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Whitko was probably one good pitcher and one bad inning away from advancing in the Warsaw Baseball Sectional Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that was all it took for Churubusco in a 6-1 win in the only game played on a cold and drizzly day. Warsaw and Wawasee will play today at 1:30 p.m., followed by the championship game at 5 p.m.
The Eagles got five runs in the third inning and rode the left arm of Todd Fleetwood the rest of the way. Fleetwood allowed just three hits and struck out nine en route to his eighth win of the season. Fleetwood entered the game with 1.36 earned-run average and didn't nothing to hurt that against Whitko.
"They got good pitching from Fleetwood," Whitko coach Randy Hart said. "He is a heck of a pitcher. We put the ball in play against him, but just not enough."
In the third inning, Churubusco had already scored one run and had the bases loaded when Whitko got a forceout at home for the second out. All the Wildcats and starter Corey Green needed was one more out. It was tough to come by.
Austin Papenbrock followed with a two-RBI single, and Jim Rollins followed two batters later with another two-RBI single. All told, the Eagles ended up with five runs in the inning, four coming with two outs.
"They came through with some good, key hits," Hart said.
Hart stayed with Green through the whole inning, but went to A.J. Frantz one inning later, and all Frantz did was totally shut the door on Churubusco in his four innings of work, allowing only one hit and striking out six.
"A.J. came in and pitched great," Hart said. "He shut them down. Maybe I should have went with him a little earlier. We had two outs in the (third) inning and a groundball or a fly ball, and we are out of the inning. I was just looking to get out of that inning."
Whitko scored its lone run in the fifth inning when Barry Weybright walked and scored on a double by Green.
It was a bittersweet end of an otherwise sweet season for the Wildcats. Whitko (9-12) finished the season with six wins in its last nine games.
"They battled tough," Hart said. "I am proud of them. They had a good year. Nine wins for us is the most successful season in a long time. From day one, it was totally different. The kids had great attitudes."
