AKRON - The Warsaw Tigers softball team closed out its season on a positive note Friday, defeating the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings 8-0 in Akron.
"I know the players really wanted to play Tippecanoe Valley," Warsaw coach Tanya Kempton said. "It seems like over the past couple of years, we've had to get them off the schedule to make room for conference games. It was a nice ending for the girls."
The win also ends a three-game skid for the Tigers, who now prepare for their 11 a.m. sectional game against Elkhart Central at the Tigers Athletic Complex Monday.
"I feel pretty good, especially after last night (a 6-5 home loss to Elkhart Memorial)," Kempton said about the Thursday night game against the Northern Lakes Conference champions. "Even though we lost, we played them tough. I feel good. If you would have asked me after the Monday games (a 13-0 loss to Concord and a 5-4 loss to Northridge), I would not have said that, but we've come around. I feel we're right up there with everybody else."
Junior pitcher Kaitlin Gruenewald helped the Tigers get a win in their final regular-season game, pitching a complete game, allowing just three hits and striking out seven.
"All-in-all, a lot of the girls had trouble adjusting to the pitching," Valley coach John Strong said. "We had a game last night against a real slow pitcher. Some of them were having a tough time adjusting their bats tonight."
The biggest trouble Gruenewald got herself into was in the bottom of the fourth inning, when she walked juniors Danielle Ortega and Kali Miller after sophomore Kaley Shewman had reached on an error.
However, with the bases loaded and one out, Gruenewald struck out the next two batters, preserving a 4-0 Warsaw lead.
"We just didn't get timely hits when we needed them," Strong said. "You finally get them in positions you want them in, and (Gruenewald) had struggled with a couple batters before that. She composed herself and came back around."
The Tigers offense supplied Gruenewald with a quick lead, scoring three runs in the second inning, turning a 1-0 lead into a comfortable 4-0 advantage.
Already in front 1-0, freshman Kendra Marshall drove in juniors Bri Nice and Amber Plummer on a two-run double, followed by another RBI-double by junior Kelci Freds.
The Tigers added on to that lead in the fifth, when junior Kaitlin Reichard reached base on a one-out error.
Following a bunt-single by Gruenewald, Reichard scored on a wild pitch before junior Jenna Walters drew a walk.
After running to first base with the walk, Walters then just took off for second. Following a throw to second, Gruenewald scored from third increasing the lead to 7-0.
Later in the inning, Plummer drove in the final run of the game, scoring Walters and leaving Warsaw in front 8-0.
On top of supplying the pitching, Gruenewald also went 3 for 4 at the plate with two runs, while Marshall and Nice both went 2 for 4.
Of Valley's three hits, two came off the bat of junior Eden Shewman, who finished the game 2 for 3.
"She was the one that was hitting the ball pretty well tonight," Strong said. "We had a few hits scattered out through the game, we just couldn't put them together."
After a tournament at Culver today at 9 a.m., the Vikings will face West Noble in the 2 p.m. game at the Columbia City Sectional Monday.
"I've heard they're a pretty, all-around good team," Strong said of his team's first-round opponent. "I heard they hit the ball well and have decent pitching. I think it will take an 'A' game by us over there to do it. If we do, we can be competitive, and give them a run for their money."
