Pitching and defense were on full display at Tiger Field Wednesday evening. Unfortunately for the Warsaw baseball team, NorthWood managed to hit the ball better in the Panthers’ 4-0 win.
Warsaw (3-8 in the Northern Lakes Conference, 6-13 overall) managed four singles Wednesday, and have seven singles in its last two games.
The best chance the Tigers had to score was with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fifth, but Panther pitcher Vincent Hershberger struck out Braxton Tennant and Luke Baker to end the threat.
Warsaw coach Mike Hepler is frustrated with his team’s hitting, or lack thereof, lately.
“When we have opportunities we’ve got to be able to put the ball in play, and it’s as simple as that,” he said. “Striking out twice with the bases loaded, and actually I think we struck out another one with a guy on third ... we’re just not putting enough pressure on them to make plays. That’s what we’ve been struggling with this last week and a half.
“Believe it or not, it’s one of our goals. We have a goal set to hit a certain number with runners in scoring position, and we’re so far under it, I don’t know what to do. We work on it, and do all kinds of things in practice, but we can’t translate it to games.”
Tennant held NorthWood to one hit through five innings, but the Panthers broke through in the sixth. Travis Stephenson hit a solid single to left, and Sawyer Warren laid down a bunt that seemed to refuse to go foul for another single.
Drew Minnich then doubled to straightaway center, giving the Panthers all the runs they’d need. Of NorthWood’s seven hits in the game, five were two-baggers.
Hepler said it wasn’t so much a matter of Tennant tiring as much as NorthWood finally breaking through.
“It was a momentum swing,” he said. “Going in to the top of the sixth after we didn’t score, they had a solid hit, then a bunt for a hit, then the Minnich kid comes up big.
“They’re a good team and it’s hard to hold them down. We lost to them 4-0 there (in Nappanee April 24) and we lost 4-0 to them here. We’ve played them well, but we haven’t executed on offense.”
Warsaw will hold Senior Day activities Friday when it hosts Northridge, the second-place team in the NLC. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
