giving up two runs in the first inning, the Class 3A No. 4 Lady Warriors settled in and scored three runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the second on senior day, pushing them to their 25th consecutive NLC victory.
Wawasee improved to 21-3 overall this season and 14-0 in the NLC. The Lady Warriors, led by a strong senior class that includes nine on the varsity team, is 27-1 in conference play the last two seasons.
For the senior class, which produced all five of Wawasee’s hits and all five of the team’s runs Wednesday, it was the third conference championship of their prep careers.
“This senior class is a special class,” said first year Wawasee coach Mike Barger, who was given a watercooler bath after the win. “To win 25 consecutive conference games, to run the table and go 14-0 this year, that’s very special.
“This conference is always strong. It’s like I’ve said, even if a team is down, they still give you a fight no matter what, and everybody is itching to beat you. So, it’s a matter of do you want them to come in here and beat you, or are you gonna step up and say nobody’s beating us? And that’s what my senior class did.”
Madie Wilson led Wawasee offensively with two hits, three RBIs and a run scored.
Senior classmates Kayla White and Meghan Fretz hit doubles and had one RBI each, while Riley Kunkle ripped an RBI single.
Senior Ale Brito drew two walks and scored two runs in the win.
Trailing 2-0, Brito led off Wawasee’s half of the first inning with a walk, advanced to third base on White’s sacrifice bunt, and then scored the Lady Warriors’ first run on a single by Wilson.
Wilson scored on Fretz’s RBI double, and then Fretz scored what turned out to be the game-winning run on Kunkle’s RBI single.
Brito and White drew walks in the second inning and scored on a single by Wilson to account for the final score.
“They settled down, and they fought,” Barger said of how his players responded to Concord’s two early runs, which were scored by freshman Yadi Gomez and senior Audrey D’Arcy.
“I thought they fought hard, and they made defensive plays. We gave up the two runs, and we came right back at them to get three. We played a little small ball, we played a little hit-and-run, we played a little bit of everything today. The seniors, it was their day, and they stepped up in the moment. As we got closer to the fifth, sixth and seventh innings I kind of put our lineup back to normal, but everyone did their part today.”
Senior Amber Lemberg got the win in the circle, giving up six hits and a walk while striking out one in seven innings of work.
Mayla Herman, Skylar Decker, Tiara Marcin, Alysa Marcin, Gomez and D’Arcy had one hit each for Concord.
Decker and Alysa Marcin’s hits were doubles.
Alexis Kern was charged with the pitching loss after giving up four runs, three hits and three walks in 1-1/3 innings. She struck out one Wawasee batter.
Kern was replaced by Karlie Myers, who pitched the rest of the game and gave up two hits, one run and one walk. She struck out four.
The Lady Warriors close the regular season Friday when they host Class 2A No. 5 Bremen.
WAWASEE 5, CONCORD 2
C 200 000 0 – 2 6 3
W 320 000 X – 5 5 0
Concord – Alexis Kern (L, 1.1IP, 3H, 4R, 3BB, 1K), Karlie Myers (4.2IP, 2H, 1R, 1BB, 4K)
Wawasee – Amber Lemberg (W, 7IP, 6H, 2R, 1BB, 1K)
2B – Alysa Marcin (C), Skylar Decker (C), Kayla White (W), Meghan Fretz (W)
Records: Wawasee 21-3 (14-0 NLC)
JV – Wawasee 9, Concord 7
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