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The pitching was fantastic for the Warsaw baseball team on Monday night, as the Tigers hosted Wawasee to begin Northern Lakes Conference play. Striking out 10 Warrior hitters, Warsaw took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a game they won 6-1.
“I was really happy with the way we peppered the zone tonight. Not trying to work around hitters, just throwing strikes,” Warsaw head coach Andy Manes said. “These first four games we’ve given out too many walks, guys trying to be too perfect. When you’re throwing strikes, good things will happen.”
After starter Rogan Bailey began the game with a scoreless inning on the mound, the sophomore got his team started on offense. Leading off the bottom of the first with a single, Bailey would come around to score a batter later, as Logan Kim hit an opposite field double to bring him home. After a wild pitch advanced Kim to third, he scored on a groundout by Grady Nelson, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead after an inning.
Both pitchers dialed it up a notch in the second, as Bailey and Wawasee hurler Kyhan Heisler combined for five strikeouts in what were two scoreless half innings. Warsaw’s Brody Heady was the lone baserunner of the frame, leading off the bottom half with a single.
The bottom of the third saw the Tigers double their lead. With one out in the inning, Kim singled for his second hit of the night. After stealing second, a wild pitch sent him over to third. That’s where Kael Miller stepped in, hitting a sacrifice fly to bring him home. Nelson, the batter before Miller, had reached on a walk, stole second and third, and a better later, finished his trip to home on a passed ball. Heading to the fourth, Warsaw now led 4-0.
After three hitless innings on the mound from Bailey, Mason O’Malley replaced him on the bump in the top of the fourth. He picked up right where his teammate left off, striking out two of the three batters he faced to keep the Warriors without a knock for the fourth straight inning.
In the bottom half of the frame, O’Malley got a two-out rally going with a single. Thanks to some heads up baserunning, he ended up on third after a pair of stolen bases. Bailey came up next and roped his second single of the night to bring his fellow pitcher home and make it a 5-0 game in the process.
Some nice defensive plays by O’Malley and Spencer Love at second base resulted in another 1-2-3 inning for Tiger pitchers, as Wawasee was still searching for its first hit of the evening and was quickly running out of time to get it. On the other side, the Tigers had another opportunity to add onto their lead in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners on second and third with just one out. However, new Wawasee pitcher Everett Guy was able to get out of the jam and keep the difference at five runs.
O’Malley continued to roll through the Wawasee hitters in the sixth, striking out two more hitters to bring his total to five in just three innings of work. The junior also did not allow a baserunner over his three innings pitched, meaning the visitors would have one more chance to avoid being no-hit. The visitors now had a six-run deficit to make up, as a leadoff single by Love eventually resulted in a run being scored on a wild pitch.
The ball rolls off the fingers of Wawasee junior pitcher Kyhan Heisler's fingers during Monday evening's game at Warsaw...Nieter
The Warriors were able to avoid both the no-hitter and the shut out in the bottom of the seventh, as Heisler began the inning with a leadoff double off of freshman Ben Zartman. After balks on back-to-back pitches, he was able to trot home to score the team’s lone run of the ball game. Zartman settled in afterwards, retiring the next three hitters to finish things off.
