LAPORTE - After playing near-perfect baseball the first four games of the state tournament, a trio of errors and some walks proved costly for the Warsaw Tigers Saturday.
The miscues led to a 5-3 loss to the Munster Mustangs in the championship game of the Class 4A regional at Laporte's Schreiber Field."We made it this far because we didn't make any mistakes," said Warsaw coach Mike Hepler, whose team was flawless in winning the sectional at Elkhart Memorial and then in beating Penn 2-0 in Saturday morning's regional semfinal. "We just didn't make some plays. That's the first time this tournament that's happened."
Warsaw finished its season with a 19-12 record, while Munster improved to 23-8 and will play Carroll in the semistate Saturday.
The Mustangs beat second-ranked LaPorte in Saturday's second semifinal game.
"This is our fourth Final Four in the last nine or 10 years, I'm so proud of them," said Munster coach Robert Shinkan said of his players. "They've been on a mission. We were 6-6 at one point, but we're on a roll right now and I'm enjoying the ride."
The game was scoreless until an error allowed the Mustangs to score a run in the bottom of the third inning off Warsaw pitcher .
A two-out RBI single by Munster's Nate Eagan pushed the advantage to 2-0 in the fourth inning, and then the Mustangs put three runs on the board in the fifth inning against Warsaw reliever Joey Hickerson.
Hickerson walked Matt Brozovic and Josh Lukoshus to start the home half of the fifth inning, and then Ryan Wilkinson reached on an error to load the bases.
Brozovic scored when Matt Poulos was hit by a pitch, and Kevin Watterson gave the Mustangs a commanding five-run lead with a two-run single.
The Tigers mounted a rally in the sixth inning, making things interesting with a three-run effort in the top of the inning, but Munster's lead proved too much to overcome.
It was the first time in their tournament run that the Tigers trailed on the scoreboard at any point in a game.
"Credit Munster, they're a very good team," said Hepler, whose team had won eight straight games before falling to the Mustangs. "We got down, but we showed character and came back. I've had more fun the last three weeks than I ever remember having. The scoreboard may say we lost, but these kids are winners."
Aaron Christenberry and Hickerson had doubles for the Tigers, who pounded out five hits in the game.
Munster, which also committed three errors in the field, had six hits in the win.
Miglin was charged with the loss on the mound, dropping his pitching record this season to 6-4.
Watterson earned the win, upping his record to 3-2.
"We capitalized on their errors, that's baseball," said Shinkan. "When a team makes an error, you've got to make something happen, and we were able to capitalize."
WARSAW 2, PENN 0
In the first semifinal game of the day, which was delayed by rain showers for an hour-and-a-half after the second inning, Warsaw senior Josh Witt pitched a gem as the Tigers beat Penn 2-0.
For the second time in two weeks, Witt went seven innings against the Kingsmen and shut them out. On May 22 in the Tiger Invitational, Witt threw a one-hitter against Penn and led Warsaw to a 1-0 win.
In Saturday's regional semifinal game, Witt gave up four hits and struck out five.
"I've got to credit my catcher," Witt said of classmate James Miglin. "He called a heck of a game. I've got to give it to him. We had played them a couple weeks ago and we knew what they liked to do, and James Miglin knew what pitches I needed to throw. I didn't wave him off once."
After the lengthy rain delay, Joey Hickerson hit a two-out triple for the Tigers in the bottom of the third inning. Darin Lursen follewed that with a walk, and then Aaron Christenberry came through with a two-run double to account for the game's only runs.
"Credit Penn, they battled," said Warsaw coach Mike Hepler. "We made some plays today. It was a team effort."
Penn's season came to an end with a 23-7 record, while Warsaw advanced to the regional final against Munster.
MUNSTER 5, WARSAW 3 (championship)
W 000 003 0 - 3 5 3
M 001 130 X - 5 6 3
James Miglin (L, 6-4), Joey Hickerson (5), Josh Witt (6) and Taylor Franzen, Miglin (5); Kevin Watterson (W, 3-2), Kevin Heinrich (6) Simon Webb (7, save) and Mike Erwin.
2B - Hickerson (W), Aaron Christenberry (W)
Records: Warsaw 19-12, Munster 23-8
WARSAW 2, PENN 0 (semifinal)
P 000 000 0 - 0 4 0
W 002 000 X - 2 7 0
Casey Bernaet (L, 6-2) and Eric Hess; Josh Witt (W 7-3) and James Miglin
