NAPPANEE – Wawasee’s dormant offense showed signs of life, pounding out 14 singles in a 9-0 sectional semifinal win over West Noble Saturday afternoon at NorthWood High School. But in a way, the Warriors left their fans, and themselves, wanting more. Wawasee also benefitted from seven walks and two hit batsmen issued by three Charger pitchers. Wawasee left at least two runners stranded in every inning, and left the bases loaded three times after getting out to an 8-0 lead. Overall, the Warriors left 17 runners on base and did not have an extra-base hit in the contest. “When you have that opportunity, up 6-0 or 8-0, we gotta put ‘em away. We hit the ball for the most part, but we can’t leave so many guys on base,” said Wawasee head coach Brent Doty. The beneficiary on the mound was Wawasee’s Lucas Garza, who went the distance and threw 79 pitches over seven innings. He walked none and struck out a pair. Garza also recorded eight groundouts and nine outs in the air. “(Garza) pitched well,” Doty said. “He didn’t strike out a lot of guys, but that’s all we need. We need him to stay down in the zone, get ground balls and fly balls and let our defense work.” Gage Reinhard was 4 for 6 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI singles. Nate Prescott had three hits, while Andrew Wright and Drew Anderson getting two hits each. Every Wawasee starter but one reached base at least three times. The Warriors will play for its seventh sectional title, and its first since 1997, when they take on NorthWood at 5 p.m. today in an all Northern Lakes Conference Championship game. The Panthers beat Wawasee twice, including a 12-inning thriller in Syracuse three weeks ago today. “There’s no secrets,” Doty said. “We played them tough at home, and we let one get away from us (at NorthWood) last time. They’re very solid, very well coached. “Coach (Jay) Sheets has done a great job in his first year. We’re going to give them a battle. We saw some things watching them the first two times, and I’m sure they saw some things with us. We’re going to go toe-to-toe and see what happens.”
