The Concord Minutemen were almost an hour late for their game at Warsaw Friday, and the hosting Tigers may have wished they'd left Courtney Cameron back in Dunlap.
The junior pitcher almost single-handedly delivered Warsaw its first Northern Lakes Conference loss of the season, striking out 16 in seven innings of work, while giving up only one hit in the 1-0 Concord victory.
"She pitched awesome," Concord coach Robb Freeze said of Cameron. "She did a good job of spotting her pitches and her spins were working. She just kept them off-balance all game long. I mean, 16 strikeouts, that's just fantastic for any pitcher."
While she wasn't an overpowering pitcher, Cameron showed her stuff to the Tigers early, striking out eight of the Warsaw batters the first time through the lineup.
"I'm not quite sure why we couldn't hit their pitcher," Warsaw coach Tanya Kempton said. "I'm not sure why everyone had an off-game at the same time. She was okay, but she wasn't anything we shouldn't have been able to hit.
"I'm just shocked to have that many strikeouts," she said.
Instead blowing the ball past batters, Cameron was able to put enough spin on the ball, that right when it got to the plate, it almost always veered sharply into the right-handed batters' box.
"I think people take it for granted that because she doesn't throw the ball all that hard, she's easy to hit," Freeze said. "But she just has a lot of spins, and it just messes with your mind."
Prior to striking out the Warsaw side in the bottom of the first, Cameron's Concord teammates gave her a 1-0 advantage in the top of the frame, capitalizing on two doubles off Warsaw sophomore pitcher Kaitlin Gruenewald. The second double came off the bat of Andrea Pinarski with two outs, scoring Kiara Slabach from second base.
That single run was enough to hand Gruenewald the loss, pitching four innings, while starting in place of senior ace Kelcy Martin, who's been battling a bad back this season.
"I was planning on starting (Martin), but then Wednesday, she was in a little bit of pain after the game against Northridge," Kempton said. "I decided to start Kaitlin, then I put her in for a few innings, just mix things up a little bit."
Martin entered the game to start the fifth, giving up just one hit, while striking out five in three innings of work.
Prior to Martin's entrance, the Tiger defense came up big to just keep the offense within striking distance.
"I have no complaints about our defense," Kempton said. "It was outstanding."
With the home team down 1-0, Concord senior Allyssa Vahala opened the third inning with a single. On an ensuing bunt by Slabach, the Tigers attempted to get Vahala out at second, an idea that didn't pay off, as she was called safe. With runners at first and second junior Michelle Gaeddert then singled to right field, but when Vahala rounded third to score, she quickly realized she wouldn't make it. Warsaw left fielder Megan Sanders threw the ball in to catcher Heather Shepherd, who quickly relayed it over to third baseman Tera Clark, who applied the tag on Vahala, picking up the out.
"That was a miscommunication," Freeze said about the mishap, which prevented Concord from being in a bases-loaded, no-out situation. "She didn't hear me, and I didn't do the hand signals that I normally do."
Following the out, Gruenewald got Pinarski to ground out to shortstop Kelci Freds, who took the force out at third, before sophomore Kelsey Schmucker ended the inning on a pop out.
"Kelcy Martin and Kaitlin Gruenewald did a good job of pitching," Kempton said. "I don't think it would have mattered which one started. It was just that we couldn't pick them up with our sticks."
The only Tiger to use her stick was Clark, who reached on a single to open the fourth inning. With two outs, Clark advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch by Cameron, but that was as close to home plate as Warsaw got all night long.
The win improves Concord to 8-5 on the season, 4-2 in the NLC, but the result left Warsaw with it's first conference blemish, dropping to 5-1. The Tigers are still one of the favorites for a conference title, but the loss just added another team to the list of contenders.
"We're thrilled with the victory, and it puts us right back in the hunt of the NLC," Freeze said.
"They're a good ballclub, there's no question about that," he added about Warsaw. "So we're fortunate that we won and Courtney pitched a great game."
The Tigers will be back in NLC action Monday when another conference favorite, Elkhart Memorial, comes to town at 5 p.m.
