Warsaw junior tosses 3-hitter in 2-1 win over Northridge
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
For the Warsaw Tigers, there couldn’t have been any more of a contrast in their last two varsity baseball games. A day after falling 12-9 to Northern Lakes Conference foe NorthWood in a game that featured 45-mph wind gusts and six home runs, the host Tigers beat league foe Northridge 2-1 Wednesday in a game that had just seven total hits. “Quite a contrast,” joked Warsaw coach Mike Hepler, whose team improved to 7-4 overall and 4-1 in the NLC standings. While Warsaw’s pitchers struggled with location Tuesday because of the windy conditions, junior Tyler Lafollette was in command for the Tigers Wednesday. Against the Raiders, who came into the game 3-0 in conference play, Lafollette pitched all seven innings and gave up just three hits. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk. “He was the difference today,” Hepler said of Lafollette. “He threw the ball well. He had good command all day. Outside of one little moment, he was in control all day. I tip my hat to Tyler. He was big for us today.” With Northridge trailing 1-0, Matt Miller produced the Raiders’ first hit of the game, a double to lead off the third inning. He scored two batters later on Andy Ross’ RBI single. Northridge’s only other hit in the game was a sixth-inning leadoff single by Ross, who also pitched the first five innings for the Raiders. Ross, a southpaw, gave up four hits, two runs and two walks while striking out five Warsaw batters. “Today’s game was very different than (Tuesday),” said Hepler. “Northridge is a scrappy team. Their pitcher threw a good game today too. After all those hits and runs in the game against NorthWood, this was definitely a pitcher’s game.” While Lafollette was on top of his game from the mound, he also had the help of his defense, particularly junior Cole Baker. Though not in the game as a hitter, Baker certainly made his presence felt from rightfield, where he made some running catches to keep the Raiders off the base paths. “Cole Baker made some great catches in rightfield,” said Hepler. “He’s a kid who came up big for us. We DHed for him, but he still had an impact on the game, just doing things that don’t show up in the boxscore.” The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when senior Caleb Moneyheffer led off with a single and scored on Caleb Heckaman’s two-out RBI-double. Warsaw scored the game-winning run in the fourth when Lafollette led off the inning with a walk and later scored on senior Brandon Shipp’s RBI-single. Junior Ethyn Bradley had the Tigers’ only other hit, a double in the fifth inning. “This was two good pitchers with good stuff,” said Hepler. “They came out and pressured us. I’m proud of the guys for getting a win. We had lost our last two games, the second game of a doubleheader Saturday and to NorthWood. So, it was nice to get a win today.” The Tigers are right back in action today in a game at Elkhart Central, and then play at conference foe Concord Friday.
WARSAW 2, NORTHRIDGE 1 NR 001 000 0 – 1 3 1 W 010 100 X – 2 4 0 Northridge – Andy Ross (L, 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), Travis Miller (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K). Warsaw – Tyler Lafollette (W, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K). 2B – Matt Miller (NR), Ethyn Bradley (W), Caleb Heckaman (W) NLC records: Northridge 3-1, Warsaw 4-1
