WINONA LAKE - The season hasn't been going the way the Warsaw Indians had planned, but with a few more wins, the semi-pro baseball team may still have a shot at the postseason.
"We actually have a chance to backdoor our way into a regional berth," player/coach John Edwards said Sunday following his team's 8-2 and 4-1 wins over the South Bend Senators. "We've played well enough, and the teams ahead of us are starting to slump, allowing us to have an outside chance."During Sunday afternoon's two-game sweep of the Senators, which improved Warsaw to 14-13, the Indians received an offensive outburst in the opener from Sean O'Malley. The leadoff man went 3-for-3 at the dish, driving in three runs. O'Malley's 2-RBI single in the bottom of the third handed the home team a 6-2 lead, one it wouldn't let get away, especially with pitcher Adam Augustine holding the Senators in check.
"Adam Augustine was key," Edwards said of his starting pitcher. "He came into today with a .90 ERA, which has been huge. Our entire pitching staff has been doing this all year."
While Augustine entered the contest with an ERA under one, yesterday's game was only his fourth of the season. During this summer, attendance for games has been a slight problem for Edward's guys, but that goes with "summer ball."
"We've played short. We've played with nine, 10, 11 guys all year," the coach said. "We haven't had a lot guys show up, and that's hurt. There's been a lot of games where I'm flipping coins to decided who's going to play. That's cost us, because we haven't had a consistent line-up."
Without a consistent line-up, Edwards has also seen his offense take a dip.
"Three weeks ago, we were hitting .240, .250 as a team - and that's with three or four guys hitting .350-plus," Edwards said. "Now, our average is up to .280 as a team, so the guys are starting to pick it up."
Among the top offensive Indians this season are Joe Stanley (.397), Aaron Manes (.357), Edwards (.338) and Matty Miller, who's batting .320, but has played in only eight of the team's 28 games.
"Matty was a kid that caught for us the first game, but hasn't been here a lot because he's had a busy summer," Edwards said. "But he's been a huge, huge key for us offensively. He was all-conference down at Manchester (College) this year, and I foresee an All-American the next two years for him, honestly."
With six guys batting over .300 this season, Edwards has seen his team score more runs, and coupled with some good pitching, the team's making a turn in the right direction.
"We've begun to play a lot better the last three weeks," Edwards said. "We've played tremendously better. We'll be fine. We pitch well, we just need to get more consistency in the hitting."
The Indians' next home game will be Sunday at 1 p.m. at Miller Field against Steel City.
