Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Syracuse -ÊPerhaps when speaking in "baseballese," no truer words were uttered by Hall of Fame catcher and quipster Yogi Berra when he said, "It ain't over 'til it's over."
The Wawasee Warriors found the "Yogism" to be a painful reminder that baseball can be a brutal game.Ê
The Warriors lost a 4-3 nailbiter to the Concord by failing to close out the Minutemen in the seventh inning.
Concord trailed Wawasee 3-1 heading into the top of the seventh with seemingly little to no chance of winning. Three runs later, Concord "stole one," as Minutemen coach Cary Anderson lamented.
Wawasee pitcher Drew Gradle walked the lead-off batter, Josh Clark, which in "baseballese" is a no-no. Gradle settled down to get Brandon Liles to hit into a force play at second.
After that, the heavens opened up and rained nothing but misery for the Warriors. Bryan Dame doubled in Liles, cutting the lead to 3-2. Next, Gradle induced Chad O'Brien to line out to center on a fine diving catch by Brain Milligan, thus saving the tying run temporarily.ÊÊ
All seemed under control with two outs and two strikes on Concord pitcher Nate Tallman. Gradle got Tallman to ground to second baseman Dan Milligan, but Milligan booted the ball and compounded matters by throwing it into the Minutemen dugout, allowing the tying run to score. A passed ball and an infield single later completed a wild and wacky comeback by Concord.
An equally ecstatic and apologetic Anderson said, "Never doubt the outcome of the game even though we were in no position through six (innings) to win that game, but we battled all game."
No, they weren't, but neither was Wawasee if you ask Warrior coach John Blunk.
"You can't win in this conference," Blunk said, "with only three hits."ÊÊ
Wawasee was in a position to win given the relative pop-gun attack.ÊÊ
But the opposing pitchers proved to be almost unhittable as an Indiana Hoosier basketball player under a post-Bob Knight zero-tolerance edict.Ê
Through nearly four innings both pitchers limited, with apologies to the group Badfinger, precious and few basehits.
"Drew (Gradle) pitched a great game, and so did Tallman," Blunk said. "Tallman kept us off stride for the entire game."Ê
ÊPitching into tough luck has been Gradle's wont all season. He saw his record fall to 5-4.Ê
ÊOvershadowed in the confusing and exciting finish was the home run hit by Wawasee first baseman Ronnie Black in the Warrior half of the fifth. He rocketed a Tallman fastball over the left-field fence, giving Wawasee a 2-1 lead.
ÊBlunk, ever gracious in defeat, said, "We gave it away ... we didn't make one play.Ê Baseball should not come down to one play."
It shouldn't, but too many times in the zany game of baseball, one play makes or breaks many careers. Ask Bill Buckner.
Wawasee has five games remaining until each error and each play is magnified and scrutinized even more, that being sectional play.Ê
The loss drops Wawasee's Northern Lakes Conference record to 3-7 and their overall record to 9-14. With sectional time only two weeks away, Wawasee has plenty of time to overcome this crushing defeat.Ê
The saying "Baseball is 90 percent mental, the other half is physical," was attributed to Berra.
The physical "half" is just fine for Wawasee. It's the 90 percent thing the Warriors need to mend come postseason time.
CONCORD 4, WAWASEE 3
Concord 000 010 3 - 4 7 0
Wawasee 000 120 0 -Ê3 3 2
Ê
Concord ab h r rbi
Nicely rf 3 1 0 0
Goldman ph 1 1 0 1
Gifford 1b 2 1 0 0
Wright pr 0 0 0 0
Alvarado lf 3 1 1 0
J Clark dh 2 1 0 0
Liles ss 2 0 1 0
T. Clark 2b 1 0 0 0
Dame 2b 2 2 1 1
O'Brien c 3 0 0 0
Tallaman p 3 0 1 0
Ê
Ê
Wawasee ab h r rbi
B. Milligan cf 3 0 0 0
D. Milligan 2b 2 0 0 0
Gradle p 3 0 0 0
Adkins ss 3 0 0 0
Doty c 3 1 1 0
Wilson lf 3 1 0 1
King dh 2 0 0 0
Beasley pr 0 0 0 0
Black 1b 3 1 1 1
Sumpter 3b 2 0 0 0
Henson pr 0 0 1 0
E-Black, D. Milligan. LOB-Wawasee 4, Concord 4. 2B-Gifford, Alvarado, Dame. HR-Black. CS-Liles, Nicely, Wright, J. Clark. S-J. Clark, Dame
Ê
Concord IP R ER H K BB
Tallman W 7 3 2 3 2 4
Wawasee IP R ER H K BB
Gradle L 7 4 2 7 9 2
PB-Doty. HBP-Gifford.
