Over the years, Wawasee High School’s varsity baseball team hasn’t had much to celebrate in its rivalry with Warsaw. The host Warriors certainly did Wednesday evening, as they rallied from a 3-1 deficit and beat the Tigers 4-3 on senior Gage Fannin’s sacrifice fly to centerfield. The exciting – and rare – win over Warsaw was Wawasee’s first Northern Lakes Conference win of the season, as the Warriors improved to 6-10 overall and 1-7 in league play. The Tigers, who have lost their last four games, fell to 8-8 overall and 5-3 in the NLC. “The guys deserve all the credit,” said Wawasee coach Brent Doty, a former Warrior himself. “I know in my four years playing at Wawasee, I don’t think we beat Warsaw in anything. Warsaw is a top-tier team in the NLC. This is a great win for us.” The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when junior Drew Anderson’s sacrifice scored classmate Gage Reinhard. The Tigers responded with three runs in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead, but outside of that inning, Warsaw coach Mike Hepler wasn’t pleased with his team. “We were big-time flat, and I don’t know,” said Hepler, whose team beat Wawasee 7-6 in Warsaw on April 21. “I don’t have an explanation. I told the players Wawasee would be ready to go. I hope they believe me now. “We didn’t do anyting offensively other than the fourth inning,” continued Hepler. “We had way too many pop flies and too many lackadaisical efforts. Our problem is we’re not aggressive.” The Tigers got just four hits off the Warriors’ pitching tandem of starter Jordan Currie and reliever Aaron Voirol, who was credited with the win. Senior Justin Oberlin led Warsaw with two hits, while classmates Dean Katris and Caleb Moneyheffer had one hit each. Wawasee pounded out eight hits in the win, including two each by seniors Nate Hare and Andrew Milligan. With the score tied 3-3, Hare led off the bottom of the seventh inning by drawing a walk. Junior Nate Prescott then drew a walk, followed by a Reinhard single. With the bases loaded and no outs, Doty inserted Fannin into his lineup. Fannin came up big with a shot to centerfield. Warsaw junior Ethyn Bradley made a spectacular catch, but Hare was able to score from third, which sent Wawasee’s fans and players into a celebration. “He’s a senior leader and I wanted him at the plate,” Doty said of Fannin. “We’re trying to get back to winning games, and he came up big.” While the Warriors hope winning the first game of the second round of NLC play is a sign of things to come, Warsaw hopes to end its current four-game skid. In each of those losses, the Tigers gave up leads. “A week ago, we were 8-4 and we felt pretty good about wins over Northridge and Concord,” said Hepler. “Now we’re 8-8. We’re just not aggressive enough.” Warsaw travels to Huntington North today, while the Warriors host conference rival Elkhart Memorial.
