Warsaw's new softball field was greeted by a home run from the first official at-bat.
Problem was, the dinger came off the bat of Mishawaka's Sarah Oppelt, supplying more than enough offense for her team to defeat the host Tigers 5-0 Wednesday."We always want to get up first," Mishawaka coach Bob Egyhazi said. "Sara's probably the best hitter we have. Last year, she hit third in our lineup, hit .500. We kind of thought, this year, that we'd put our best hitter up at No. 1, certainly giving her more chances to hit during a game. And just like that, 'Bang' a leadoff home run and we're up 1-0."
Against freshman hurler Shelbie Jones, Warsaw managed just two hits in the shutout, meaning the leadoff hit was also the game winner.
"I really think to win a game, we have to have hits," Warsaw coach Tanya Kempton said. "We had too many strikeouts and not enough hits. That's where we really came up short - with our hitting.
"To win, you have to score," she added.
In her first high school start, Jones went all seven innings for the Cavemen, striking out 11 and allowing just three outs to get leave the infield.
"Her pitches move a lot," Egyhazi said of Jones. "She's gotta a really good curveball, when she learns to spot it. She's also got a really good little knuckle-change."
"We wanted to throw her right our there tonight against a good team," the Mishawaka skipper added. "Last year, Warsaw played us 1-0. We knew that with everyone back, a good offense and with (Kelcy) Martin throwing, we wanted to stick her out there, throwing her to the wolves. She did a great job."
While Jones was on top of her game all evening, Martin was actually scratched from the lineup prior to the first pitch, with sophomore Kaitin Gruenewald getting the start.
"At the beginning of the game our first string pitcher (Martin) was having some back problems," Kempton said. "She's been having some problems, so she's getting checked out for that."
Outside of the leadoff homer, Gruenewald held the Cavemen to just one more hit until Martin took to the circle to start the fourth inning.
After entering the game, Martin didn't allow a hit in either the fourth of fifth innings, actually getting through the fifth in only three pitches. But after striking out the first batter of the sixth, Martin walked Ashley Johnson, and after Rebekah Nelson reached on a single, accompanied with a fielding error, Mishawaka had runners at second and third with one out.
With the game in the balance, Mishawaka's Sarah Scanlon ripped a 2-run single to right-center field, upping the lead to 3-0.
"We were kind of looking up and down our lineup, maybe thinking we needed to shake it up a little bit," Egyhazi said. "Maybe put someone else up there and give us some new life. But Sara's a senior, been with us for four years and was a clutch hitter last year. She came up big when we needed it."
Mishawaka scored two more runs in the inning, only adding insurance runs to the victory.
"They're a good ball club, but I think we could be right there with them," Tempton said of Mishawaka. "We have some work to do."
Warsaw won't get much time to get that work in, as the Penn Kingsmen come to town Friday for a 5 p.m. start.
