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A 10-0 loss, an 18-2 loss or even a 100-0 loss.
Any of these would have felt better to Wawasee baseball coach John Blunk than Monday's 1-0 extra-inning loss to Warsaw. As he gathered his glum team on the outfield grass after the game, he told his players they "should hurt" over the loss.
He repeated the same thing later in an interview.
"Any loss hurts," he said, "but this hurts more."
Warsaw improved to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, while Wawasee dropped its third straight to fall to 5-5 overall and 0-1 in the NLC.
The game featured a fine pitching duel between two left-handers, Warsaw junior Adam Augustine and Wawasee senior Drew Gradle. Both pitched complete games, and both relied on fastballs and curveballs. Augustine tossed a two-hitter, tying a career high with 10 strikeouts. Gradle scattered five hits and struck out eight.
"Both pitchers were awesome," Warsaw coach Will Shepherd said. "Both deserved to win.
"(Gradle) mixed his pitches and worked away. When you have a left-hander out there turning it away, it can make it tough on your right-handed hitters. He made tough two-out pitches all game."
Senior Brian Milligan had two singles for both Wawasee hits.
"I thought my fastball was really good today," Augustine said, "and my curveball was pretty good. I knew they couldn't do anything with me today."
The Tigers scored their lone run without getting a hit.
Derrick Richardson, Warsaw's No. 9 hitter, led off the bottom of the eighth by reaching first when Wawasee third baseman Mike Wilson overran a routine ground ball. Jon Walmer bunted to sacrifice him to second, and he advanced to third on Brandon Grubbs' ground-out.
With two outs and Richardson at third, Blunk intentionally walked Steve Siebenmorgen for the second time in the game. Cleanup hitter Zach Nelson strode to the plate and promptly sliced a drive down the right-field line, only to watch it land foul by a matter of inches. He then hit a ground-ball to Wilson, who let Richardson score and Nelson reach first when the ball rolled up his arm.
Game over.
"The last inning, it was a matter of us putting pressure on their defense," Shepherd said. "Mistakes are at a premium in a 1-0 game. They had breakdowns."
The defensive breakdowns may have finished off Wawasee, but the Warriors may have taken themselves out of the game with questionable base running in the top of the eighth.
Wawasee designated hitter Mickey Ashpole started the inning by reaching second when Warsaw third baseman Michael Barger overthrew first base. Wilson sacrificed him to second, giving the Warriors a runner on third with one out.
Shepherd played his infield defense in to choke off the run. His strategy worked, as Toby Witmer hit a ground ball to shortstop. Despite the defensive setup, Ashpole broke home, where Siebenmorgen caught the ball and had so much time he went up the baseline to tag him out. Meanwhile, Witmer had broken for second, and Siebenmorgen fired to second, where Witmer was tagged out.
"I was going on contact," Blunk said about the runner breaking for home. "I blew the call."
Just like that, Wawasee went from a runner on third with one out to the end of the inning.
Prior to that, Warsaw had been the team with the base-running gaffes. In the first five innings, the Tigers were caught stealing three times, including once at home when Brooks Stogsdill broke from third in the fifth inning as Richardson took a called strike three. The tagout and strikeout ended the inning.
After that, Warsaw's best chance to score came in the sixth, when Walmer led off the inning with a double, only to be forced out at third later in the inning.
"One play wins games like this," Blunk said. "Both pitchers pitched a he-- of a game. It's the best I've seen Adam throw. I don't think any of the hitters ever felt comfortable at the plate."
And Blunk and his Warriors trudged off the field, feeling uncomfortable about the 1-0 loss.
WARSAW 1, WAWASEE 0
8 innings
Wawasee 000 000 00 - 0 2 4
Warsaw 000 000 01 - 1 5 1
Warsaw ab r h rbi
Walmer ss 3 0 2 0
Himes pr 0 0 0 0
Grubbs 2b 4 0 0 0
Siebenmorgen c 2 0 0 0
Walmer pr 0 0 0 0
Nelson 1b 4 0 0 0
Golden pr 0 0 0 0
Augustine p 3 0 0 0
Stogsdill lf 3 0 2 0
Barger 3b 3 0 0 0
Koser rf 2 0 1 0
Milton ph 1 0 0 0
Richardson cf 3 1 0 0
Totals 28 1 5 0
Wawasee ab r h rbi
B. Milligan cf 3 0 2 0
R. Wilson ss 2 0 0 0
Gradle p 3 0 0 0
Adkins lf 3 0 0 0
Doty c 3 0 0 0
Ashpole dh 3 0 0 0
Kelly rf 0 0 0 0
M. Wilson 3b 1 0 0 0
Witmer 1b 3 0 0 0
D. Milligan 2b 2 0 0 0
Totals 23 0 2 0
E-M. Wilson 3, D. Wilson, Barger. DP- Warsaw 1, Wawasee 1. LOB-Warsaw 7, Wawasee 2. 2B-Walmer. SB-Golden, Koser, Stogsdill. CS-Stogsdill 2, Walmer, B. Milligan. S-Walmer, R. Wilson, M. Wilson.
IP H R ER BB SO
Wawasee
Gradle L, 3-1 8 5 1 0 2 8
Warsaw
Augustine W, 2-2 8 2 0 0 1 10
