The sun didn't shine during Warsaw's Northern Lakes Conference baseball game with Northridge.
Senior Josh Witt did, however, pitching and hitting the host Tigers to a 3-0 win over the Raiders and chilly, windy and dreary day."He did a great job," Warsaw coach Mike Hepler said of Witt. "This was one of the best games I've seen him throw. I know he was really excited to throw against Northridge. We got started late, and the weather wasn't the greatest, but he did a great job."
Witt pitched all seven innings, striking out 11, walking none and scattering four hits.
After giving up a single to senior Luke Hofsommer, the second batter Witt faced, the Warsaw hurler retired eight straight Northridge batters.
While controlling the Raiders with his arm, Witt hurt the opposition with his bat in the bottom of the third inning with a two-run double that turned out to be the game-winning hit.
The Tigers sent just seven batters to the plate in the first two innings, but in the third inning, eight Warsaw hitters took a swing at Northridge senior pitcher Cody Troyer.
After Troyer retired the first two batters in the third, senior Blayke Kauffman reached first on an error and classmate Jacob Bloom was hit by a pitch.
That set the table for Witt, who came through with a two-run double.
"He came through with a key hit when we needed it," Hepler said of Witt's double. "Josh got a nice double, and then (James) Miglin came through with a big hit. That was a big inning for us."
Miglin followed Witt with a double of his own, scoring Witt to push Warsaw's advantage to 3-0.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Northridge fell to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in conference action.
"Pitching is key for us," said Hepler. "We've had strong pitching and timely hitting. Even in our two losses, we were in it until the end."
On top of the talent he has to work with, Hepler pointed to his team's chemistry as another one of its strengths.
"This is just a great group of kids," said Helper. "There's no egos, no jealousy. They love playing the game. This is just a really great group of guys, and they're very fun to be around."
Sporting a 9-2 record doesn't hurt either.
The Tigers pounded out five hits in the win, four of them being doubles, two by Miglin and one each from Witt and Bloom.
Bloom also added a single in the win.
Hofsommer led Northridge's offense with a trio of singles. Daimon Buck accounted for the Raiders' other hit, a single.
Northridge threatened in the sixth inning, with one-out singles from Hofsommer and Buck.
Witt took care of the Raiders, however, striking out Gatlin Rassi for the second out, and getting Dustin Peterson to fly out for the third out.
In the seventh inning, Witt struck out the first three batters he faced - Dominic Devitio, Troyer and Justin Yoder - to pick up the win.
Troyer suffered the loss on the mound, pitching six innings, giving up five hits, three runs and a walk. Troyer struck out eight Warsaw batters.
The Tigers were to play a home game today with Elkhart Central. That game has been rescheduled for May 12.
Warsaw will be in action again Friday when it hosts NLC foe Concord Friday at 5 p.m.
WARSAW 3, NORTHRIDGE 0
NR 000 000 0 - 0 4 2
W 003 000 X - 3 5 0
Witt (7 IP, 11 K, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB) and James Miglin; Troyer (6 IP, 8 K, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB) and Luke Hofsommer.
