SYRACUSE — First-year Wawasee High School baseball coach Eric Screeton was appreciative of the lesson Whitko junior pitcher Ethan Nicodemus gave his team Tuesday evening in Syracuse. Entering the game with the score tied at 3-3 in the top of the fourth inning, Nicodemus attacked the Wawasee hitters, getting two quick strikeouts and a groundout. “That kid took the mound with the mentality that we want our pitchers to have,” Screeton said. “He had that fire and he wasn’t going to be denied tonight. He came right at us. We had to call timeout a couple of times. We like that. We like that energy. That was a good teaching point for our guys. It was, ‘Here it comes.’ He was not going to be denied on the mound.” Coming on in relief of senior Alex Stoddard, Nicodemus pitched the final four innings of Whitko’s 7-3 victory, allowing just one hit and helping the Wildcats improve to 4-1 on the season, while Wawasee is now 0-2. “I thought Ethan came in and did a great job, because he threw strikes, worked fast and our defense played a little better behind him because there was more action,” Whitko skipper Erik Hisner said of the winning pitcher. “He was one of the difference makers tonight, picking up our intensity a little bit.” Stoddard gave up a run in each of his three innings, but struck out four and left with his team in a position to win. “We really have two No. 1s, which is a good thing with Ethan and Alex, which has been going on for three years,” Hisner said of his two aces. “To have two guys like that, which we can either start or bring out of the bullpen really helps us on the bump and defensively.” With Nicodemus holding the Warriors’ bats in check, the Whitko offense got it rolling in the top of the sixth, which began with a leadoff single and a hit batter. Despite getting the first two on base, Wawasee junior reliever Jordan Currie then struck out senior Wyatt Wolf and induced a groundout by Stoddard, which Wawasee used to get a force-out at second base. With runners still at the corners, freshman Tanner Gaff scored senior Josh Kessie from third base on a double, which was followed by a two-run single by Nicodemus, giving Whitko a 6-3 lead. Instead of settling for a spot at first, Nicodemus stole second, which worked out, as he scored when senior Ryan Weigold’s flyball to short left field was misplayed, increasing the Wildcats’ lead to 7-3. Wawasee did advance runners to second and third with one out in the bottom of the frame, but Nicodemus escaped harm with a pop out and strike out. “It’s the execution,” Screeton said. “We’re starting to get the right pieces in the right places, it’s just now we have to execute.” Nicodemus didn’t give Wawasee a chance to execute in the seventh, recording a leadoff groundout, then two-straight strikeouts to end the contest. Helping the Wildcats to the victory were the bats of Gaff, junior Avery Robbins and Kessie, who all had two hits. The win is part of Whitko’s busy week, as it hosts Norwell today, goes to Churubusco Friday and welcomes in Garrett Saturday. “We have to keep getting better,” Hisner said. “We have to play a little bit better to compete with some of those programs. We’re getting there. We have a long way to go, but it’s nice to get off to a good start.” For Wawasee, its still trying to knock some rust off, as its season just began with Monday’s 10-1 home loss to East Noble. “Our learning curve, unfortunately with the way the schedule is and what our spring break policy is here at Wawasee, we’re going to have to teach as we play these games,” Screeton said. “Our schedule is condensed. We’re playing games all the time. Our learning curve is during games instead of during a week of practice.” Wawasee’s next learning session will be Thursday at home against Columbia City.
