Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Sometimes a good hitter doesn't even have to swing the bat to make a difference in the outcome of a softball game.
Case in point: Warsaw slugger Shannon Barger.
Barger came to the plate with teammate Laura Overton on third base in the bottom of the seventh with two outs in a 7-7 tie with Wawasee Wednesday. With Warrior catcher Amy Gingerich lining up for a pitch out, pitcher Megan King grooved a pitch right down the middle for a called strike. The next pitch was outside for a ball, but the third one sailed over Gingerich's head, and Overton scored to give Warsaw the thrilling 8-7 win.
"That first pitch, King threw a strike, and I don't know if she knew what they were doing right away," Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich said. "I told Overton to be ready at third base for one in the dirt or over the catcher's head. Barger hit the ball hard tonight with two solid doubles, and when you have that kind of person coming up to the plate it makes it hard for the defense."
In the situation, Wawasee was going to put Barger on first base and go with the percentages.
"She did strike out the time before, but percentages say she is going to hit it and hit it hard," Wawasee coach Bo O'Dell said. "We were going to put her on. With the wind blowing out, she has the potential to put it out. If she hits a double, they win anyway. We were going to try to make someone else hurt us. We just didn't win that battle."
The win gave the Tigers a regular season sweep of Kosciusko County and Northern Lakes Conference rival Wawasee. Two of Wawasee's (9-5) five losses have come to Warsaw (7-9).
"It is a great way to win it, especially against a big rival," Helfrich said. "They have some good players. They will be a team to contend with in the sectional. And these girls know each other, and it is a pride game. Fortunately for us, we are two up on them, but we will probably face them in the sectional."
Warsaw took a 7-2 lead into the fifth inning before Wawasee came up with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to trail only 7-6 in the seventh inning when Sonya Beer doubled, and Danielle Powell singled her home to tie the score.
"The last inning didn't hurt us, it was the early innings that did," O'Dell said. "We just dug ourselves too big of a hole. I am glad the way we came back, though. If we would have had the intensity from the beginning like we had from the fifth inning on and made some plays early on, it would have been a better game for us and would not have had to rely on the end of the game for the outcome."
Warsaw jumped out to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings mainly because of three Wawasee errors. The Tigers built up the five-run lead while Warsaw starter Kari Fribley was no-hitting the Warriors for five innings. But while she was not allowing any hits, she was allowing baserunners to the the tune of eight walks in six innings of work.
"Our girls fought tonight," Helfrich said. "They could have easily turned it in. We could have lost our confidence, but we didn't. Lately, we have had a tough skid. But coming back showed a lot about their character."
King and Beer led the Warriors with two hits each. Jamie Conn added two RBIs.
"We will be fine once the hurt is over," O'Dell said. "We will understand what we did. We hit the ball hard all night long. The girls will realize we played a pretty decent ball game."
Overton, Marie Brown and Barger all had two hits for Warsaw. Barger also knocked in two runs for the Tigers.
Warsaw (4-2 NLC) is at Goshen Friday, while Wawasee (2-3 NLC) is at the Elkhart Memorial Invite Saturday.
