No. 1 Marian Edges Lady Tigers On Softball Diamond
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Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
The Warsaw softball team's two Division I recruits showed their offensive skills Tuesday, it was just that Class 3A No. 1 Mishawaka Marian limited their opportunities. In an 8-7 loss to the visiting Lady Knights (25-1) Tuesday, the Lady Tigers (16-9) watched as seniors Kelsey Dotson and Kendra Marshall were walked a combined five times. The reasoning for the walks to Dotson was obvious, as the Indiana University-bound catcher had eight home runs coming into the game. Marshall, who’ll be playing at Valparaiso University next year, had five dingers coming into the game, but she added another two in her first two at-bats. After hitting a leadoff homer in the second and a three-run shot that cut Marian’s lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the third, Marian opted to walk her the last two times she came up to bat. “It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see she was going to be hitting them out,” Marian coach George Grenert said. “I'd rather see her standing at first than running around the bases, especially with people on base.” With Marian pitching around Dotson and Marshall in the fifth, junior Kayla Snider reached base on an error, which was followed by another error on a ball hit by sophomore Kaleigh Speicher that plated two runs and gave Warsaw a 7-6 lead. That lead held until the top of the seventh, when the Lady Knights got a one-out single by sophomore Cassie Jones before freshman Shannon McCarty drove her in with a double. McCarty later took the lead on a wild pitch, giving Marian an 8-7 lead, and ultimately, the comeback win. “It was a good game for our seniors,” Warsaw coach Jim Speicher said. “Their leadership showed up. We never gave up. We fought when we were down 6-2 and that's the kind of leadership those girls have shown this season.” One of those seniors was pitcher Cari O’Hara, who has a school-record 14 wins this season, but her coach is worrying about the innings she logged. Following last season, this year’s pitchers were supposed to be junior Alex Sanchez and sophomore Kaleigh Speicher. However, Sanchez opted to concentrate on volleyball and didn’t play this year, and Kaleigh Speicher enrolled at Goshen before transferring back to Warsaw. With those two gone, although Kaleigh Speicher has returned but will be unable to pitch due to shoulder surgery, O’Hara got the nod and his been doing the job this season. Only problem is, the job may be entering overtime hours. “I'm worried that she's fatigued,” Jim Speicher said. “She's thrown a lot of innings, having been given the ball so much. I even contemplated taking her out tonight, even though I knew whoever we brought in, they'd probably hit hard, because they're a good-hitting club.” Now, the Warsaw coaching staff will have to contemplate sitting O’Hara out Thursday at Elkhart Memorial. Even though the game is a Northern Lakes Conference contest, the Lady Tigers have already locked up second place in the NLC and they square off with Memorial in the opening game of Sectional 4 Monday evening in Elkhart. “I have a decision to make Thursday,” Jim Speicher said. “We're going to turn around and play Memorial again Monday, so I don't know what I'm going to do with her yet. We'll have to talk as a staff. “We don't know if we want them to see her a third time at the sectional or not,” he added. On top of losing the game, the Lady Tigers may have also lost their starting left fielder, as junior Kaitlin Wiley went down with an injured left knee while trying to field a ball in the second inning. Wiley already missed her entire freshman season after injuring her right knee in pregame of Warsaw’s 2010 season opener, and may miss the remainder of her junior year. “It'll be a big loss because she's been moved into the leadoff spot for us,” Jim Speicher said. “So, we'll need to adjust the lineup again.”
MISHAWAKA MARIAN 8, WARSAW 7 M 114 000 2 – 8 12 3 W 023 020 0 – 7 8 3 Ariel Sheets (W, 7IP, 7R, 4ER, 8H, 0K, 5BB, 2HR) and Ellen Nagy; Cari O'Hara (L, 7IP, 12R, 5ER, 12H, 0K, 4BB, 1HR) and Kelsey Dotson 2B – Shannon McCarty (M), Ashley Ousley (W) HR – Katie Barnard (M), Kendra Marshall (W) 2 Records: Marian 25-1, Warsaw 16-9
