Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MIDDLEBURY – Having dropped its last three games, the Warsaw baseball team continued its road trip with a visit up to Middlebury to take on rival Northridge. After scoring a combined six runs over the last three games, the Tiger bats exploded in this one, putting up a crooked number in each of the first four innings en route to winning 11-1 in five innings.
“That’s the goal every game. I thought we were very patient today at the plate, guys waiting for their pitch and accepting free stuff when they gave it to us,” Warsaw head coach Andy Manes said after the win.
The top of the first inning couldn’t have gone any better for the Tigers, although it was quite out of the ordinary. Warsaw was able to plate the first three runs of the game without hitting a ball into fair territory. Things began with the first three visiting batters drawing walks, loading the bases for Grady Nelson. He saw just two pitches, the second of which plunked him on the shoulder for an RBI the hard way.
After a strikeout, Kael Miller’s patience paid off, as he drew the fourth walk of the inning to bring home another run. That brought up Brody Heady, who made the only contact of the inning, popping up into foul territory on the first base side. The ball was caught, but thanks to some head’s up baserunning from Quinton Brock at third, it went down as a sacrifice fly.
As good as the top of the first was for the Tigers offensively, the bottom half was just as good on the other side. With Mason O’Malley on the mound, his defense had his back. Three ground balls later, and we were heading to the second with Warsaw up 3-0.
The fun continued into the second, as the Tiger bats woke up and allowed the visitors to double their lead. The first knock of the game came off the bat of Rogan Bailey, who just nearly missed sending the ball over the wall, having to settle for a double instead. With two men in scoring position for Spencer Love, he did his job, sending a ball to short for an RBI ground out.
That made it Brock's turn, and he ripped the ball into left field for an RBI single to make it 5-0. After a double by Nelson put two more guys on second and third, Logan Kim grounded to first to bring in the final run of the inning. O’Malley ran into a bit of trouble his next time on the mound, but two big strikeouts with runners in position preserved the 6-0 advantage.
Singles by AJ Hepler, Cash Espinosa and Bailey loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third. This set the table perfectly for Love and Brock to each pick up their second RBIs of the evening to put the rout on at 8-0. The Tigers were able to score a third to make it 9-0 as Love got himself into a rundown in between first and second, allowing Espinosa to come home with a late throw by the Raiders.
Putting the first two hitters on base in the bottom of the third, Northridge was finally able to plate its first run of the game on an RBI single by Hayden Gorball. The home side had a chance for a much bigger inning than that, loading the bases with just one out. However, O’Malley was able to deliver in the clutch with a pair of punchouts to minimize the damage.
Warsaw junior pitcher Mason O'Malley eyes the plate while delivering a pitch during Wednesday evening's game at Northridge...NIeter
“He started strong and finished stronger. We’ll need that as the season goes on,” Manes said. “We’ve talked about this before, when you’re attacking the zone, good things will happen.”
Warsaw wasted no time getting that run back and then some in the top of the fourth, as a two-RBI single for Heady gave him three runs driven in for the day and also extended the Tiger lead to 10 runs. Like the Raiders the inning prior though, the visitors had a prime opportunity to put more than a few on the board, but had to settle for the two.
After O’Malley shut down the home side in the bottom of the fourth, Warsaw was held scoreless its next time up for the first time in the game. Still up 11-1, a shutout inning would allow the team to finish things off in five, and that’s exactly what O’Malley gave them. The junior struck out two more to bring his total to seven on the night, wrapping things up with a grounder to first to put the Tigers back in the win column.
Warsaw (3-6. 2-3 NLC) is at Concord on Friday.
“A couple of guys finally got their pitch and hammered it today, and I know they’ve been waiting on that. We’ve been struggling offensively before today, hopefully this jump starts us a bit,” Manes said.
