PLYMOUTH - Warsaw senior Josh Witt created all kinds of problems for the Plymouth Pilgrims Friday at Bill Nixon Field.
On top of pitching a complete-game shutout, Witt also did damage at the plate, going 2 for 3, with four RBIs, coming off a two-run double and two-run home run in a 10-0 Warsaw rout.
"He's the best in the conference on the hill this year," Plymouth coach Tony Plothow said about Witt. "He challenged us and we didn't accept it."
On the mound, Witt worked quickly, allowing just four hits in a game that lasted just over an hour-and-a-half.
"The key tonight was Josh Witt getting on the mound and throwing strikes," Warsaw coach Mike Hepler said. "When we had ground balls, we picked them up and threw them out."
The Northern Lakes Conference game may have seemed abnormally quick to most, but according to Hepler, that's the way his Tigers like it.
"It's our tempo," he said. "It's what we like to do. We like to play at a fast pace. Get the ball, get on the mound and throw strikes."
Throwing strikes wasn't a problem for Witt, but the same couldn't be said for Plymouth senior pitcher Tyler Shook.
On the night, Shook walked eight batters, six of which would go on to score, and hit two others, helping Warsaw score its 10 runs on just seven hits.
"He was just never really sharp and couldn't find his stuff," Plothow said. "He was really behind hitters all night long."
Going into the seventh inning, Warsaw had built a 5-0 lead on just three hits, but then the bats really came to life.
With two out and two on base, senior James Miglin pulled a towering three-run home run that left the park in a hurry. Two batters later, senior Stephen Straits greeted Plymouth senior reliever Damon Allen with a two-run blast of his own, increasing the lead to 10-0.
"We're starting to swing the bats well," Hepler said of his squad, which had three home runs against Plymouth. "In our last game, against Goshen (Wednesday), we scored 13 and we put 10 on the board tonight. We're just starting to find our groove. We've had a lot of good practice time, and I think it's starting to show."
Those bats helped Warsaw picked up three NLC wins this week, moving the Tigers to 3-0 in the conference and 5-1 overall. Despite the dominate win, Hepler did find some faults.
"We can't get complacent," he said. "I'm not satisfied. I'm happy we won, but we made so many mistakes. (Fans) may not have recognized them because (they) don't know what signals I'm giving and other types of things."
If Hepler wasn't completely satisfied, then Plothow was down right disturbed by his team.
"Definitely, an all around poor performance by us," Plothow said about his 6-3 squad, 1-2 in the NLC.
Warsaw hosts Class 4A, No. 9 Kokomo today at 11 a.m. in a doubleheader at Tiger Field.
WARSAW 10, PLYMOUTH 0
W 210 020 5 - 10 7 0
P 000 000 0 - 0 4 0
Josh Witt (W, 7IP, 0R, 4H, 4K, 1BB) and James Miglin; Tyler Shook (L, 6-2/3IP, 9R, 9ER, 5H, 5K, 8BB, 2HB, 2HR), Damon Allen (7, 1/3IP, 1R, 1ER, 2H, 1HR) and Kyle Cartwright
2B - Witt (W)
HR - Witt (W), Miglin (W), Stephen Straits (W)
Records - Warsaw 5-1 (3-0 NLC), Plymouth 6-3 (1-2 NLC)
