Warsaw's varsity softball team started out hot, but cooled down dramatically Wednesday against the Goshen Lady Redskins at the Tigers Athletic Complex.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, the Lady Tigers didn't get another baserunner until the fifth, and only two more hits in a 5-3 Northern Lakes Conference loss.Goshen improved to 2-0 in the NLC and 12-2 overall, while Warsaw is still looking for its first conference win after falling to 0-2 and 2-4 overall.
"We made mental execution errors," Warsaw coach Nikki Wood said. "That's what it comes down to for us. That's what I tell them. I say, 'I always lose you at about the third or beginning of the fourth inning. You go somewhere. I don't know if you go thinking about your boyfriend or where you go,' but I just lose them."
The Lady Redskins' mental errors came in the opening inning, when junior pitcher Natalie Newell opened things by hitting the first two batters. After getting a strikeout, Warsaw sophomore Kendra Marshall hit a single loading the bases with one out.
However, Newell got out of the inning allowing just two runs, one off an error and another off a walk, but struck out two others to limit the damage.
"They kind of shut it down and dug down when they needed to," Goshen coach Scott Hutcherson, a Warsaw grad, said. "I think that's how we won the game. We did shut them down when they starting getting people on base."
Goshen didn't really need to worry about Warsaw baserunners after the first inning, as Newell struck out 11.
"If we don't execute and we have 11 strikeouts, five looking, how are we going to get baserunners in?" Wood asked.
One of Warsaw's three hits came on a towering shot over the left-center field fence off the bat of sophomore Kelsey Dotson.
"She is one of the best hitters in this area," Wood said. "I truly believe that, but right now, she's being a little too picky. Once she gets the bat on the ball, it's going to go wherever she hits it."
The round-tripper led off the sixth inning, and cut the Goshen lead to 5-3, where it stayed the remainder of the game.
The win was nice for Goshen, especially when considering the Lady Redskins' coach wasn't overly impressed with the performance.
"You can say it wasn't one of the best games we've played," he said. "In fact, we made a lot of mental mistakes. It was probably one of the worst games I've seen us play. But, the sign of a good team is that they battled to win."
Warsaw may work themselves into a better team, but the Lady Tigers do have good players, which was showcased by the defense of Marshall at shortstop.
Keeping the game close, Marshall made two great digs and throws to first base. However, her day was highlighted with a diving catch on the third-base line in the seventh inning, which luckily didn't result in a broken wrist.
"That's best shortstop I've seen play all year," Hutcherson said of Marshall. "She made some plays that I haven't seen girls make in six years. That was awesome."
Wood was also pleased with the pitching of freshman Alex Sanchez.
Pitching 1-1/3 innings against Goshen and another and 1-1/3 against Wawasee on Monday, Sanchez has given up two hits and struck out four batters this week.
"She's a freshman and I'll be losing my two senior pitchers," Wood said. "(Sanchez) was ready, I have confidence in her and she stepped up.
"As long as she has the confidence, and she's ready to go in there, I'm going to send her in there," she added. "Right now, as far as I'm concerned, she's right in our rotation."
Warsaw will attempt to gets its first NLC win Friday at home with Plymouth in town for a game at 5 p.m.
GOSHEN 5,WARSAW 3
G 001 103 0 - 5 12 2
W 200 001 0 - 3 3 2
Natalie Newell (W, 7IP, 3R, 1ER, 3H, 11K, 2BB, 2HB) and Aimee Swihart; Sam Snider (L, 5-2/3IP, 5R, 5ER, 11H, 5K, 2BB), Alex Sanchez (6, 1-1/3IP, 1H, 2K) and Kelsey Dotson
