Much like the game itself, Warsaw’s varsity baseball team got off to a late start Monday evening. Falling 5-3 to the Concord Minutemen in a Northern Lakes Conference contest that started 45 minutes late, the host Tigers fell behind 5-1 before rallying. Warsaw finished the game with seven hits to Concord’s four, but a couple errors in the field and some walks hurt the Tigers, as did the 10 strikeouts by Minutemen pitcher Brenden Curry. “Baseball is a funny game,” said Warsaw coach Mike Hepler. “We’re in a little funk right now, and I can’t really explain it. I don’t have an answer. The same thing happened Saturday, we had nine hits, but only scored one run. We had more hits than Concord today, we just couldn’t string anything together in the same inning.” With the score tied 1-1, Warsaw pitcher Tyler LaFollette got Concord’s Dylan Troyer to ground out to start the third inning. LaFollette, however, then walked the next three batters – Duncan Boone, Steve Pinarski, and Nick DeFreese – to load the bases. A single by Curry plated two runs, and an error by the Tigers allowed another Minutemen run. Curry, who pitched all seven innings for Concord, helped his own cause again in the fifth inning when he hit a solo home run to give the Minutemen a 5-1 lead. Warsaw cut the lead to 5-2 in the fifth inning, scoring on a passed ball, and then to 5-3 in the sixth when Caleb Moneyheffer hit a double and later scored on teammate Brandon Shipp’s double. After retiring Concord 1-2-3 in the seventh inning, the Tigers had a chance to keep their rally going, but went down in order themselves to finish the game. “We’re a team that’s struggling and fighting itself,” said Hepler. “When I say fighting itself, I mean we’re not getting key hits or good at-bats. Nobody saw this coming. I don’t know what the exact answer is. Maybe a couple days of good practice will help. I really think we’re right on the edge of putting it all together.” With Monday’s loss, the Tigers have lost eight of their last nine games, falling to 9-13 overall and 6-7 in the NLC. Concord improved to 11-14 overall and 6-7 in league play. “The kids are still working hard,” said Hepler. “We’ve lost some close games, and a few blowouts, but we’ve been in the majority of the games in this little funk. We did some good things tonight. Baseball is just a funny game sometimes.” Seven different players had one hit each for the Tigers, with Moneyheffer and Shipp leading the way with doubles. Curry led Concord with two hits, while Jake Vernon and Brett Austin had one hit each. Curry earned the win on the mound, going the distance while giving up seven hits, three runs and three walks. He struck out 10. LaFollette was charged with the loss for the Tigers after working five innings, giving up three hits and five runs and walking four. He struck out four. Jonathan Murphy and Moneyheffer pitched one inning each for the Tigers. Warsaw is in action again Thursday when it hosts NLC foe Elkhart Memorial.
