Mark Howe
GOSHEN — Warsaw's Lady Tigers played defense well enough, but struggled at the plate in its 5-0 loss to Elkhart in the Goshen 4A Softball Sectional championship game Saturday morning.
For the first four innings the matchup was a pitcher's duel between Warsaw's Addison Eastwood and the Lions' Lacy Stimac. Elkhart made Eastwood work hard, getting runners on base every frame but not getting a runner past second base. Meanwhile, Stimac faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings. Leadoff hitter Mia Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth, but was caught attempting to steal second.
The Lady Tiger's best chance to score came in the top of the fifth, when Adelynn Williams and Ayla Hatfield led off the stanza with a pair of singles. A base-running blunder cost Warsaw an out, and Stimac retired the next two batters to end the inning.
Senior Brooklyn Nibert retreats to the outfield fence to catch a ball during Saturday morning's sectional championship game against Elkhart...Nieter
Elkhart broke through with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Natalie Smith stroked a one-out double and scored on a two-out single from Ava Walker. Stimac then helped her own cause with a RBI double to right-center field. The Lions got three insurance runs off a single, a pair of hit batsmen, a fielder's choice and the lone error of the game.
The Lady Tigers advanced to the title game with a two-out rally in the seventh inning of the semifinals. They got another pair of singles from Williams and Hatfield with two outs on Saturday, but the rally and the season ended there.
"Our defense was on-point today. We just had one bad inning where we hit a couple of batters," Warsaw head coach Hilary Kiser said. "They're a really good short-game ball team, and that talent and that ability to dominate in the short game will take them pretty far in the tournament."
Finishing with a 9-16 record, Kiser said her team made progress as the season wore on.
"I told them I was proud of them because all I ask of them is to play hard for seven innings, and they did just that," she said "They've come a long way this year."
Elkhart (17-12) will host Penn (23-4) in the one-game regional at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
