3A No. 4 Indians Power Past TigersWarsaw’s pitching staff gave up just five hits to Class 3A No. 4 South Bend St. Joe in Tuesday’s high school baseball season opener.
One of those hits, however, was the story of the game as the Indians used a big third inning to beat the host Tigers 7-3 on a sunny but chilly evening.
With one out and the score tied 1-1, St. Joe senior Mitchell Coleman belted a grand slam off Warsaw senior Ian Glogovsky.
Coleman, just the second batter Glogovsky faced after replacing starting pitcher Drake Graham, provided the game-changing moment.
Graham struck out all three St. Joe batters he faced in the first inning, and the Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the home half of the frame.
Graham struck out a St. Joe batter in both the second and third innings, but also hit two batters, and gave up two hits and two walks before Glogovsky replaced him with one out in the third inning and the Tigers leading 1-0.
Glogovsky walked the first batter he faced, starting pitcher and Morehead State University recruit Joe Rotkis, to plate senior Patrick Farrisee and tie the game.
Coleman then changed the contest in a big way.
“For hitters, it’s a timing thing. (Graham) did a nice job keeping us off balance, and then one big hit, a big hit, changed things,” said St. Joe coach John Gumpf.
“I think we pitched pretty well. I think we played pretty good defense. I’ve still got my guys on a pitch count. We had first-game jitters, maybe, with everybody, but I’m pretty pleased with the way we came out. Obviously the grand slam helps that.”
Playing the state-ranked Indians in his first game as a head coach, Warsaw skipper Andy Manes was pleased with the start his team got off to, and the way his players battled at the end, scoring a pair of runs over the final two innings and showing some fight.
“The three strikeouts were great,” said Manes, a former Grace College player. “That’s a great way to start the first game of the year. And then to get a run in the bottom of the first was fantastic.
“The grand slam was just the wrong pitch at the wrong time. That guy did his job, he did what he’s’ supposed to do. That’s what we told the guys, that was really the difference in the game.
“Liam (Patton) hit a solo home run, and they hit that grand slam. If it were reversed it would be a different game. What we told the guys is there were a couple pitches that kind of swung the game, a couple in the last inning we didn’t really do a good job on, but yeah that grand slam killed us for sure.”
Patton led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run for the Tigers, cutting St. Joe’s lead to 5-2, but the next three batters for the hosts were retired in order.
The Indians tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning, and junior Noah Burgh hit an RBI double that scored senior Josh Ehrlinger to account for the 7-3 score.
Sophomore Alex Light hit an RBI double that scored Burgh in the first inning to give Warsaw the early 1-0 lead.
Senior Matt Shoemaker also hit a double for Warsaw.
Ehrlinger and Patton had two hits each for the Tigers, who play again Thursday.
“I scheduled this game kind of on purpose because I wanted to come out against a quality opponent and see where we stood,” said Manes.
“I told the guys after the game that’s a good team over there. For the most part, I think we did just fine.”
Graham was charged with the loss on the mound.
He gave up two hits, three runs and two walks while striking out five in 2-1/3 innings of work.
Glogovsky gave up one hit, two runs and two walks while striking out six in 3-2/3 innings.
Avery Remocaldo pitched the seventh inning and gave up two hits, two runs and two walks. He struck out one St. Joe batter.
Rotkis earned the win on the mound for St. Joe after giving up one hit and one run in three innings. He struck out three and didn’t walk a Warsaw batter.
Seniors AJ Klimek and Michael Schroeder pitched two innings each and gave up three hits each.
SOUTH BEND ST. JOE 7, WARSAW 3
SJ 005 000 2 – 7
W 100 001 1 – 3
SJ – Joe Rotkis (W, 3IP, 1H, 1R, 3K, 0BB), AJ Klimek (2IP, 3H, 0R, 4K, 0BB), Michael Schroeder (2IP, 3H, 2R, 1K, 0BB)
