SOUTH BEND - After spending six hours at Boehm Park in South Bend Wednesday, the Warsaw Senior Baseball All-Stars are headed back today.
Playing in the best-of-3 sectional against District 11 champion Chet Waggoner, Warsaw fell 8-7 in the opening game, but came back in the second of the doubleheader, forcing today's third game with an 11-6 victory."The boys played much better in the second game," Warsaw coach Art Gosnell said.
The two squads meet today at 6:30 p.m., with the winner advancing on to the state tournament in Anderson.
After winning their first District 14 title since 2000, the senior team from Warsaw looked to be cruising in the opening game of the doubleheader, but couldn't sustain the momentum.
Following a four-run third inning, Warsaw was on top of Waggoner 6-0, but the good times didn't last much longer.
Capitalizing off three Warsaw errors in the bottom of the third, Waggoner climbed right back into it, drawing to within 6-4.
"A few errors in the first game really hurt us, but they'll do that every once in a while," Gosnell said.
Steven Hanson came up up with a lead-off triple to open the fourth, and was replaced by Christopher O'Hara as a pinch runner. Following a strike out, Phillip Fleagle helped score O'Hara with a hit, but he didn't use his bat to do it.
With O'Hara standing at third, Fleagle was hit in the helmet during a pickoff attempt by the catcher. After the ball careened off Fleagle's helmet, O'Hara crossed the plate safely, giving Warsaw a little breathing room at 7-4.
The run was the last Warsaw scored, but Waggoner wasn't quite finished, plating one in the fifth and another in the sixth.
With Warsaw still clinging to a 7-6 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, Waggoner started things off with three straight singles, bringing K.C. O'Brien to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. Sitting in a perfect situation, O'Brien, who had come in in relief in the fifth inning, handed himself the win with a two-RBI double.
After entering the game in the fifth, O'Brien held Warsaw scoreless, only giving up three hits. On Warsaw's side, Fleagle was hit with the loss, pitching six innings, striking out five and giving up six earned runs.
On top of pitching, Fleagle was also a force at the plate, going 4 for 4 with two runs. Combined with the second game, Fleagle went 6 for 8 in the doubleheader.
"He's been real big for us all season," Gosnell said of the Wawasee sophomore-to-be. "He's an excellent hitter and he proved that tonight."
Another Wawasee Warrior on the all-star team is Jeremy Sorenson, who went 2 for 4 in the Game 1 loss with four RBIs.
Following a 20-minute break, the two teams were back at it again, getting the second game started at 8:50 p.m.
A loss away from elimination, Warsaw jumped out to a 5-1 lead midway through the third inning, and unlike the first game, made this advantage last.
"They just had it in their minds that they wanted to win that second game," Gosnell said. "That's what they did. Last week when we played, we scored 38 runs in two games. So, we know we're capable of hitting the baseball and scoring a lot of runs. It's just a matter of playing a little defense to go along with it."
Following a seven-error performance in the first game, Warsaw committed just three in the second, helping Hanson get the win after entering the game in the third inning.
Even though they got the win, it didn't come without some suspense.
Leading 6-4 going into the bottom of the fourth, Waggoner cut the lead to 6-5 with a run.
However, unlike the first game, Warsaw plated runs in the last three innings, including four in the top of the fifth.
In the four-run inning, Warsaw made the best of three walks and two hit batters, to plate so many runs on only one hit.
After grabbing a 10-5 lead in the inning, Warsaw never allowed Waggoner to make another real threat the rest of the way, forcing today's deciding game.
In the Game 2 victory, which ended at 11:30 p.m., Hanson picked up the win going five innings, striking out five and surrendering four earned runs. At the plate, lead-off man Darren Lurson went 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI. O'Hara went 1 for 1 with an RBI, two runs and a stolen base.
"I've seen these kids play all summer in Little League, and this is the team we chose," Gosnell said of the all-star squad. "Hopefully, they can come through and do what they want to do."
CHET WAGGONER 8, WARSAW 7
(Sectional, Game 1)
W 024 100 0 - 7 15 7
C 004 011 2 - 8 12 5
Patrick Grimmer (4IP, 7R, 6ER, 12H, 3K, 1BB), K.C. O'Brien (5, W, 3IP, 0R, 3H, 2K) and Michael Zimmerman; Phillip Fleagle (L, 6IP, 8R, 6ER, 12H, 5K) and Mitchell Gosnell
2B - Robbie Fontenot (C), O'Brien (C), Nick Nunez (W)
3B - Steven Hanson (W)
WARSAW 11, CHET WAGGONER 6
(Sectional, Game 2)
W 023 141 0 - 11 7 3
C 013 100 1 - 6 8 5
Brock Anson (2IP, 1R, 1ER, 1H, 1K, 3BB), Steven Hanson (3, W, 5IP, 5R, 4ER, 7H, 5K) and Mitchell Gosnell; Adam Dyscko (L, 4-2/3IP, 9R, 6ER, 5H, 4K, 4BB, 2HB), Callahan Healy (5, 1/3IP, 1R, 0ER, 1H, 1K, 1BB, 1HB), Ian Coleman (6, 2/3IP, 1R, 1ER, 0H, 1BB), Ben Paczkawski (6, 1-1/3IP, 0R, 1H, 1K, 1BB) and Zimmerman
