Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
After an 0-7 start to the season, the Warsaw softball team has made some big strides in recent weeks. The Lady Tigers looked to keep things going on a trip up to Goshen on Friday night to take on a RedHawk team they defeated last week. A six-run third inning set the tone and eventually carried the team over the finish line for an 8-7 win, the team’s fifth in eight tries.
“This is a team that is made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores. We’re really learning that mental game and how to pull through,” Warsaw head coach Hilary Kiser said after the win. “We’re learning to trust our bats and each other.”
The Lady Tigers were able to put one base runner on in the top of the first in the form of a one-out single from Lilly Piper, but Goshen starter Emily Diaz struck out the next two hitters she saw to send things over to the home bats.
Those bats were extremely aggressive, as the Lady RedHawks put the first three pitches in play, with two of them poking through the infield for singles. With two runners on and just one out, Warsaw starter Addison Eastwood had her work cut out for her to keep things scoreless, but she delivered by forcing an infield fly and a groundout to short to end the inning with the bases loaded.
After Diaz continued to silence the visiting hitters with another pair of punchouts in the top of the second, the bottom half began with a bit of a scary play. Goshen’s Olivia Garica hit a ball in the right-center field gap. Both trying to make a play, Addy Sainer and Kami Luna collided with each other trying to field it. Luckily both players were okay, and the Lady Tiger defense stuck with the play long enough to tag Garcia out at home as she was attempting to circle the bases. From there, Eastwood did the rest and sent things to the third still scoreless.
Warsaw sophomore catcher Liliana Rojas holds onto the ball long enough to tag out Goshen's Olivia Garcia..Nieter
After being stifled during their first two trips to the plate, the Lady Tiger offense exploded here. After the first hitter in the inning was retired, the next seven batters recorded a base hit. The big ones were doubles by both Piper and Emma Keyes, both of which scored two runs. Eastwood also added an RBI single, and Piper scored on a throwing error as she was stealing third base. Thanks to the big inning, Warsaw now held a strong 6-0 lead.
Goshen got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the third, as a leadoff single by Nicole Leal eventually developed into a sacrifice fly for Harper Syslo.
With Ellyse Walters beginning the fourth inning with a single to flip it over to the top of the order, it gave Piper the opportunity to stay hot at the plate, and she did just that. Her third hit of the night drove in her third run and made it 7-1. It didn’t stay that way for long though, as Dyllan Kincaid began the bottom of the fourth with an inside-the-park home run on a ball hit down the right field line to continue the tradeoff of runs.
“Lilly is getting better with every rep, and she’s building her confidence in the process,” Kiser said. “It’s really great to see her start to shine.”
What followed this was a scoreless fifth inning followed by the Lady Tigers also putting up a goose egg in the top of the sixth. In the bottom half of the inning though, Goshen was able to put together a rally to get into striking distance. It started with a double for Kincaid, who scored on a grounder that was misplayed by the Warsaw infield. This was followed up by an RBI double by Mya Vivanco, who scored on a single by Leal. Heading into the seventh, the Lady RedHawks had tightened things up substantially, now trailing 7-5.
As Eastwood returned to the circle to try and finish things off, she did so having helped herself out in the top half of the inning. After Sainer led the inning off with a single, aided by an error that put her on third, the Lady Tiger hurler laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to get a run back and make it 8-5.
It was a good thing she did so, as the Goshen bats were able to keep their momentum from the inning prior. Two singles and an extremely costly error in left field led to two runs crossing the board before Warsaw was able to record an out. Now up 8-7, the tension was rising. Eastwood was able to retire the next two hitters before putting the next two on. With a play at every base, she was able to generate a ground ball over to third, where Ema Denney scooped it up and tagged the runner to secure the hard-earned victory.
