A little less than two weeks before the two sides meet again in the opening round of sectionals, the Warsaw and Northridge baseball teams met at Tiger Field Friday evening for their second regular-season matchup. Five runs in the first two innings would be all the Tigers would need as they beat the Raiders 8-2 for their eleventh straight win, earning at least a share of the Northern Lakes Conference title in the process.
“It’s a compilation of all of the work we put in, but there’s still a lot to do,” Warsaw head coach Andy Manes said after the game. “I told the guys, a lot of people are going to tell you good job, congratulations, but we want the outright title so there’s still work to do.”
Warsaw starter Reed Nelson faced the minimum in the first inning, even after giving up a single to the Raider leadoff man that grazed his side after going up the middle. His defense had his back with a 6-4-3 double play for the first two outs before a pop out to second to retire the side.
Two walks to Logan O’Malley and Cohen Heady to begin the bottom of the first would lead to a big inning for the Tigers. Grady Nelson would come up as the three hitter and drive O’Malley home on a single into right field, while a few batters later, Kellan Bailey used a fly ball to deep center to bring home Logan Kim, pinch running for Heady, on a sacrifice fly. Warsaw wasn’t done there, as after a hit batter and another walk, the bases were loaded for Quinton Brock, who blooped a ball into left field to score two more. After an inning, the Tigers were up 4-0.
Now pitching with a lead, the elder Nelson made quick work of the Northridge bats, retiring the side in order to send his team back up to the plate. The Tigers added on to their advantage in the bottom half of the second, as the younger Nelson hit a rocket to the right field fence for a two-out double, followed by Hunter Dippon trading places with his teammate by hitting a double into left to make it 5-0.
Nelson entered the top of the third still on cruise control, leading to a very busy inning at third base for Brock. The sophomore saw three straight ground balls hit his way at the hot corner, making a play on all three of them for another 1-2-3 inning. The bottom of the Warsaw lineup went down in order in the bottom of the third to keep things moving.

    Warsaw junior pitcher Reed Nelson sends the ball to the plate during Friday evening's home game against Northridge...Nieter

A two-out walk issued by Nelson in the top of the fourth ended a streak of 10 straight batters retired, but a pop out to Wyatt Stapleton a batter later would keep the Raiders scoreless. For the second straight trip to the plate, the Tigers went down 1-2-3 to send the game to the fifth inning still leading 5-0.
Here, Northridge would finally get onto the scoreboard. A leadoff single followed by an error at short would put runners on the corners for the Raiders with nobody out. A groundout to third base was enough to score the visitors first run of the game, while a single a batter later would bring in a second. Heading back to the plate, the Tigers now led by three. Warsaw was finally able to put a runner on base for the first time since the second inning on a single by Bailey, but it would not lead to any runs being scored.
Brandt Martin took over for Nelson on the mound in the top of the sixth, and got into a bit of trouble as a pair of base hits put runners on the corners with just one out. But the junior’s defense had his back behind him, as Bailey made a tremendous play on a ground ball to second, corralling it on the run, stepping on second and throwing over to third for a 4-3 double play.
The Tigers would pick up some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth in a big way. After singles by Stapleton and O’Malley to lead off the inning, Heady got a hold of one, sending it off of the foul pole in left field for a three-run home run. The blast was just what the home side needed, as it doubled the lead and gave Warsaw a six-run cushion with just three more outs to get.
Bailey would take the mound in the final inning to shut the door, and he did just that. The junior retired all three hitters he faced, including a strikeout for the final inning of the game to end things in style.
Warsaw (17-5, 11-1 NLC) will compete at the Fairfield tournament Saturday morning. The Tigers open up sectional play against Northridge on May 23.
“We’re going to see their best pitcher next time around. I feel like there were points in this game where we kind of let our foot off of the gas pedal a little bit and come sectional time, that can’t happen.” Manes said.