NAPPANEE – If nothing else, Monday’s high school baseball game between Warsaw and NorthWood was efficient. The Northern Lakes Conference matchup went to the Panthers, who won the game 2-0 in an hour and 17 minutes. NorthWood’s Chad Sellers and Warsaw’s Isaac Lenon each threw complete games, taking only 74 and 62 pitches, respectively. NorthWood scored single tallies in the first two innings, manufacturing runs each time. In the first frame, the Panthers got a leadoff single from Vincent Miranda, who stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout. In the second, Mitchell Hunsberger was hit by a pitch, sacrificed to second and scored on Brock Beehler’s single. Warsaw’s early rallies went from sizzle to fizzle in a hurry. In each of the first three innings, the Tigers lost a runner on the base paths when a planned play didn’t pan out. In the fourth frame, Warsaw left runners stranded on second and third when Panther third baseman Vincent Herschberger handled a hard one-hopper off the bat of Cole Baker and threw to first just in time to get Baker. Sellers then retired the final 11 Warsaw hitters in order to close out the game. “We had some opportunities early, and we ran ourselves out of a few innings with being picked off first base on a steal opportunity, picked off at third on a squeeze opportunity, and picked off of first again on a bunt opportunity. Those things added up,” said Warsaw head coach Mike Hepler. “At the end, we went three up, three down the last three innings. Credit to (Sellers), that’s what I told our boys; he made an adjustment real well against us, changing speeds, changing locations, and he had us swinging the bat. He kept things off-balance for us, especially as the game progressed.” “We’ll take this game, we’ll learn from it and try to get back to learning some things in practice (Tuesday) and, hopefully, do better at Northridge Wednesday.” Warsaw wasn’t flawless defensively, but did help Lenon keep the game close with some nice running catches in the outfield and solid infield play. “I thought we played pretty well defensively; we made a couple of errors we shouldn’t have,” Hepler said. “I think part of it was we didn’t play Saturday, and we didn’t do much, so coming out on a Monday, it was a little cool, and we got a little lackadaisical on a couple of things. “Overall, I was pleased with our effort. We made a couple of plays when we needed to. I was pleased with Isaac Lenon’s pitching, keeping us in the ball game. Throwing 62 pitches in six innings, that’s pretty special for a sophomore.” Warsaw fell to 2-2 in the conference and 3-5 overall. The week will be busy with the Northridge game on Wednesday, then home games with Elkhart Central and Concord on Thursday and Friday, respectively. “We’re coming around. We just needed to get a break,” said Hepler. “Credit their third baseman (Herschberger) for making a couple of plays, and saved a couple of runs on one of them. NorthWood’s a good team, but I think we’re a good team, too. “We’re still just trying to get it together. I think we will. This week will be big for us.” With the win, the Panthers improved to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in league play.
