Warsaw Softball Team Cleans Up In Sectional Opener
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
ELKHART – Kendra Marshall perfected the roll of cleanup hitter Monday evening. With the bases loaded and her Warsaw softball team clinging to a 4-3 lead over sectional host Elkhart Memorial in the top of the fourth inning, the Valparaiso University-bound senior certainly cleaned up. Her grand slam over the leftfield fence gave the Lady Tigers some breathing room, and along with Indiana University-bound Kelsey Dotson’s two-run blast to left field in the fifth inning, powered Warsaw to an 11-5 win over the Crimson Chargers. “We had a 4-0 lead, and then they came back,” said Marshall, who set a new school record for RBIs in a season. “I told (starting pitcher) Cari (O’Hara) not to worry, we’d get those runs back.” The Lady Tigers certainly did, as they went on to beat Memorial (10-18) for the third time this season and earned a sectional semifinal date Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. with fourth-ranked Northridge. Warsaw, now 19-9 on the season, has lost to Northridge twice this spring, falling 12-2 and 13-1. Northridge improved to 26-1 and advanced to Wednesday’s semifinal with a 13-0 win over Concord in Monday’s second contest. The Lady Tigers are in familiar territory, having lost twice to Northridge in conference action a year ago, but beating the Lady Raiders in postseason play. “In the tournament it’s all about moving on to the next game,” said Warsaw coach Jim Speicher, whose team is looking for the program’s 10th sectional title and first since 2007. “I think we’re playing better softball than we were our first two games with Northridge. They beat us twice last year and we beat them in the sectional. I think that bodes well for our confidence. It comes down to hitting. We have to be able to score runs.” Hitting and scoring runs didn’t seem to be a problem Monday. The Lady Tigers tallied 17 hits in the win. Marshall led the way with four hits and six RBIs, while Dotson added three hits and two RBIs and junior Emily Stouder chipped in with three hits. Sophomores Ashley Ousley and Kaleigh Speicher had two hits each for Warsaw, which scored one run in the first, three in the third, four in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Memorial scored three runs in the third inning, making things interesting before Marshall’s grand slam, and then got on the scoreboard again in the seventh when junior Lauren Strausborger hit a two-run homer. “It was big, huge,” Dotson said of her teammate’s grand slam. “It was a one-run game, then she hits a grand slam. That just relaxed us, and we kept hitting and got way up.” Both Dotson and Marshall have three home runs in Warsaw’s last two games. Dotson, third in state history with 34 career homers, has 12 this season, while Marshall has 10. “They responded tonight," said Jim Speicher. "We’ll go as they go in the tournament.” Senior Cari O’Hara started in the circle for Warsaw. She gave up four hits and three runs. Freshman Taylor Stiver worked the final four innings. For Elkhart Memorial, senior Ali Iavagnilio took the loss. She pitched 4-2/3 innings and gave up 11 runs before being replaced by junior Paige Erwin. Paula Strausborger, Lauren Strausborger and Kara Summers had two hits each for the Crimson Chargers.
WARSAW 11, ELKHART MEMORIAL 5 War 103 430 0 – 11 17 1 EM 003 000 2 – 5 9 3 Cari O’Hara, Taylor Stiver (W, 4th) and Kelsey Dotson; Ali Iavagnilio (L), Paige Erwin (5th) and Nikki Ambrose 2B – Kara Dishman (War). HR – Kendra Marshall (War) grand slam, Kelsey Dotson (War), Lauren Strausbroger (EM) Records: Warsaw 19-9, Elkhart Memorial 10-18
