In Wawasee High School baseball coach John Blunk's opinion, Warsaw senior Josh Witt is the best pitcher in the Northern Lakes Conference and one of the best in the state.
Blunk and the Warriors got an eyeful of Witt's talent on the mound Monday, as the right-handed hurler gave up just one hit over the final six innings of Warsaw's 8-2 win at Tiger Field."Witt is the best pitcher in the conference," said Blunk, whose Warriors pounded out two hits and scored two runs in the first inning before Witt took control of the game. "He puts the ball where he wants. In my opinion, he's one of the best pitchers in the state."
With the win, Warsaw improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while Wawasee fell to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the NLC.
Witt gave up a double to leadoff hitter Jake Sommers and then walked Cody Blunk. After retiring the next two batters, he walked Tyler Hare to load the bases.
Si Shear came through with a single for Wawasee, and Sommers and Blunk made their way home to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
Witt got out of the inning by striking out Ryan Hoover.
After facing seven batters in the first inning, Witt settled down, took control of the game and retired the next 13 batters.
The only Warrior to reach base after the first inning was Keegan Beer, who hit a one-out double in the sixth inning.
Witt then retired the next five Wawasee batters to cap off his seven-inning performance in which he gave up three hits, two runs, two walks and struck out 11.
"He was impressive," Warsaw coach Mike Hepler said of Witt. "He got off to a rough start. He hadn't pitched in two weeks. Once he got settled down he was fine. That's what a senior pitcher who can dominate a game does."
While the Warriors struggled to get hits, the Tigers pounded out 14 hits in the victory, including three from Toledo University-bound senior James Miglin.
"He finally relaxed," Hepler said of Miglin, who hit two singles and a solo home run. "I told him to just up there and hit the ball, not think about anything. It showed. He really hit the ball well today. We know what he can do, and he went out and did it today."
Junior Aaron Christenberry hit three singles for Warsaw, while senior Steven Hanson had two hits and classmate Stephen Straits hit a double.
The Tigers put one run on the board in the bottom of the first inning and then tied the game in the fourth inning when Hanson's RBI single scored Straits, who led off home half of the inning with a walk.
Warsaw took the lead in the fifth inning on Miglin's shot over the leftfield fence, and then put put five more runs on the board in the sixth inning.
The Warriors came out swinging, taking the early 2-0 lead, but the Tigers certainly delivered the knockout punch with Witt's pitching performance and their scoring burst in the sixth.
"That's exactly what I expected#, for Wawasee to come out and be aggressive," said Hepler. "That's exactly what I expected. We were able to keep our poise and I told the guys after we got down 2-0 that we have seven innings to play and that if we keep our head in the game we'll be fine. Wawasee put the bat on the ball. They're a good ball club. They're going to win some games."
Warsaw is in action again Wednesday at NLC foe Goshen, while Wawasee travels to conference rival Elkhart Memorial Wednesday.
WARSAW 8, WAWASEE 2
Waw 200 000 0 - 2 3 2
War 100 115 X - 8 14 1
Wawasee - Jordan Schmitt (3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB), John Beer (4th, 1/3 IP, 1 BB), Phil Fleagle (5th, L 9 H, 6 R, 2 K) and Si Shear, Dylan Wallace (4th); Warsaw - Josh Witt (W, 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 11 K) and James Miglin.
