Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
After beginning Northern Lakes Conference play with a win on Monday, the Warsaw baseball team looked to make it two in a row on Wednesday, heading to Goshen to take on the RedHawks. Instead, it was the home team that got off to a quick start and never looked back, putting up three runs or more in three separate innings to defeat the Tigers 11-1.
“I’m not sure what it was, but we came out super flat today, and that’s on me.,” Warsaw head coach Andy Manes said after the game. “We don’t have the veterans that we did last year that could just show up and play in any circumstance. We have some great players on this team, but they still need to learn how to show up and perform at a high level.”
The top of the first inning went by frustratingly quickly for the Tigers, as the top three hitters in the lineup all made good contact, but were unable to find a hole in the defense. The RedHawks had no such foul luck in the bottom half. Goshen ripped three hits in the inning, including a single by Colton Rapp that drove in the first run of the game and an RBI triple by Jaxon Miller. With Miller also scoring on a wild pitch, the home side led 3-0 after one.
Quinton Brock’s return to the Tiger lineup in the top of the second was felt immediately. The 2025 All-State selection began the frame with a single into center field before stealing second base. Then, a pair of errors by the Goshen infield allowed him to take third and home, putting the visitors on the board. Warsaw had a chance to add a couple more with runners on the corners and two outs, but the threat ended with just one run coming across.
After starter Mark Haynes got through the bottom of the second with little trouble, the Tigers came awfully close to tying the game in the top of the third. After a two-out single by Grady Nelson,Brock stepped up to the plate and crushed one into left field. However, he just barely got under it, and with the wind blowing in, it died at the warning track for the final out of the inning.
The bottom of the third was a rough one for Warsaw, as the RedHawks were able to plate four runs on just one hit. Control issues plagued Haynes at the beginning of the frame, as he was pulled after giving up a pair of runs and loading the bases. Ben Zartman came in to try and clean up the mess, and did for the most part. Two more runs came across, but the freshman was able to generate some soft contact to get out of the jam.
Senior Quinton Brock of Warsaw makes a leaping catch to keep Goshen's Spencer Elliott from advancing any further from third base...Nieter
The fourth inning came and went with relatively no drama, as both pitchers retired the side while only putting one hitter on. Despite the RedHawks having just five hits to Warsaw’s three, the home side was doing all of the little things right, and it was paying off with a 7-1 lead on the scoreboard.
“Nothing that they did today was a surprise to us, but the mark of a very good team is knowing what they want to do and them being able to execute it anyway,” Manes said. “They do that small ball stuff really well.”
The Tigers were gifted a baserunner to begin the top of the fifth after an error by the Goshen shortstop, but it didn’t amount to anything as the next two hitters flew out and Spencer
Love, who was on first, was picked off.
It went from bad to worse for the visitors the next time Goshen took to the plate. The home side scored three more runs on three more hits in the bottom of the fifth, with Karter Marcum driving in a run on a sacrifice bunt and Braxton Cline roping an RBI single. With the RedHawks now leading 10-1, the Tigers were in danger of getting run ruled in the sixth if they were unable to get the offense going soon.
Logan Kim began the top of the sixth with the team’s first hit since the third inning, and it was followed up by a walk to Nelson that put two men on base with nobody out. However, the inconsistency at the plate that plagued the Tigers all day long reared its ugly head once more, as the next three Warsaw hitters were retired to make it four straight innings without a run for the visitors.
It only took three hitters in the bottom half of the inning for Goshen to put the finishing touches on the win. Rapp led off the inning with a single, and was on third after a pair of stolen bases. Bryson Wilson flew out to center field for the first out of the inning, but it was deep enough for Rapp to tag up and put the run rule into effect, ending a rough day at the ballpark for the Tigers.
Warsaw (2-4, 1-1 NLC) is at Plymouth on Friday.
“I hope this is a game that lights a fire underneath them. I hope this stings a little bit and we can learn from it,” Manes said.
