Wawasee Baseball Team Loses Another Close NLC Game
Posted
Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
SYRACUSE - The small mistakes continue to create big losses for Wawasee High School's varsity baseball team.
Facing the Concord Minutemen at home Monday, the Warriors left seven men on base, five of which were in scoring position, in a 6-5 Northern Lakes Conference loss."We had mental lapses, and didn't hit the groundball or flyball when we needed it," Wawasee coach John Blunk said. "We just left too many players on base."
On two separate occasions, the Warriors had a man at third base with no outs and failed to score that player each time.
"They haven't had to do it yet," Blunk said of his guys failing to get clutch hits. "We're still young. We have some experience with Jake (Goldenberg), Jose (Rodrgiuez) and Mike (Milligan), but after that, our experience is still young."
The loss leaves Wawasee at 9-4-1 overall and 3-3 in the NLC, with all of three conference losses coming by a single run.
"We didn't make the little plays and they did," Blunk said. "That's the way the NLC is. You make one error in this game, and it's going to cost you. I don't care who you are."
Concord now sits at 11-4, and their 5-2 NLC mark leaves the Minutemen a game behind conference-leading Warsaw (5-1).
"They are very meaningful," Concord coach Mike Jackowiak said of each NLC win. "This year, the conference is as competitive as I've ever seen."
In such a tight conference, innings like Concord's fifth come out to be huge.
Trailing 3-2, Concord junior Garrett Frey, the No. 9 hitter, led off the inning with a single. Following a flyout by sophomore Logan Draus, junior Doug Acker then ripped a double down the third-base line that couldn't have been fair by more than an inch or two.
With runners at second and third, senior David Yoder scored the two runners on a single, then he scored when a groundball hit by junior Kyle Gavin resulted in an errant throw to first, allowing Gavin to come all the way around to third base.
In front 5-3, Gavin then pulled off the rare feat of stealing home base, upping the lead to 6-3.
"They stole home, which was the game-winner," Blunk said. "That was a mental lapse - going from a windup with two outs and ducking your head. You just can't do that."
Wawasee junior pitcher Phillip Fleagle had his night end after the inning, giving up six runs, but only one being earned.
"We've talked about, when another team makes an error, we have to capitalize," Jackowiak said. "Tonight, we did."
The 6-3 score held up to the bottom of the seventh, when it appeared Wawasee would at least force extra innings, if not win it.
Following back-to-back singles by junior Joey Melendez and junior Jake Sommers, freshman Si Shear drove in Melendez on a flyout.
Shear had entered the game in the sixth inning after senior Jake Goldenberg was too ill to continue after scoring two runs earlier in the game.
"Would I want him up there? Yeah," Blunk said about having his No. 5 hitter, as well as his ace pitcher, in the game. "He asked to come out, but he had thrown up three times. It's nothing we should have to worry about. He should be ready for Wednesday (at Warsaw)."
Down 6-4, Rodriguez and sophomore Josh Dingeldein also got hits, Dingeldein's scoring a run, trimming the lead to 6-5 , with runners at first and second and one out.
In that situation, Jackowiak went to senior reliever Tyler Haitsma, who shook off some early rust to strike out the next two Warriors to end the game.
"It was real nice to see our other senior come in and shut the door when he needed to," Jackowiak said. "He struggled to get his breaking ball over during warmups. So, I was a little concerned. But then he froze them on a couple at the end."
Haitsma helped senior Kyle Konarski get the win after pitching 6-1/3 innings, striking out eight.
At the plate, Rodriguez continued to perform well for Wawasee, going 3 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs, while Sommers had a 3 for 4 day, scoring twice.
Wawasee will face NLC-leading Warsaw Wednesday on the road, then host the Tigers Thursday.
"We've to grow from this," Blunk said. "Another one-run ballgame that we lost.
"The only thing we can do is get better," he added.
