Warsaw baseball coach Mike Hepler encourages his players to be aggressive at the plate. The Tigers were just that in the fifth inning of Monday’s Northern Lakes Conference opener, and it led to an 8-1 win over the visiting Wawasee Warriors. Clinging to a 1-0 lead over their rivals on a windy, chilly evening, the Tigers plated seven runs in the frame and took complete control of the contest. The Tigers had four hits in the inning, including a two-run double from senior Brady Ousley and three-run triple from junior Jason Ferguson, and benefitted from three walks and a Wawasee error. “Credit Brady Ousley for a big double, and then Jason Ferguson comes through with a huge bases-clearing triple,” said Hepler, whose team improved to 2-3 overall. “I told our guys to go up there with a hitter’s approach, be more aggressive.” Until that point, the Warriors were very much in the game. As it turned out, however, they fell to 2-5 overall. “It came down to one inning,” said Wawasee coach John Blunk. “We just didn’t make the routine plays. We get the first batter out, then we walk two guys and give up a double, another walk, and then an error to load the bases. We didn’t make the routine play.” The Warriors scored their lone run of the game in the seventh inning. Wawasee finished the game with five hits and committed three errors in the field. Junior Derrick Sorensen and sophomore Patrick Navarro had doubles for the Warriors. The Tigers pounded out seven hits in the win, and Ousley and Ferguson led the way with their run-scoring extra-base hits. Ousley was the only Tiger with multiple hits. The senior third basemen also had a single in the first inning. Warsaw committed one fielding error in the win. Through the first four innings, Monday’s game was very much a good pitching matchup between Wawasee senior Joe Fleagle and Warsaw senior southpaw Austin Moore. “They both pitched well,” Blunk said of Fleagle and Moore. “That’s what you’re going to see in the NLC.” Moore went the distance on the mound, earning the win after giving up five hits, five walks and a run. He struck out six Wawasee batters. “Austin Moore had a great day overall,” said Hepler. “I’m so pleased with his effort.” Fleagle was charged with the loss after giving up eight runs, seven hits and four walks in five innings of work. He struck out four Warsaw batters. Fleagle was replaced in the sixth inning by Navarro, who gave up one walk and retired the other three batters he faced. Not only was Monday’s win a boost for Warsaw’s confidence, the game was the fourth annual Tigers Strike Out ‘K’ancer Fundraiser. In the first three years of the game, the Tigers had raised nearly $5,000 for the cause. Warsaw is in action again Wednesday at conference foe Goshen, while Wawasee travels to NLC rival Elkhart Memorial Wednesday.
WARSAW 8, WAWASEE 1 Waw 000 000 1 – 1 5 3 War 001 070 X – 8 7 1 Joe Fleagle (L, 5 IP, 7H, 8R, 4K, 4BB), Patrick Navarro (6, 1 IP, 0R, 0H, 1BB) and Si Shear; Austin Moore (W, 7 IP, 1R, 5H, 6K, 5BB) and Jared Lemler 2B – Derrick Sorenson (Waw), Navarro (Waw), Brady Ousley (War) 3B – Jason Ferguson (War) Records: Wawasee 2-5 (0-1 NLC), Warsaw 2-3 (1-0 NLC) JV – Warsaw 13, Wawasee 3 (6 innings) 2B – Bailey Yoder (Waw), Drew Wright (Waw) HR – Austin Perdieu (War), Michael Miller (War)
