NAPPANEE – Wawasee’s Drew Anderson and Gage Reinhard used speed to give their team the lead. Then Warrior pitching and defense came up big to snuff out a pair of Whitko rallies in Wawasee’s 7-3 win in the Class 3A baseball sectional at NorthWood High School Thursday night. Wawasee’s Aaron Voirol and Whitko’s Tanner Gaff pitched through the first two innings without significant incident. With one out in the Wawasee third, Gaff hit Anderson with a pitch, then cut loose a pair of wild pitches to allow Anderson to move to third. Gaff then hit Reinhard with a 2-0 pitch, and he advanced to second after a botched pick-off and rundown. Both runners scored on Caleb Dingeldein’s single to left, and he came around to score on Chase Rookstool’s two-out double to the fence in leftfield. Wawasee extended its lead with a two-out rally in the fourth when Anderson singled, stole second and scored on Reinhard’s RBI single. Reinhard stole second and scored on a Dingeldein single. Wawasee coach Brent Doty said having his two senior speedsters on the move was an important part of the Warrior offense. “It’s something we always look for,” he said. “Drew Anderson has 23 stolen bases on the year, so he’s obviously going to run. We pick spots for Gage to run, so it depends on the situation, and the pitcher and the catcher.” Whitko started its half of the inning with a walk, then three straight one-out singles and a second free pass to plate two runs and leave the bases loaded. The rally came to an abrupt end when Reinhard caught a liner off the bat of Alex Bechtold and stepped on second for the double play. After Brett Carson’s 2-RBI single extended Wawasee’s lead to 7-2, Whitko reloaded the bases to start the bottom of the fifth. Voirol coaxed the Wildcat hitters into a popout, and a fielder’s choice that forced a runner out at the plate. Gaff beat a throw to second on a second fielder’s choice, allowing a run to score but Voirol struck out Ryan Anderson to end the threat. “Those key situations could have gone a hundred different ways, but luckily it goes our way both times,” Doty said. “We’re heady enough to get the job done, and that’s a testament to 13 seniors who have been through some battles and know what to do to get the job done.” Whitko head coach Eric Hisner said “it was a great job by Wawasee. They got five runs after two outs. When they got guys on base they executed and put together some good at-bats. When we had those opportunities to execute, we didn’t.” Voirol retired the last seven Whitko hitters in order to close out the win. Whitko saw its season end with a 20-9 record. Wawasee, now 11-13, plays the winner of this afternoon’s West Noble/Lakeland game in the sectional semifinals, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
