SYRACUSE - The Elkhart Memorial Crimson Chargers didn't get too many hits off Wawasee senior lefty Jake Goldenberg, but they got them when they needed them.
Tied at 2-2 in the top of the seventh, Memorial junior Tyler Keck hit a slow rolling grounder past the reach of Wawasee junior second baseman Joey Melendez for his team's fifth hit, and the game-winning run, scoring junior Johnny Brewers for a 3-2 lead and victory.
"We thought we had the go-ahead run out - twice," Wawasee coach John Blunk said of Keck at-bat, which included two borderline pitches that didn't go Goldenberg's way. "But, they got the base hit when they needed it."
That hit did prove to be the game winner, but a run in the bottom of the fourth was just as important, but much more preventable.
With the bases loaded and one out, Wawasee (4-2-1) actually caught a break when Memorial (6-3) junior Adam Hibschman was caught in a rundown between third and home.
Following the tag-out by catcher Jose Rodriguez, the senior mistakenly tossed the ball back towards the pitcher's mound, thinking it was the third out of the inning, almost allowing Memorial's Josh Peek to run from third to home.
Instead, Peek later scored when the Warriors attempted to catch sophomore catcher Jordan Hinton in a rundown between first and second. While they were doing that, Peek was able to score before Hinton was tagged, tying the game at 1-1.
"I don't expect that out of my upperclassmen," Blunk said of the mental miscue of attempting to catch Hinton while two were out in the inning and a man was at third. "I don't."
The Wawasee mistake worked to Memorial's advantage, as the Chargers were just trying to get something to go their way.
"We wanted to maybe create a balk by the pitcher or, at least, get (Hinton) in a rundown," Memorial coach Scott Rost said. "It played into our hands. It's not going to work every time, but we felt like we had to do something. It worked for us."
Wawasee did get that run back in the bottom of the fourth when a deep flyout by Rodriguez allowed freshman pinch runner John Beer to score from third.
The Rodriguez flyout was also to be the last time a Warrior would make solid contact with the ball, as Memorial junior reliever Robby Mast entered in the fifth inning, picking up the win with three scoreless innings, striking out four.
"He came in and did an outstanding job," Rost said of Mast who came in for relief of sophomore Adam Williams.
For Wawasee, Goldenberg picked up his first loss of the year, moving to 2-1.
"Jake threw well," Blunk said of his starter who pitched seven innings, surrendering two earned runs and five hits. "He was one strike away from winning it."
The win improves Memorial to 6-3 on the year, and gets its Northern Lakes Conference schedule off on the right foot at 1-0.
"You want to get off to a good start in the conference," Rost said. "We didn't plan on playing Wawasee in the first game, because we were supposed to play Plymouth, but that's the way it worked out.
"We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game," he added. "We were going to have to pitch well and play solid defense. Quite frankly, two weeks ago, we wouldn't have won this game. We've come a long way offensively, but by no means are we where we need to be. We've made some progress."
The loss was disappointing for Blunk, but he is also aware that his squad will need to keep making improvements.
"We didn't play bad," he said. "They didn't play bad. It was just a good NLC game. That's the way it's going to be in the conference all season long.
"We still have a long way to go," he added. "We're going to learn from this."
ELKHART MEMORIAL 3, WAWASEE 2
M 000 101 1 - 3 5 1
W 010 100 0 - 2 5 2
Williams (4IP, 2R, ER, 5H, 3K, 2BB), Mast (5, W, 3IP, 0R, 0H, 4K, 1BB) and Hinton; Goldenberg (L, 7IP, 3R, 2ER, 5H, 3K, 3BB) and Rodriguez
