Warsaw Baseball Teams Wins Thriller Over Northridge
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
ELKHART - Though it was the opening game of Class 4A Sectional 4 at Elkhart Memorial High School, Thursday's battle on the baseball diamond between the Northridge Raiders and Warsaw Tigers had the feel and look of a championship game.
And while he talked about the 1-0 victory being just a step toward his team's goal, Warsaw coach Mike Hepler - as well as his players and the team's fans - couldn't hide his excitement after knocking off the sectional-favorite Raiders."We've been here before," said Hepler, whose team scored the game's only run when senior Stephen Straits scored on a passed ball in the top of the third inning. "Our job isn't done. This was a huge hurdle for us, and for us to believe we could win is great, but we've still got work to do."
The thrilling win improved Warsaw's record to 16-11 and advanced the Tigers to Saturday's 11 a.m. semifinal game against defending sectional champion Concord, which beat Goshen 5-3 in Thursday's second game.
Elkhart Memorial and Elkhart Central play in Saturay's second semifinal game.
The sectional championship game is scheduled for noon on Monday.
"This is huge," said Warsaw senior pitcher Josh Witt, who worked all seven innings, giving up six hits and striking out four. "Everyone in the county thought we were gonna lose, but we came together as a team and fought hard. I threw as tough as I could, and the guys picked me up. This was a team effort."
The Raiders, who have won at least a share of the Northern Lakes Conference championship in each of head coach Andrew Brabender's three seasons, entered sectional play averaging 12 runs per game.
Against the Tigers, Northridge left a total of eight runners on base - leaving a runner stranded in each inning.
"This is a hump our program needs to get over," Brabender said of the Raiders' sectional woes. "This is my third year, and we have three conference championships and no sectional. It just wasn't our day today. Warsaw is a good team, and as far as I'm concerned, they have one of the best pitchers in the conference. Witt is a good player."
Northridge, who went 13-1 against conference opponents this season and came in with a four-game winning streak over the Tigers, saw its season end with a 19-5 record.
The Raiders beat Warsaw 9-2 in the sectional last year.
"This is huge, it's incredible," said Witt. "We played them twice already this year and they took us. We weren't going to let them beat us again."
With the game on the line, the Raiders certainly made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Junior designated hitter led off the home half of the inning with a walk, and after senior Garrett Yoder struck out, sophomore T.J. Miller came through with a single.
With runners on first and second, junior Cameron Nord ripped a single to centerfield.
Brabender waved Ottinger around third, but Warsaw centerfielder Tom Daniels hit his cut-off man, senior Aaron Christenberry, who fired the ball to senior catcher James Miglin.
The Toledo University-bound Miglin applied the tag on Ottinger for the second out, and one batter later freshman Blake Fry grounded into the third out.
"We never got anything going, that's why I was trying to make something happen at the end," Brabender said of sending Ottinger home.
Joey Hickerson, Darin Lursen and Straits each had a single for the Tigers, who are in search of their first sectional championship since 2006.
Northridge had six hits in the game - all singles.
Nord led the way with two hits, while Daimon Buck, Ottinger, Miller and Rassi had one hit each for the Raiders.
WARSAW 1, NORTHRIDGE 0
W 001 000 0 - 1 3 2
N 000 000 0 - 0 6 1
Josh Witt (W, 7 IP, 6 H, 4 K, 2 BB) and James Miglin; Gatlin Rassi (L, 7 IP, 3 H, 6 K, 0 BB) and Dominic DeVito.
Warsaw hits - Joey Hickerson, Darin Lursen, Stephen Straits
Northridge hits - Cameron Nord 2, Gatlin Rassi, Daimon Buck, Charlie Ottinger, T.J. Miller
