Even though an undefeated Plymouth Pilgrim baseball team was the opposition, the Warsaw Tigers were playing for more than a win Friday.
Making the Tigers 5-2 Northern Lakes Conference win even sweeter, was the fact that the baseball players raised $47 for the Tatiana Castillo Cancer Fund, not counting the amount raised from concessions and $3 bracelets.
"There was a lot of emotion with the situation facing Tatiana," Warsaw coach Mike Hepler said. "There were a couple times today, when I had to stop because I was getting choked up. I was thinking, 'I have four kids, and it could be any of my kids in that situation.' I'm just glad we can help out in any way we can."
The Edgewood Middle School eight grader has been diagnosed with childhood leukemia, and Warsaw assistant coach Nate Howett, a teacher at Edgewood Middle School, set out to have the Tiger seniors try to help.
After selling bracelets, the guys then decided to make Friday's game its first "Striking Out 'K'ancer" event.
"They just kind of ran with (the bracelet idea), and we decided we needed to do one more thing, like having a game and devote it to her," Hepler said.
"The family is really struggling, and it's the least we could do," he added. "It really was."
For the game, the Warsaw team donated $1 for each single, $2 for doubles, $3 for triples, $4 for home runs and $5 for strike outs.
And one of those seniors, Chase Byerly, was on the mound, striking out seven batters, while also hitting a two-run home run in the first inning.
"That was big, because it helped us relax a little in a tense game," Hepler said of the two-run dinger.
To open the game, Warsaw hit into two-straight ground outs, but then things started to go their way after junior Josh Witt was hit with a pitch.
Following the hit batter, junior James Miglin ripped a ball to left field, getting just past Plymouth left fielder Damon Allen for an RBI-double. Senior Josh Miller then sent a ball around 347 feet to right-center field, resulting in yet another RBI-double.
With Warsaw up 2-0, Byerly then popped one over the fence in left, giving the home team a quick 4-0 lead, completing a two-out rally.
"I told the guys to learn from that as a baseball team," Hepler said about learning from Plymouth's mistake. "When you get two outs, and nobody on, you don't want to do something like (hit the batter). You don't want to just give a guy a base."
After building the lead, Byerly pitched a great game, giving up just two runs on four hits over 6-1/3 innings, only getting pulled after two reached in the seventh inning.
"Chase Byerly threw a great game," Hepler said. "He just kind of ran out of gas at the end. It was one of those things where you could see the wheels coming off a little bit. I was like, 'No. We're not going there. We're changing pitchers.' He was around 82 or 83 pitches, and he had never thrown that many this year."
It appeared Byerly may get that complete game when a slow-running Evan Skirvin hit a ground ball to second base with one and a man at first, but a hard-running Jeremy Renz broke up a double-play at second, leaving Plymouth with runners at first and second with one out, down 5-2.
With Plymouth threatening, Hepler brought Miglin into the game, to get the final two outs and the save.
The win improves Warsaw to 6-1 on the year, and evens its NLC record at 1-1 following a loss to Goshen Wednesday.
The loss was Plymouth's first of the year, leaving them with a 7-1 mark and a 1-1 record in the conference.
"I have a lot of respect for those guys," Hepler said about Plymouth. "They play hard."
Warsaw travels to Kokomo today for an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
