Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Baseball and softball may be the only sports where coaches encourage players to butcher the English language.
What three words do coaches drill their fielders to say on fly balls? "I got it."
Wawasee players yelled "I got it" several times in Monday's sectional game against Warsaw. Problem was, the players never listened to each other. They collided, and the ball dropped.
This happened twice. Both came on popups to the infield. Both triggered multi-run innings for Warsaw.
The Warriors (13-16) committed five errors in a 10-3 loss to Warsaw (18-11) in the Warsaw Sectional. Only two of Warsaw's 10 runs were earned.
The past three years, Wawasee has played its best softball at tournament time to win the last three Warsaw Sectionals.
But Wawasee's 1999 sectional team did not remotely resemble the 1998, 1997 or 1996 sectional champions.
"We had two close games with Wawasee," Warsaw coach Craig Helfrich said. "I was expecting a close game. It felt good to have a game with breathing room. We haven't had many like that this year.
"I don't think Wawasee expected this kind of game, either."
The sectional loss is the first for Bo O'Dell, who began coaching Wawasee in 1996.
The errors came on a day when Warsaw put a complete game together. Starter Michelle Liebsch pitched the complete game. The defense committed no errors. The Tigers pounded out 12 hits in scoring their 10 runs.
Two of the errors, which came on routine infield popups where two fielders ran into each other, fueled multi-run innings.
In the third inning, Warsaw's Melissa Himes hit a popup to the left side of Wawasee's infield. Senior shortstop Megan King and sophomore third baseman Kim Morgan each called for the ball and went for the catch. They bumped each other, and the ball dropped to the ground.
Instead of having two on with two outs, Warsaw had two on with one out. Warsaw's next two batters made Wawasee pay. Jacquie Burns singled and Amie Poling hit a sacrifice fly to give Warsaw the 2-0 lead.
Holding a 3-0 lead, Warsaw blew the game open after another Wawasee error in the sixth inning.
Warsaw designated hitter Kris Kurosky popped up near the pitcher's mound. Wawasee pitcher Andrea Gingerich settled under the ball and even had it drop into her glove for what looked like the second out of the inning. But second baseman Amber Ramseyer charged in after the ball and clothes-lined Gingerich, who dropped the ball.
Warsaw's next hitter, Marie Brown, popped out to first base. Had Wawasee fielded the ball, the Warriors would have been out of the inning. Instead, with two outs, Warsaw scored six runs - all unearned - after the error.
After Brown, Laura Overton had an RBI single, Melissa Himes had an RBI single, Jacquie Burns reached on a hit by pitcher, Poling had a two-RBI double, and Christy Colt reached on another error. Warsaw led 9-0.
"You can't fault the girls for being aggressive," O'Dell said. "Everyone was calling the ball at the same time. Usually one person takes control. We've had problems with balls dropping in the past. We told everybody to go get the ball."
If Wawasee's slew of errors was the first surprise of the game, the second was Warsaw's offense.
While Wawasee's errors gave the Tigers chances, they still had to take advantage, and they did. Warsaw finished with 12 hits, and the Tigers had at least one runner on in every inning.
Poling, a sophomore, went 2 for 2 with two doubles and four RBIs. Overton went 4 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs.
The game was a change for Warsaw, which typically played 3-2 or 4-3 games throughout the regular season. The Tigers, who do not have big boppers, have won with sacrifice bunts and singles.
"Now that we have the bats going, we're putting it together," Poling said. "The defense has always been there. We can count on our pitchers every time.
"The last two games we faced (Gingerich), I didn't really hit. Today I was feeling it, I guess."
Said Helfrich: We're gonna win every time we score 10 runs."
That's because Warsaw's staple all year has been pitching, as it was Monday. Liebsch, who upped her record to 10-5, struck out 10 and walked one. Wawasee hit only one ball out of the infield in the first five innings. The Warriors couldn't catch up with her fastball, and her changeup often caught them off-balance.
"(Michelle) changes speed real well and is able to read the hitters," O'Dell said. "She can bring it when she needs to, and she can hit the corners."
The Warriors scored their three runs in the bottom of the sixth, after Warsaw had taken a 9-0 lead. King had a two-RBI single, and Tara Hymer drove in a run with a single.
Gingerich pitched the complete game for Wawasee. She finished the season 7-13.
Warsaw meets 21-5-1 Elkhart Memorial in tonight's second-round game at 7:30. Memorial advanced by beating Goshen 11-0 in Monday's other first-round game. The Memorial/Warsaw winner faces tonight's Elkhart Central/Concord winner in the championship at 11 a.m. Saturday. Central and Concord play at 5 this afternoon.
"Our pitching has been strong all year," Helfrich said. "Then when we get our hitting to go along with the pitching, we're dangerous. Elkhart Memorial beat us 3-2 in the regular season, and they're favored to win the whole sectional. If we play like we did today, we can compete with them.
"I guarantee you it will be a low-scoring game against Elkhart Memorial. We have one piece of the puzzle completed. We have two more to go."
WARSAW 10, WAWASEE 3
Wawasee ab r h rbi
Krull c 3 1 0 0
Ka. Likens 2b 0 0 0 0
Gingerich p 3 0 1 0
Frantz cf 2 1 0 0
King ss 3 1 1 2
Hymer 1b 3 0 1 1
Powell dh 3 0 0 0
Karns lf 0 0 0 0
Morgan 3b 2 0 0 0
Ki. Likens ph 1 0 0 0
Mason rf 3 0 2 0
Ramseyer 2b 1 0 0 0
Beer c 2 0 0 0
Totals 24 3 5 3
Warsaw ab r h rbi
Brown cf 3 1 1 0
Overton lf 5 2 4 2
Himes 2b 5 2 1 1
Burns 3b 3 1 1 1
Poling ss 2 1 2 4
Colt c 3 0 0 0
Fribley rf 4 1 1 0
Wyatt rf 0 0 0 0
Jones 1b 3 0 1 0
Liebsch p 0 0 0 0
Kurosky dh 4 2 1 0
Totals 32 10 12 8
Warsaw (18-11) 002 016 1 - 10
Wawasee (13-16) 000 003 0 - 3
E-Wawasee 5 (Gingerich 2, Morgan, Ramseyer, Karns). LOB-Warsaw 8, Wawasee 4. 3B-Overton. 2B-Poling 2. S-Brown, Colt, Jones. SF-Poling 2. SB-Overton, Mason.
Warsaw ip h r er bb so
Liebsch W, 10-5 7 5 3 3 1 10
Wawasee ip h r er bb so
Gingerich L, 7-13 7 12 10 2 1 4
WP-Liebsch. HBP-Burns (by Gingerich).
