ELKHART – The early morning heat didn’t slow down the bats of the Concord baseball team Monday. Taking on the Warsaw Tigers (11-18) in the 9 a.m. semifinal of Class 4A Sectional 4 at Elkhart Memorial High School, the Concord Minutemen (18-11) pounded out 15 hits in a 15-5 victory. With the win, Concord advanced to the 7:30 p.m. championship game, where it fell 12-1 to 10th-ranked Elkhart Central. Against Warsaw, the Minutemen scored in each of the first four innings and six of seven, going through five Tiger pitchers along the way. “Our kids battled hard,” Warsaw coach Mike Hepler said. “It was just hard coming up here this early in the morning. We didn’t get a lot of breaks, but you have to credit Concord, because they really hit the ball very, very well.” Against Warsaw starting pitcher Forde Ness, Concord’s first big break came in the second inning. With the game tied 1-1, Concord junior Mason Eldridge hit a triple, followed by three-straight singles, although Warsaw junior catcher Jared Lemler did throw out a runner trying to steal second. With two outs, and Concord runners at first and second, Warsaw appeared to be out of the inning, but an error occurred on a ground ball. The error loaded the bases and Concord then hit back-to-back two-run singles, building a 6-1 lead. “We scored about 48 percent of our runs with two outs,” Concord coach Jim Treadway said. “That’s when we lock in and try to make contact.” The Tigers showed life in the bottom of the fifth, when senior Kyle Morris hit an RBI single, scoring junior Shay Hepler, which was followed by a two-run homer by senior Austin Franzen. The inning cut Concord’s lead to 10-4, but that was as close the Tigers got. “They were trying their best, they just weren’t executing very well at times,” Hepler said. “Today was a little bit of that, but it was also (Concord), they hit the ball. It wasn’t that we played so bad.” Concord junior Matthew Kotva played the best of anyone, going 4 for 4 with a home run and two doubles, driving in five runs Morris finished his prep career with a 2-for-3 day, driving in two runs.
