Holding a one-game lead over Northridge for the Northern Lakes Conference crown going into Friday’s matchup, Warsaw had the chance to clinch at least a share of the NLC with a win at home on Senior Night. They were able to do exactly that, using a late offensive attack to win 8-4.
“We don’t want to share it, but it feels good to get to this point,” Warsaw head coach Andy Manes said after the game. “I think we’re peaking at the right time. We had a really up and down start to the year but everything is starting to come together.”
Brock Bowser was the man tasked with starting the game on the mound and facing the Northridge lineup. He got off to a great start, striking out two in the top of the first and working around a one-out single to retire the side.
Despite not recording a single hit, the Tigers were able to get on the board in the bottom of the first. Wyatt Stapleton led the frame off with a walk and stole second base. A couple batters later, with two outs in the inning, Kellan Bailey grounded to short, and a poor throw allowed him to reach safely. Stapleton, with the head’s up baserunning, ran all the way from second to home on the play to score the first run of the game.
That lead didn’t last long. A leadoff walk surrendered to Brody Wood would come back to bite Bowser, as Dom Ortiz was able to tie the game with a double two batters later. Bowser struck out two more hitters after the fact, but things were now tied.
Some more poor fielding by the Raiders allowed Warsaw to jump back in front in the bottom of the second. With two outs in the inning and Mason O’Malley on second for Cohen Heady. Wyatt Stapleton grounded a ball to third. Instead of it being an easy third out, the throw went high, allowing O’Malley to score. On the throw home, Stapleton attempted to take third, and the throw to try and gun him down went into the outfield. After hitting a ball no more than 15 feet, Stapleton had rounded the bases with a little-league home run.
There must have been something in the air, as the next time Northridge took to the plate, a costly error made by the Tiger defense allowed the visitors to get back on the board. An errant throw at second with two outs allowed the inning to go on for three batters longer than it should have, resulting in two runs crossing and a tie game once again. It stayed that way, as the Tigers were held scoreless in the bottom of the third for the third time.
The top of the fourth inning saw a very scary moment, as Northridge starter JT Tabor fouled a ball off into his face when up to bat. He’d leave the game. Bowser was pulled not long afterwards, giving quite a pickle to Bailey, who walked the first person he saw to load the bases. With two outs and the Raiders having a big chance to jump ahead, Bailey came through with a big strikeout to keep things tied.

    Warsaw senior Brock Bowser follows through with his pitch during Friday evening's home game against Northridge...Nieter

The bottom of the fourth was a massive one for Warsaw, as the home side scored three runs to storm back in front. It started with Stapleton continuing his big night by hitting a double to bring Rogan Bailey home. A hitter later, Logan Kim tripled to bring the Tiger shortstop home and put himself in a position to also. He did exactly that on a ground out by Quinton Brock. Heading into the fifth, Warsaw now led 6-3.
“JT is one of the better pitchers in the northern half of the state. Really unfortunate for him to go down like that,” Manes said. “But I think we did a good job of attacking their bullpen afterwards and taking advantage of it.”
Kellan was able to feed off of this momentum when he returned to the mound, striking out two and working around a runner in scoring position to blank Northridge in a big spot and give it right back to his bats.
It looked as if the bottom of the fifth was going to be another huge inning for the offense, as it started with a bang of Hunter Dippon crushing a solo home run to lead things off. Next up was Oliver Nisen, who doubled into left to keep things going. Then before things could keep on going, the game was halted to a stop as some poor weather reached the area. It only lasted about 10 minutes or so before things resumed.
Following the brief break, Nisen came around to score on a wild pitch to make it 8-3. Stapleton hit a triple later in the inning but was stranded at third.
Northridge got one run back in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Luke Mann, making it 8-4. That would be the only run they scored, keeping the Tigers in front with just three more outs to get.
After a scoreless bottom of the sixth, the home side retook the field to try and finish things off. Kellan did exactly that, striking out all three hitters he faced to shut the door on the Raiders.
Warsaw (15-7, 10-2 NLC) will play at the Fairfield Tournament on Saturday.